Actually Pauly, that's exactly what my 7 year old son did! And it was a better picture too!

Tony

James - I think so.

Mike - I think you're right about the sharpness. I tend to use shallow dof too much and in this case could have gone to f11 quite easily. However, the angle was quite acute to get the composition, so I'm not sure how much it would have altered. Maybe I'll try again. Thanks.

Tony

Out walking this afternoon and saw an iron structure over an outflow from a pond (culvert?) Thought I'd try this as an abstract - two versions with different orientation/treatment. C&C would be appreciated, thankyou.

[IMG]http://i983.photobucket.com/albums/ae318/Stereoflab/abstract2.jpg[/IMG]






[IMG]http://i983.photobucket.com/albums/ae318/Stereoflab/abstract1.jpg[/IMG]

Both Sigma 105mm, f5.6, 1/125

Just to make it even harder, I had and then sold the 16-45. It is a good lens, but I did find all the problems that others have mentioned and the real disappointment was that it just wasn't that much better than my 18-55mm mkII! So I now have the 12-24 (courtesy of our very good friend Amin), 18-55 mkII and 40mm Ltd. Together they cover this range perfectly.

Regards

Tony

To me there isn't a point on 1 which is pin sharp, like on two. Of course, low res on my work computer doesn't help! Still a nice shot.

Hi and welcome! The second is the better. I would be tempted to up the contrast with curves (or whatever you have). Also, the composition places the flower centre, which is not comfortable. I would crop to get it closer to a thirds point (some off the left and top), which I feel would make it more relaxing with the flower leaning into the space.

Regards

Tony

Actually, I purposely bought a camera-phone to replace my work-supplied model. I made sure the quality was adequate and it now serves as my "snatching" camera for those moments with the kids etc. No great quality, but good for capturing the moment!

Tony

Stop this now! I agree with the others and find the partial B&W quite disturbing. Otherwise, lovely sharp shots that would work well I think as a series alongside each other with a few more (maybe pull back the sharpness though, something like the clarity slider on photoshop.)

Regards

Tony

Jump the other side? Sorry, work's getting me down today and I couldn't resist...

Adrian

I've had the opposite experience. At first, I wasn't too sure of the 40mm's usefulness. However, on a recent holiday I used a Tamron 18-200mm a lot of the time, but also just went out with the 40mm when I needed to travel "light". I found the pictures from the 40mm much better, not just for quality (which of course is a winner in all departments), but for the compositions as well.

Now I started in photography with a semi-auto Olympus OM10 and 50mm lens and I remember how important it was to move yourself around in order to get the shot (the photographers best piece of equipment is his legs, or something like that!) I wonder if being "forced" to do that with a fixed focal length brings that back into play, whereas a zoom lets us get lazy and just capture the obvious - and convenient - shot?

I'd give your 40mm a bit more time and pull out the Sigma when you want a dramatic wide-angle

Tony