JohnP

Hardly anyone gets struck by lightning and those that do are nearly always on high ground and out in the open. Open spaces like golf courses are the most likely place to get struck and even then the storm has to be over head or extremely close. Just don't go waving a golf club or carbon fishing rod about in the air. If you should get caught in this sort of situation you should kneel down with your bum as high as possible and your head as low as possible but not touching the ground. If you should be struck the lightning bolt will strike your bottom and take a route down your back and legs to ground. With luck your head will not be struck like if you were standing upright. It's usually strikes to the head that kill people.

You need to go well away from any street lighting, mount your camera on a tripod and use the 'B' setting after a while the recorded image will fog. Repeat ...all the time pointing the camera in the direction of the storm, eventually you may be lucky to catch lighting in the shot. I'm not sure of the actual settings... trial and error I guess. I'm sure others will add more in due course. http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-photograph-lightning

Nor mine... I already know anyway as I've never done a reset.

http://gawker.com/mystery-grandma-stuns-drum-shop-staff-with-killer-skin-836880396

Martyn... welcome to the world of DSLR... now let the fun begin...

I just looked on Google Earth weather radar and there's a huge thunderstorm over on the east side centred over Wisbech.

It's not actually raining at my place yet, it's thundering and raining all around and I can smell the rain... PLEASE let it rain to cool things down a bit.

Going on the posts so far it looks like I have no reason to complain.

Are smoke signals still used in your area Bill...

Gosh Bill... that's dial up speed.

I just checked my broadband speed and I thought it would be interesting to find out how speeds vary across the country. Not fibre optic broadband though. Here's the link to the tester: http://freeola.com/broadband-speed-test.php# This was my speed at the last test.

Any time annie. I agree with you about asking questions, like I asked you about my moth and thank you for your reply.

It's OK annie... there was a time when I thought a macro lens was for close, back then I didn't know you could take a landscape with one...

I fact it might be even closer than that... I must try it up close again sometime.

annie... just out of interest my Canon 17-40mm f/4L USM will focus as close as 10-11 inches.

I've purchased a few generic camera batteries in my time with varying degrees of success regarding their lifespan, some have been quite good considering the low price paid for them and others not so good. My main camera is my Canon 60D and I did purchase a genuine battery to carry should I need to change the battery when out on a shoot. I also still have a Canon 400D which used to be my main camera before getting the 60D and I still use it sometimes, I still have and use the original supplied battery but the spare battery is a cheap generic and that won't hold a charge now so I needed to replace it. I didn't want to pay Canon prices for a battery that will be in a camera that only gets used occasionally. When looking for a replacement I came across Duracell Direct who sell replacement batteries for cameras at very good prices and they come with a 3 year warranty and free delivery unless you need it urgently. I ordered a battery on Thursday 4th June and it arrived this morning the 6th June and that was with free delivery, I paid £14.99 here's a link if anyone is interested. http://www.duracelldirect.co.uk/digital-camera-battery-adapter-charger.html

Dave... there are some issues with trying to use the supplied strap in the way you mentioned at the top of your post, firstly the strap is not long enough and I can't get the camera far enough away to even look at the LCD screen properly. Secondly the strap is very thin and cuts in and needs more padding. Thirdly when using a longer zoom lens the camera is pointing downwards and this puts strain on the strap where it passes through the loops on the camera. This happens when using the strap conventionally around the neck as well and my strap is almost due for renewal because it is worn at this point while showing no signs of wear anywhere else. The camera swinging won't be a problem as I always have my hand on it anyway... even with a neck strap. The biggest problem I have is a lot of my time is spent on long walks in woods and being a keen bird watcher I usually have a pair of Swarovski 8x42 binoculars hanging from my neck too and I'm beginning to find the weight of both to much for my neck these days and I'm also tired of trying to stop the camera and bins knocking together when walking. I've taken the plunge and ordered a Black Rapid strap from Carmarthen Cameras cost £42.99 free carriage... Jessops online price £64.99. I'll either love it or hate, I'll let you know next week.

Wex £54.00 .. eBay £37.00 only problem it's from the US... so customs charge may apply.

I have read lots of user reviews and most give a good account of this strap and no one said they had any problems with the camera being held by the tripod mount.

As I'm tired of carrying both my camera and a pair of binoculars using neck straps I've been looking to at least offload my camera from my neck. This Black Rapid strap seems to tick all the boxes but the weight of the camera on the tripod mount worries me some.... should I be worried? I also like the idea of being able to leave my Manfrotto quick release plate in situ when using the strap. Here are a couple of links for both the strap I am looking at and the fastener for use with the Manfrotto quick release plate. May be one for BP to answer. http://www.blackrapid.com/community/videos/?id=14#14 http://www.blackrapid.com/community/videos/?id=18#18

I'm boring... I just make and receive phone calls and send the odd text... not even a camera on my phone... anyway now I've finished work the thing is off most of the time anyway.

I bought my 60D and my macro lens from Procamerashop... very good and you get an extra 3% off if you pay by BACS instead of credit card. That may seem a bit risky but I've done it twice with no problems.

Down sizing to post here has killed the final image to be honest, it looks OK here but the quality of original surprised me a lot.

FUJI.

The rain did arrive so I've been doing a bit more stacking which I'm not going to bore you lot with...