Thanks for your input hefty : The photography is the EASY bit- it's the IDEAS that's difficult! Next similar job I do I'll try your idea- let's hope the Brentwood Gazette staffer doesn't get the same idea! Mine are for the Yellow Advertiser and the Brentwood Recorder coming out this Friday.

Local Radio Phoenix FM presenter Paul Coogan grew his hair for two years, then on Saturday had it shaved off in aid of the Poppy Appeal. Veteran Corporal John Jones was there to collect the sponsorship money. K10D with 18-55mm lens ISO 200, bounce flash with my Metz 45CL3


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Join your local camera club/photographic society and put some pics into their competitions and listen to the judge's comments.

A body that would synchronise with my Metz flash at 1/250th sec or faster.

This photo made the Front Page of the Brentwood Recorder today, Friday with the story of how this £1500 last firework went off too low down and bits came into the crowd and a pyrotechnic man was injured ( wondered why an ambulance was fighting its way through the road outside as we were leaving ! )

Nothing went 'BANG' so I think it's an optical illusion where some falling sparks came down closer to the crowd.

Hope this is not too big as I have not resized since I sent it to the Recorder newspaper, but I took it at the Brentwood Musical Fireworks on Saturday where the theme this year was 'Hot Air Balloons' and used my K10D set to manual focus, manual exposure 1 second @ f8 with the 18-55mm lens tungsten balance, tripod. I set the exposure as I did for my ME Super film camera last year and the pics came out great!


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I read a review on the Super-Takumar 35mm f2 by Ron Spillman who said it was tack sharp- at the time they were unavailable in UK; I got David Leung the dealer to import one for me when he went to Hong Kong- it cost £69 new, inc duty and tax. Well, I used it on press jobs with my S3 and Spotmatics and it was TERRIBLE ! The sharpest setting was f16! I managed to sell it for £35 . It was the 35mm f2 with the 49mm filter thread-- about two years ago I picked up an Sv with many Pentax Super-Takumars ( ie the non-multicoated ones) for £25 including the Super-Takumar 35mm f2 with the very large filter size; I tried it out at f2 and it was SHARP ! Very good at all apertures; I have used it on my K10D with screw-bayonet adapter and it got me some cracking available light shots at f2 where the 18-55mm would not.

Yes, THE Infamous ELGAR ran the Essex Pentax Group for maany years, but I gave it up in 1993 when my second wife went off with the Vice-Chairman of Barking Photographic Society and Ian Shepherd took it over but found people stopped coming and has given it up. I used to have meetings in my house and Old House in Brentwood but members wouldn't cough up for £1 a meeting towards the Room Hire ( God Knows what it costs NOW to hire ! ) I got the list of all Pentax Club members from Peter Cox and wrote loads of letters at my own expense to get the interest to come to meeting but it was a fight. I ran weekned events such as Photo-Hostelling trips where we stayed in YHA's and went to various areas such as Dover Castle for photographing the re-enactments, and did many tuition events such as colour printing, macro and copying, studio portraits using my studio lights, but the interest faded and wife No.3 doesn't like people coming in our house and I can't afford another divorce !

If it is at all outdated then it will not be up to its rated speed: I would set 1000 ASA on the camera anyway.