Tel

They were taken in the Farne Islands, Northumberland.
You take a short boat trip from Seahouses - I went with Billy Shiel who is well known and runs a fleet of boats.

On some days you can get to Staple Island if the swell is not too high, but most days you can get to Inner Farne. The weather was good so we got to go to both.

These pictures were taken at between 200 to 300mm.

More details are available here link

Take good outdoor clothes, if it rains you'll get absolutely soaked, also take a hat as on Inner Farne the Terns will divebomb you and peck your head as their nests are literally only 12 inches from the path and they see you as a threat.

This was my first attempt (I'm more into landscapes and portraits), I'd be better prepared and hopefully get better pictures next time.

If you need any more information just ask.

Cleared for take off on runway Puffin Airways flight PF-EEL1




Best attempt at a flight shot



Tim

Obligatory puffin with sand eel picture - same setup.

First attempt at shooting Puffins.

Also tried some shots in flight, but unfortunately its like taking pictures of a bullet. Even the Canikon guys couldn't get sharp shots of them

GX10, Sigma 100-300/f4




Tim

This is a brilliant travel tripod at an amazing price.

link

£105 - carbon fibre, comes with a free head. Sturdy and amazingly light.

Tim

I need (want!!) a good standard lens for low light and studio portraits.
It appears my choice is between the Pentax FA 50/1.4 and the new Sigma 50/1.4.

From reading this and other forums it appears that they both give excellent quality, but the Sigma will be better at focussing in low light (especialy in the studio under modelling lights) and is obviously quieter because of the SDM. However the Sigma is rather more expensive - maybe getting even more expensive in the near future.

Unfortunately its unlikely anybody has both lenses so could give a comparative view, but I would welcome peoples views/comments.

I currently use the 50-135/2.8 in the studio which gives amazing results.

Tim

I suppose taking a picture of the standard Windows XP 'teletubbies' background on my screen would be cheating

I for one haven't entered recently because of holidays and weekends away.

You need 3 clear weeks to enter a competition: Week 1 - enter, Week 2 - check if won on Monday and set new competition if you have, Week 3 - judge competition. If you are away any of those weeks you can't really enter.

I suggest you look at the number of entries after the holidays have had time to work their way through the system.

I PM'ed two moderators when I put the competition up to tell them of the problem.

Hopefully they will pick their messages up soon.

Tim

I added a new competition this morning using the new software.
It apparently won't show until it is moderated.

I have also put a post with the subject in the General Digital Photography Chat section as requested by somebody else.

Best regards

Tim