The prize is reasonable as the calendar is for charity, and if Bill uses the £1000 for Pentax, he'll be getting a lot more value for his money.

Philip

Looking at this again, the shadow isn't looking the right shape for the Clock Tower, but more like the Central Tower. That doesn't alter the fact that I think it is a nice shot with some great possibilities.

Philip

That is an interesting shot, Ray, I haven't seen that shadow before. I think the image might need a slight rotation - the towers don't look quite vertical to me (if I'm wrong I'll blame Specsavers). Also, is it possible to shoot it from a spot slightly left, so that the blue lights are not in front of the clock tower?

Philip

The MX-1 Royal Exchange image seems to have taken the pink/magenta tones beyond natural to me. The GR shot looks more as I would expect the colour balance to look, but perhaps it is underexposed - increasing the exposure in ACR by a stop, while preserving the black and the highlights, seems to improve the GR image for me, giving it a warmer look without the extreme pink of the MX-1 shot.

Edit: Forgot to add, I like the images, especially the first two.

Philip

For me there really is just too much water in the original, I feel as though I'm going to fall in. I would prefer less, to pull the eyes forward rather than down, but still retaining the river as the biggest area of the image, e.g. -




Philip

And on the K-5 cameras, a couple of your favorite modes and their start-up settings can be saved in User Mode. If you want to return to the last settings used they can also be saved in one of the spare User Modes. So the Mode Dial would not usually need to be rotated away from User.

E.g. As I rarely use Tv (and it is available in P anyway), I have M, Av (both with low ISO at startup) and P (with Auto ISO) saved in the User Modes, leaving two spares. When switched on, a click or two of the rear dial (if necessary) gets to the mode I want to use for that shoot.

Philip

Couldn't you do that in User Mode?

Philip

The colours in #1 are very pleasant, and I like the way the patterns in the sand are like reflections of the clouds; this image might benefit from a bit more contrast to enhance the lovely glow in the sky and water. The macro shots also interest me, particularly the first two.

Philip

I often get the impression that my contributions are invisible in this forum -

Previously:Philip

A K-5 body with a small bump turns into an ugly monster? You might be right and it could be a symbol of success - one of the Dragons was renowned for shoulder extensions.

Philip