The fourth one didn't do a great deal for me, Gary, but I love the light and composition in the fifth - one of the advantages of living 9,000 miles from where I'm sitting (although London is actually visible at the moment, after a period of constant murk).

Thanks for your efforts over the past few days: the owl takes pole position for me...

They look pretty good to me, Don - particularly like the bokeh in the first. Not sure about the ID of either species, although I could probably find the answers quickly enough. The second looks a bit like a modified house sparrow, with more aerodynamic beak and a couple of go-faster stripes...

I tried a Pentax 1.7 TC on my Sigma 100-300 and it didn't work at all, but it seems to complement the DA 300 perfectly.

I like all of those, Alan. Very nice work.

With the evenings drawing in, my GorillaPad is now permanently in my rucksack. Of late, though, London's evening light has been rubbish...

#3 is a nice urban (I assume) cameo, with great colour rendition, but I'm with Stan on the need to crop. I'd take a slice from the right and a little from the foreground. I always feel uneasy about photographing strangers in an everyday setting - even when they're asleep!

It was a practice session for mixed classes, but not quite that mixed.

I did see one or two riders having a go at the grass, mind...

And thanks, as ever, for the kind words.

Is that a barking owl? Whatever it might be, this is a splendid portrait ripe with wonderful detail. I assume it's in a collection somewhere, for such proximity to be possible with a 100mm lens. Either that or it's stuffed...

Great shot.

A few from last Saturday's Classic Racing Motorcycle Club event featuring bikes of the 1950s-1980s...

1 - Norfolk broad (K-5 IIs, DA 300)


2 - Jobs for other people, number one in a series. The board in the background might jar with some, but the corner is named after 91-year-old national treasure Mr Walker, so one can't be too cross (K-5 IIs, DA 300)


3 - "You stick your right leg out..." (K-5 IIs, DA 300)


4 - Ready (K-5 IIs, DA 300)


5 - Steady (K-5, Sigma 50-150, 1/80)


6 - Go (K-5 IIs, DA 300)


7 - The chase (K-5, Sigma 50-150, 1/250)


8 - Waiting game (K-5 IIs, DA 300)


9 - Angle poise (K-5 IIs, DA 300)

I like the subtle tones and the exposure looks very well controlled. I stayed close to Perth several times during the early 2000s, but didn't have a camera with me and missed countless opportunities to shoot gorgeous landscapes, kangaroos, spectacular Indian Ocean sunsets, sea eagles and so on.

If anybody has a handy Tardis, let me know...

I didn't go in the end, Pete, because I had too much other stuff to deal with. I watched some of it on TV, though, and the light conditions seemed to vary from poor to awful. The fact you were panning at 3200 ISO says it all. In the circumstances, I think these two samples are both very good.

Glad you enjoyed it. If you want more practice, the British Superbike finale is at Brands Hatch this coming weekend, with the Formula Ford Festival (on the short circuit) one weekend later (tickets are cheapest if bought in advance via the circuit website).

Happy shooting, and I look forward to seeing future results.

That's undoubtedly true, Nigel, but I'm just a stubborn old purist!