How on earth did you light that swan? You were facing the sun, the side of the swan that you saw from your standing point must have been in deep shadow, and presumably you were too far from the bird to use any flash...? To me it almost seems like two images combined.

Lens received, very quickly! Everything was exactly as described, the lens is in mint condition, was very well packed and was delivered (internationally) in 2 days. Thank you!

Although I'm not a native English speaker, I agree with ChrisA. It's one of the very basic things we were taught in early English lessons at school. When I was in Ireland, I saw people doing this all the time. Not that I would think it only happens in Ireland.
And by the way, I also like the first shot better.

Hi whelmed,
can't PM you yet, as I've only registered a couple of days ago. I'd be interested in the FA 50. Would you be willing to ship outside the UK, too? (within EU, to Slovakia). Can you send me some pics What payment methods would be available?

Thanks, Juraj

Hi Jonathan,
my first thoughts were exactly like davidstorm's: What will be your location? I'm not sure if Metz 50 or its Chinese version is strong enough, for example, for shooting in strong sunlight and trying to 'overpower the sun'. Especially if shooting through anything, softbox or an umbrella. If in your studio you have enough light, you might be okay just with natural light. Position the family so that the window is not directly in front of them, turn them slightly sideways, so that the light falls onto their faces at an angle and gives them some texture. Use a large aperture, but be careful to position them at equal distances to the camera, so they're all in focus.
If you have anything large and white, you might us it as a surface to reflect the light coming from the window, to fill the shadowy sides of their faces.
Just my 2 cents, I'm not an expert by any measure.

I've never had any Pentax flash, so can't really comment on them. With my old film-era Pentax MZ50 I used some simple and relatively cheap Sigma, EF 430 ST or something like that. Gradually it became a nightmare to use it, because it would fire/misfire randomly, still covered by guarantee. Sent it in for a repair, they didn't fix it - I think they recommended using fresh batteries all the time. After having it it my closet for about 10 years, I googled out how to dismantle it, dismantled it and found out that one of the wires that was soldered to the (zooming) flash head was broken off, definitely by frequent zooming of the reflector in/out. It was easily fixed. It may have been a rare case, I don't know, but now I'm using 3 Metz flashes (two 58 AF-1 and one 48 AF-1, which is no longer in production and is replaced by 50 AF-1), and so far I haven't had any problems with them, touch wood. The 48 AF-1 cost me 120 Euro second-hand, which I think is a bargain, for the features it offers. Before buying the first one of the Metzes, I compared Metz and Pentax on paper and Metz was a definite winner. As we say over here, more music for less money. And they're German, they're made in Germany and have been around for decades.

Hey Jamie, how much would you consider selling the DA 10-17 for?
Thanks,

Juraj

I guess I'll wait then.
I'm in no rush to buy this, I'm watching some other lenses, too, but when/if you decide to sell, please let me know for how much and I'll consider it. Thank you

Juraj

Hi Boštjan, I don't have a DA70 f2.4, but would you also consider selling your FA50? If so, for how much?

Thanks and happy Easter,

Juraj
Slovakia

Hi Joe, still very interested, please, consider my e-mail.

Juraj