Well, this car doesn't do your nickname justice anyway.

Wow, I'm glad that the poppies around here are not growing that high. I did consider taking a ladder with me for the shoot, it's just such a hassle to get it in the car.

You certainly have a fine specimen there...

Prieni

I will keep that in mind

Thanks for your comments!
I agree that dof of #2 should have been shallower, I'm only learning my ways with the 10-17 fisheye (great fun, though). With any other lens I have at my disposal getting that close to the flower everything else would have been completely blurred.

I don't have a bug close-up and there was no way to remove all of them as they would come back immediately (and I didn't want to edit them out, though I might give it a go some time). I guess that's one of the downsides of coming a bit late in the bloom.

Getting the red in the background of #1 was something I did intentionally, having tried that last year (and not getting the focus right then).

All in all I think I like #4 best. Have to see how it looks printed in A4 as there is some motion blur when you zoom in. That was the biggest problem when shooting, there was quite a breeze going.

Two weeks ago I did wait for a calm evening but it didn't materialize. After that I was on a business trip and so I thought last weekend would be my last chance (and judging by the horrendous storm that currently blows here that was a fair judgement).

Main thing is that I enjoyed shooting and also I'm pleased with some of the shots.

Took me a while to get out to the Eastern German poppy fields, but finally I made it. Apart from being the resource for some medicinal substances poppies are quite photogenic. (No, these are just wild poppies, not cultivated Although our ex-chancelor, Helmut Kohl, did promise flourishing landscapes in the former GDR. Now we can see, he kept his promise.)

All with the trusty old friend *istD
Sigma 105 mm F2.8 DG Macro, 1/125 s, A9.5, ISO 200, flash:



DA 10-17 mm, f=10 mm, 1/180 s, A9.5, ISO200:



Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 APO DG Macro @ 260, 1/125 s, A9.5, ISO 200:



Sigma 105 mm F2.8 DG Macro, 1/350 s, A9.5, ISO 200:



Sigma 105 mm F2.8 DG Makro, 1/125 s, A13, ISO 200, flash:



C&C welcome...

I shelled out for CS when I bought my camera. However, I have read that GIMP is getting better and better (not sure about 16-bit support though). Many people say that it takes some time to get used to the user interface, I cannot comment on it. But if I had to look for an image editor and hadn't much money to spend on it, that's where I would look...

Here's a nice site where you can do speed tests:
http://beta.speedtest.net/index.php

My connection is not as fast as yours but that's a matter of upgrading. Take a look at the top countries/ISPs on that page.

Hi Craig,

welcome to the forum. Next time they knock, just shut your eyes so that they can't see you! It worked for me, when I opened the eyes again my room was all new decorated, comfy padding all around...

Prieni

Pete,

here is a shot into the sun that I took with the *istD (and the Sigma 70-300 DG APO, the EXIF info is shown when you click on "more info"

http://picasaweb.google.com/Prieni/Warnemuende/photo#5051725108996911058

(If that link doesn't work have a look at the album
http://picasaweb.google.com/Prieni/Warnemuende/
)
This was shot with -1 or -2 EV (would need to look that up at home) and RAW. It still is not ideal as the sun "eats into" the sea, but RAW does give you more latitude in recovering the blown highlights to some extent. If I remember correctly the picture before development in SilkyPix was very dark (apart from the sun, of course).

Prieni

Pete, these are nice shots!
Pitty that the sun is too bright in the first two, it might be worthwile shooting 1 or 2 EV darker and bringing the scene up in post processing.
On the first one I think the ND grad could have been a bit higher up, looks like the grad is above the left rock.
Now I really LOVE the foreground, the sand and the sunlight on the sand and the shadow the rock throws on the sand (uh, got to spit out, have some in my teeth now). The reflections on the rocks are great as well and the movement of the water quite nice (but even more so on the second one, great movement there).
No. 3 might be a bit busy in theory, but I like it. I agree that the lone person does add something (especially the colour red, I think). Again the highlights are a bit blown on the clouds.
In No. 4 the sky is a bit dull (at least compared to the first two), but beach and rocks and the movement of the water are wonderful.
Nos. 5 & 6 are good fun shots!
No. 7 a very nice architecture detail shot, like it!
No. 8 great action shot, next time make her open her eyes! (Ok, that might be difficult, maybe you can bribe her?)
No. 9 a nice holiday shot that the two will be happy to see again everytime they go back to it in the years to come.

Nice bounty you got from the holidays.

Prieni