Thank you for relating your experience WG - that is certainly a well-deserved commendation for the K-5. Despite knowing about the weather-sealing, I have still been wary of taking mine out of the camera bag when rain is falling - obviously I no longer have any cause to worry!

Philip

Alan, I really like 1 and 2 for their peaceful context, beautiful colours, contrast and composition, and if I had to choose it would be 1 for display on my wall. I like the balance of its composition, and the way the ripples and posts lead my eyes in a circular tour around the image. Sorry, but 3 does little for me - it is as though the tranquility has been disrupted by a speedboat just having passed through the scene. However, sadly in my opinion (worth little, I suppose), club judges seem captivated by the unreal - many seem quite adept at seeing the Emperor's new clothes.

Philip

Could this be a fine example to show the importance of good punctuation and spelling in conveying meaning and understanding? - The cyclops who lost his contact, Len.

Philip

This might be what John refers to as "insulting", but it could be viewed as one of the positive aspects in a fulfilled life.

It is good to see that you too have standards - which is the essence of several previous contributions.

Philip

No, it is about maintaining a reasonable standard of English, so that anyone, anywhere in the world, might understand the content of each post.

Omg? lmfao? (I had to research the meanings of these.)

It is to be hoped that anyone, whether they belong to your imagined "Bourgeoisie" or "proletariat", would be equally disappointed by your corruption of the English language, and utterly disgusted by the lack of respect you show for others by using such terms on this forum.

Philip

Stunning - well done, Mike.

Philip

I like the colours and the composition but the image looks over-processed to me.

Philip

The first is the preferable composition. However, it needs a slight clockwise rotation, and the correctly exposed sky has led to the building and foliage being rather too dark for a bright sunny day.

Philip

Those for whom English is their first language should feel it their duty at least to attempt to write correctly on the forum, if only for the benefit of the understanding of those members for whom it is not.

Philip

It is a pleasure to see a discussion about camera settings, without the typical put-down of disparaging comments such as, "Why are you bothering with those settings - are you not shooting Raw?". I am still learning about them, but I suspect there are many who have learnt to use the extensive in-camera settings, who are pleased with the Jpeg output from their Pentax cameras, and who have discovered that (if necessary) they still have plenty of leeway for adjustment in PP, to produce high quality photos when viewed at normal print/screen size (e.g. typically A3 or A4).

Philip