Here here! I've noticed nobody seems to have a problem taking pics of local kids while on holiday, but try the same thing here and you're immediately under suspicion.

I'm not entirely sure what 'shady purposes' a photo of a child engaged in play activities can be put to... If some hypothetical sick person found that sort of thing a turn on, there's plenty of perfectly respectable sources of images available without having to go out taking pictures themselves.

Here's my attempt at a more natural looking effect:




I made the original shot the top layer, and made a duplicate layer of it which I turned off.

I then traced around the trees with a feathered selection and hit delete to reveal the dark version underneath.

Then I switched the duplicate layer back on and reduced the opacity to my personal liking. More opacity will show more of the darker sky. It's a matter of personal preference I guess.

I think the join is too obvious, and perhaps the sky was made a little bit too dark to look natural. The clouds should probably be white, with just enough detail in them to avoid looking completely burned - IMO.

On that basis you can use a much bigger and more feathered eraser brush to reveal the shot underneath, which would look more natural I think. The broad brush approach seems to work better for me at least.

You can also set the opacity of the eraser brush so you can work at the image gradually - painting detail into the clouds without going overboard.

What a bargain! Do share your experience of using the lens.

Going for the 16-45 then Rich?

I'm so slow at typing.

I've been meaning to get over to Ludlow for ages, so that sounds good to me.

Vikram keep in touch re any proposed shoots/meets, I'll do likewise.

Yeah that's the one.

Nice area. One of my favourite places is the Knapp, which you probably know quite well. I'm from Derbyshire originally, and it reminds me of my own county.

True most of what the K-7 has is available on other cameras from the D300 up. What the K-7 does is put them all together in one small, tough lightweight body.

I'm frustrated by these price rises too. I was considering saving up for some nice lenses, wide primes or the 12-24mm maybe. But they're gonna be too expensive for me to ever justify buying them as a 'humble amateur'. So thank god for the backwards lens compatibility you dismiss in the third part of your rant!