Jon

Absolute nightmare for all, and good for you for sticking your oar in, but as others have said, be aware of your own safety too - some proper ar*eholes out there

Went to the local camera shop at dinner time today, same price as all the national people, so the local independent got my money, Canon 24-105 purchased. First impressions are all positive - it just feels a cut above. Tend to use the camera with a battery grip, so the balance is good. Shall pull the memory card and see what my first go has achieved shortly

Well, being a very fortunate person, I appear to be getting a reasonable amount of unexpected money, which has instantly turned my thoughts to glass for the DSLR. I like to take landscape and architecture, and have a Sigma 10-20 that I like, and I'm fond of my f1.8 50mm. Was thinking about getting a more "walk around" type lens for the Canon 500D (crop sensor) and I seem to be leaning towards the Canon 24-105 f4 L series lens. Anyone got any thoughts/horror stories/paraise etc - or suggestions for other options?

Have bought second hand from MPB - and I'm impressed with them. Do you have the stock 17-55? its not a bad start (if you dont I have a spare you can have - old but hardly used, i bought a 50mm) also the cheap 50mm 1.8 is a good un - focus is noisy, but its the best lens per £ I've used - mine was £75 new

I'll echo what others say here - I'm not a massive poster on forums generally and I often feel I dont have the technical knowledge (or ability) to be helpful. I do read and pick tips up and enjoy other peoples takes on life though. Definately a more "human" forum than a lot of the photography ones - not somewhere where a questioner gets derided

I Use a 500D and have Duracell ones in my battery grip - cant fault them. Cant fault the grip either, but I use a tripod a lot. Lens wise I do like my 50mm, and my Sigma 10-20 - still use the 17-55 kit lens a lot too. A circular polariser is quite interesting to use, and I love an ND filter :-)

I started with film and no darkroom access, so have always tried to get it as right as possible in the camera, its nice to read confirmation I'm not just being stuck in my ways - although I, like many others, have a fear of high ISO - the comparison shots are really interesting - and really surprising right at the top. Lots of food for thought, thanks

46, going on 12 :)

Ha. I have the Homer J Simpson plaque on my desk at work - "Remember - You're here FOREVER"

Shame we're so far away, you'd be welcome to have a try of the tripod

I've got a redsnapper one - www.redsnapperuk.com, I've got the 283 version with a 3 way head - seems to stand up to everything so far, including force 9 gales on the Northumberland coast - its not the lightest out there - but to be honest that doesn't bother me - comes with a decent bag and 2 stems - you can reverse them to get it low. It was less than 60 as I got it, and I'm planning on a ball head for it next

Cracking image, of a cracking subject (not biased at all, me) Well done

I thought the lighthouse tower was A like

I like this advice - I really dont think I'm up to all that :-) Am going to properly clean all my lenses / filters etc first and foremost and make sure I'm not seeing problems I dont have. I have 3 shots from today, all shot into the sun, and I'm hoping I'm just panicing, tbh :)

As the title really, have notices a couple of very faint circular marks on a couple of my images recently - seems to be there whichever lens is on, so it may well be time to clean the sensor - gulp! Any tips on equipment and or technique would be appreciated

Thanks, I tend to head to an area, rather than know what shots I want to take if that makes more sense. Last night I'd gone to an abandoned reservoir to see if anything caught my eye, but when I got there I realised there was a fair chance I'd never get out once I got in, so rather than go home with nothing I went to the Infinity Bridge at Stockton on Tees. I seem to have a lot of shots of it, and of the Tees Barrage near it (its about 15 minutes from me on a pushbike) :-)

Just wondering, if you go out with a particular type of shot in mind and cant get it, do you try for a consolation shot? This was mine tonight Cant attach the file though :)

I've been toying with the 365 idea for a while, and seeing the varied output on here has certainly made me give it more thought. Do you think that it has helped with how you think about taking photos, composition etc? Has it helped you see potential photos? I feel that I'm going to the same places and taking variations of the same shot quite a lot, and I'm thinking it might give me the impetus to try new things. I do feel a bit intimidated by the idea, and I'm notoriously fickle. Ta Jon