I think in terms of 'qualifying' as a photographer, joining a professional body such as the British Institute of Professional Photographers is the official route - they approve new members on the basis of their portfolio, rather than running courses, although they do have a mentoring scheme.

If I was choosing a course, i'd go for ND or HND which are nationally recognised awards.

What a shame people like that can get away with calling themselves 'pros'. This might be a good way for you to get some future work though, if the event organisers get to compare your shots to his.

Talking of poor 'pro' photographers, I was looking at a shockingly bad flyer the other day. The photography was unaccomplished, but even worse, the photographer had selectively desaturated (bad enough in itself) the BRIDE AND GROOM (rather than the church backdrop, which would have at least made sense).

My pleasure Jon, i'm glad it's gone to another forum member. Look forward too seeing the first shots!

Gareth, Andrew, please don't be rash, and give this thread more consideration than it deserves. The Your Photos section of the site is described as 'for posting images to show off the capabilities of Pentax equipment.' so nobody is doing anything wrong.

None of the commentators in this thread are moderators.

And forum members vote with their feet - multiple image threads are very popular with uploaders and commenters.

Someone once mentioned having a separate section for photos that wanted serious in depth criticism, but the idea wasn't really picked up.

Personally, I would have thought that would have solved the issue being discussed here, but it seems a minority just seem determined to make the whole site a 'serious criticism only' site, at the detriment of the enjoyment of a lot of users within the guidelines of the forum.

I totally agree Terry! It's totally pointless and totally irritating.

And the same goes for when people quote long-winded posts in their entirety, and then people quote that quote, unedited with the original post within it, and so on - like a Russian doll of quotes.

I would echo Gareth's comments. The picture presents up with three rather featureless fishy flanks. It cries out for some sort of focal point.

These are absolutely lovely, and I like the montage presentation.

George, the use of the plural in thread titles (e.g. Some Pics from the Weekend) is usually indicative that you can expect to see more than one picture. If you object to that, don't click on the thread!

For me, one of the strengths of this site is the Your Photos section, but unfortunately what constitutes a 'disparate' set of images (as opposed to a cohesive set which forms a natural series) is open to interpretation. There are a lot of beginner/improving photographers here, which is great, and sometimes it is useful to post a series of images and learn about which shots work and which don't. Usually this identifies just one or two shots which go on to be discussed in more detail.

I do wish people would spare a thought for those of us with slow download speeds or data limits though - 800 pixels is fine, we don't need the image at original size!

(And George, if you are fed up of being bombarded with images, perhaps this isn't the site for you! )

I'd give it a go anyway and plead ignorance if queried It's fairly likely that a lot of people won't have read the rules on photography as carefully as you have, or at all... it would be galling to find a lot of people with their DSLRs when you get inside! You may find that the rule only gets enforced when someone turns up with huge lenses, tripods and cases of gear. A k-x with a fast 50 and a 135mm in the pocket might not spark their interest.

On the other hand, if they don't let you in with the camera, how easy would it be for you to put it somewhere safe while you're in there? If your car was parked nearby it would be fine, but Hyde Park...



I just don't understand how they can ban cameras with interchangeable lenses or ones that 'look' professional (and who decides what that is supposed to mean?) when they are going to be used, by most people, in the same way as compact cameras. Why should DSLR users be discrimated against? Some of us aren't lucky enough to have both sorts of camera!

Better to ban professional photography, rather than professional looking gear... but of course that's harder to do.

The good -

Pentax M 50 1.7 (£25). This is probably the sharpest of all my lenses.

Pentax F 35-70 3.5-4.5 (£22). Just a great bargain.

Pentax A 80-200 4.5-5.8 (£30). I have had the 200mm f4, and the 55-300mm, and sold them both, because this plasticy zoom is so nice! It's small and light, no zoom extension, and just as sharp within it's range as the 55-300 to my eyes. And A LOT better at full zoom than the 55-300!

I've also had the cosina 100 macro - excellent lens for the money and a good macro lens for cheapskates.

The bad-

Cosina 70-210 m42. I have no idea why I bought this lens, but it wasn't very good. Green fringing all over the place.