Horrid feeling when you bounce a lens, I did it to my Pentax 100-300mm and the only damage is to the hood area where you would mount a filter if the was not flattened in one place - still takes good shots so I have not bothers but it will have made the resale value almost zero I would think.

If you can manage with the lens it probable is not worth the trouble of having it repaired, if you can't then it is good to know that repairs can be undertaken.

It was indeed an amazing time particularly for those in my age group, I was in my late twenties with all the new found confidence that gives you, add to that it was the first time women really had control over and freedom over the way they chose to live their lives. Truly an amazing time that kept me so busy I doubt I would have had the time to take shots.

Getting back to the original post when I see the state of some of these building now when at the time they were thought to be wonderful villages in the sky saddens me but not as much as the behaviour of some who live or perhaps exist in them.

Great shot at the right moment, would like a little more space at the top and sides or perhaps less water but well done a very striking image.

Now if I had had the money, time and skill when I had the youth I would have loved to record the tribal folk before the rest of us messed it up for them. I doubt now if there are more than one or two places left in the world that people genuinely live by there own skills with no influence or help from the 'enlightened' and rich societies.

Also remember the children, bare foot, sitting in the gutter eating jam butties, not abroad but in England, they tell me life is better now but I sometimes wonder, there may have been a higher mortality rate amongst those children I just don't know but they were happy and articulate and I wish I had recorded them when I had the opportunity. In the north people lived in tiny houses around a single yard housing the communal toilet and water tap uncomfortable and inconvenient but people did not die not to be found for months then. We do live longer now, for which I am grateful, but we have lost a good deal and I have lived through all these changes but lost the chance to record.

I worked in London during the 1960s and the capital was then a photographers dream but I accepted it and was part of it and did nothing to record it for the future. So carry on there will in the future be those who are grateful for your efforts, but poverty is not always bleak that is where you will find humanity to others.

Sorry, too long

I’m just trying to get into taking scenic, landscape and whole buildings and am beginning to realise I need ND filters. Having looked into what is available it comes down to Lee or Cokin and that is the end of the easy part.

Sure this equipment is so high priced because the substance used to make the filter has to be as near as possible to the quality of the lens it will be fitted to but because of the cost it needs some thought before purchase.

So to the questions,
a/ how many filters do I need
b/ should they be hard or soft
c/ as they can be combined should you have say two at .5 and two a 3 or do you go for 3 different stop sizes.
d/ what other filters should I be thinking about
e/ Do I go Lee or Cokin
f/ it seems SRS do not do Lee so suggestions on supplier please.
g/ if I go for Cokin is it the ‘P’ I need or something else.

Thank you

Totally agree with your comments we do need people to image the world as it is. It is pure indulgence on my part that I like to take 'pretty' pictures, there was a time I would have been tracking down the messy side of life but now I only enjoy the decrepit if it is picturesque as well, just like me.

I'm not sure if you are asking for comment on the shot or not, I think it is an interesting shot and could have been more so if you had taken the light reading a little further into the cafe so the expression of the animated girl were clearer, think perhaps I would have taken her as my point of focus but then it's not my shot it's yours and as you say just a try out and as that it is surprisingly interesting mine tend to be of brick walls,

I too use a Canon 4500 and find that I get good results using Photoglossy paper, http://www.photoglossy.com/?source=webgains&siteid=5945 Mind you I do not print much and if it were special I would have it done professionally.

Yes Paul, the homeless and this shot make me sad and depressed, not because of the image you have taken but because what it reminds me of, it's personal and not your fault. I believe it is people like you who make the record that history relies on, me I like flowers but I lived through the 60's when there were the homeless, the upright citizens and those that believed, however naive, in flower power, guess where my sympathy lay.

Sure not all your work is of the disavantaged but that is a powful message and the one that I think of when I think of your work, must remember to look deeper.

Hope you have much enjoyment from the K7 and the forum.