The rooster is great, I'd get rid of the stick that is poking out of the dunnocks head in the first one though.

Hi Stiggy,
I had the Sigma 70-300 and soon afterwards got my hands on a Pentax 55-300 the difference in image quality is huge. As for the macro it is also not that great, the Tamron is no better either. Save the extra cash and make sure you choose the Pentax as it really is that much better.

Great work, something an artist does that we mere mortals can enjoy, and think to ourselves "why didn't I think of that?" and of course the clue is in the word artist.

Great shot! You have to satisfy my curiosity though, what is all that pink in the background?

Love this Steve, my kind of humour

First thing is read the manual at least 3 times, try out all the settings and keep the ones you like. Use Auto only to get an idea of where to start with the settings you will need for a particular shot, buy a cheap manual lens something like a 50mm f2. Mike-P has one for sale in Classified Adverts for about £30. A manual lens will teach you more about your camera than almost anything else.

And the most important thing is Shoot, Shoot, Shoot, Shoot, Shoot, Shoot even if the weather outside is bad shoot stuff indoors, practice with depth of field with that manual 50mm on kitchen items, bottles of wine, kids toys anything really just shoot.
And above all enjoy.

I have the Redsnapper and its solid. Check it out here
Also check out the special offers

I could never afford a "proper" camera until recently and I bought myself a Fuji bridge or two just to test the water but after two I found that I wanted more and the camera I had was restricting what I wanted to do and so I decided to get a DSLR as I worked with a canon shooter and i knew no better I started by following the crowd and set my mind on a Canon 500D, then I read the A list in PC Pro magazine that said the best entry level DSLR was the Nikon D90 so that went top of the list (I was very naive).
Then I read about a Pentax K20D that stated it was water resistant and as I was taking more and more pictures at my local kart track, Llandow, I decided this was probably a good camera to have and besides I'd heard of Pentax and seem to remember when I was a kid it was the canines under carriage of cameras. So I began to read up about it ont tinterweb but the general consensus was that it was not ideal for sports shots because of the low burst rate and its slow AF. So I was back to the D90.
Then I thought, if I was prepared to entertain the price of the K20 then I may as well go for the D300, as the S had recently been released and I didn't give 2 hoots about video (and still don't) the D300 was going to be just in my price range. Then while looking on all these lovely new (to me) photography websites the announcement that Pentax were releasing a new flagship to replace the K20, the K-7, which had 5.2 frames/sec, WR was smaller almost exactly the same size as my previous Fuji S100fs. It had loads of additional functions was tougher than a Tonka toy. I read review after review for months while saving for it and was hooked, I joined this site before getting it and stayed hidden for a while before coming out to be counted.
Strangely I have recently had the opportunity to use a friends Canon 500D and boy am I glad I made the decision I did. My K-7 is vastly superior to it except for one little thing, in low light the 500D flashes its onboard flash to assist with focus and it works (are you watching Pentax?)
My K-7 is built like a tank and I have averaged 83 shots per day since I came into possession on 6th Jan 2010, it has never let me down and everything on it still works just fine. It is currently in for a service having done over 61,000 actuations and probably needs a little TLC. Pentax said it is good for 100,000 so I intend to test that theory.
Really glad I made the choice I did and the fun you can have with all those excellent old lenses is endless and much better for learning how to use your camera than attaching the latest VR or OS AF lenses. I urge all new Pentax owners to get hold of a fully manual lens and learn to use it, this will teach you more about your camera in a much quicker timescale, and its great fun.

Photos?

1. Rivers in hail


2. time - 11:54



3. then 5 mins later - 11:59 (note the conditions in the dock)



4. 'ammerin' down