As well as desktop usb drives I also keep a DVD backup using a mixture of normal and double layer DVDs . These double one give 8.5gb per disc which makes it a fairly practical option even for quite large collections.

But I am planning on moving to BlueRay discs as soon as the costs come down more - which is proving to be taking a long time. With 25gb and double 50gb options they would be an excellent third level of security, and stored correctly very robust.

With disc copy software it is easy to make duplicates of discs at intervals to 'refresh' the storage and limit the risks from disc degradation. I use Nero burning ROM which offers a 'secure disc' system of added protection, plus a file integrity verification feature which you can use to check a disc before making a duplicate.

I really like No3 for the soft side-lighting and depth of field. The foreground areas are superb, but I find the Dynamic range in the sky a bit high - ie very dark greys and blown highs near the horizon.

I think the soft nature of the shot would be complemented better with this high contrast toned down - maybe a selection on the sky and a pull back on the whitepoint and reduction in low-tone contrast, to lighten the blacks a bit?

Much of the discussion here concerning wildlife & sports photography is mostly about autofocus performance, both that of cameras and lenses. AF is one of the key aspects of performance that the latest two flagship Pentax DSLRs have advanced on significantly.

It is fair to say that the camera upgrade (K511 would be the one to go for) will offer a lot, with any AF lens. Coupled with a new lens with wide aperture and strongly performing focussing motor you'll have a winning combination. If you're looking to rejuvenate the interest you probably should bit the bullet and get both items. I'm not the one to advise on a suitable lens for what you want, but there's plenty of good advise to follow from others I'm sure.

The exaggerated HDR 'lighting effects' don't make up, I'm afraid, for the lack of any decent light falling on the scenes worth capturing. Its all just dull, grey & flat. For that reason alone for me the shots don't work.

There's clearly potential here, especially with the contrasting bright paint colours on the boats, but again, there has to be some light to work with.

Beautiful detail and subtle colours. I think an even closer crop would be better. 'Stack of 11 shots, Combine ZP' ?? Can you explain more about this? Is this some sort of focussing technique with different focus points on each shot merged to give greater DOF?

All beautiful - No1 is special because of the low viewpoint, high detail and subtle light on the foreground, and the classic composition. Great work

A great 1st attempt! Its an appropriate scene for HDR - I imagine the foreground was quite dark and fully in shadow, so the dynamic range must have been very high.

I won't focus on composition etc as the emphasis here is on the HDR I guess, but generally I like the layout of the image -perhaps an even lower viewpont would have been more effective.

The obvious technical point is the halo effect around the main building, which is too obvious to be acceptable - its accompanied by a light fringe also, so whatever specific HDR slider you used that has created this defect needs to be reduced. Alternatively you might try some careful cloning or 'healing brush' type repair work all around the building edges.

I would also tone down the bright 'fluroescent' colours (the cyans and greens on the glass for example) and reduce the shadow brightening on the buildings facade a little - it just doesn't look like the lighting is coming from any floodlamps, so appears a bit unnatural IMO.

To achieve some of this you may want to introduce an additional non HDR version of your shot (exact same dimensions) as a layer in Photoshop, and use layer masking to hide some of the things I've mentioned, revealing the plainer non-HDR underneath. I'd control the effect with layer or brush opacity settings.

And finally I'm not a great fan of ghosts walking through pictures, so I'd try and remove them ... but of course in some situations I appreciate it may be effective, so its a very personal judgement.

Would be great to see how these suggestions work if possible

All excellent with great side lighting bringing out rich colours and contrast. A beautiful place beautifully recorded.

The k7 was a significant upgrade option for owners of the older cameras when it came out in spring 2009. It moved things forward technologically with the sensor and the prime image processor and improved burst rates and low light autofocussing with its af assist beam. It offered an increase to 14.5MP at 12 bit.

But more significantly it introduced the new body shape and key image capture controls that have remained unchanged through the later k5 models - aspects of design that are so loved by so many 'Pentaxians'. The only real addition to operation and control brought by the k5 that I am aware of is some extra 'user' modes - otherwise it functions identically.

I am a big k7 advocate of course, so I must say that it still remains a significant upgrade choice to a k10 owner - it's the same camera that it was in 2009. But I'm also realistic .... Time and sensor technology keipt moving on and we now have all the amazing features of the k7 plus the big jump in sensor performance offered by the k5 varients. Lucky us! So now the k7 becomes the best ultra bargain option if that's the financial limit, and what an amazing bargain. But the k5 is probably an even better bargain for the money now due to that extra performance. The k511 versions are not old enough yet to have achieved such bargain status.

You may be stuck with the converging verticals with this one, as the cropping required may be too much ... I'm thinking of the very top, where you wouldn't want to lose part of the roof.

It may depend on the software though ... I use Helicon Filter for this type of correction which has a useful feature to 'fill in' and it creates extra picture data mirrored from the very edges as you increase the correction. You still need to crop of course but depending on the subject this process can give you valuable extra space.