VWGolf

Yes, these are mute swans - according to my sister, who has become an 'expert'.
The first picture is Dad and the last one is Mum - she is a Polish mute swan, apparently, as she has pink feet and something else - I forget what - to distinguish her

Found another one - not sure if this is Mum or Dad.

I like to get down to their level, though it meant sitting on the boat ramp and getting my feet wet!  

A very belated thank you.  

It may amaze and surprise you to learn that I do occasionally take pictures of creatures that aren't cats!  
My sister and her partner regularly feed swans on a local reservoir and they have become quite tame.
So a good opportunity to take some photos.
If only there weren't quite so many of them squabbling over the food.

She's got a lot of meezer (Siamese) blood in her, so no doubt will lead you a right merry dance!  Then she'll look at you with the big blue eyes and you'll just melt and let her get away with everything and anything.
Welcome to the world of cats!  

What an absolute beauty she is, Fuji.
I am so pleased for you, having another cat, and so pleased for her - after all she's been through, she deserves a really good home and a great big softie like you to spoil her to bits!  
But a Bengal!  They reckon they're even naughtier than Siamese and a real challenge - she'll knock years off your age as you chase round after her, rescuing her from one incident after another!
That's a very fancy cat tree you've got her - very handy for leaping up to the top of the curtains.  

Very good looking young men.  And super lighting

Well done - wonderful picture

The thing I read about Sigma is that you need to calibrate their focus to your camera.   Not a thing I've ever had to do with any of my Nikon lenses!

I bought my Nikon 24-70 when it was on offer - just before the newer VR version came out, I found out later.  It is a superb lens and with VR on top of the performance of mine, I wouldn't even be considering the Sigma.
On the other hand, I'm not currently saving up my pennies to buy one and I expect there is a considerable price difference between the pair of them.
Good luck with whatever you chose and I'll look forward to seeing your pictures in all their magnificent detail in due course!  

When my Nikon flash got wet and packed up, I bought two YongNuo flashes and radio triggers - all of which together came to less than a new Nikon flash.
I wanted to try off-camera flash, and didn't want to spend a lot and then find I didn't get on with it.
Three years later, I am still using all the YN stuff - it's robust and I can't find an excuse for upgrading it yet.  Nowadays, especially now arthritis in now spreading to my hands, I probably use OCF in about 90% of all pictures I take - it's great for freezing action

PS after about six months after its soaking, the Nikon flash returned to life, so I now have three flashes.

What did you get in the end, Vanguard?

I'm using a 2011 27" iMac with RAM upgraded to 24gb and it still cuts the mustard.  PS & LR run fine, with both open, plus other stuff.
Although I have a 2015 MBP, I prefer the larger screen of the iMac when it comes to doing fine detail editing, thought the MBP is great to take with me when I'm away.

Probably not much use, but I own a Nikon D750 and the lens that is on my camera probably 90% of the time is Nikon 24-70mm F2.8 (non-VR)
I don't do landscape, but tackle most other things and it's a very able lens, and pin sharp.  I don't know what the Sigma copy is like, but if it's similar, it's a very useful lens for all sorts of genres.  
I would guess the Sigma, having the same lengths and speed would be a good buy, although with a 46mp camera, you might want to consider the Nikon version instead.
Maybe consider hiring one for a weekend, to make sure you're entirely happy with its performance on your camera, before paying out a tidy sum of money?  

Fabulous bit of panning of an iconic locomotive
Well done, a very worthy winner 

Karl Jenkins - great choice.

Freddie Mercury!  Who else?

Has anyone been to see Bohemian Rhapsody?  Brilliant film, I've been twice already!

David - maybe consider (once you've made up your mind what to go for) second-hand lens(es).  From somewhere reputable, not eBay type 'bargains'.  Some dealers will even give you a warranty on s/h lenses, so you can feel confident in buying.

If you are able to, consider joining a local camera club.  It's like being on here, but physically meeting people, and you'll perhaps find someone with a similar camera to yours and maybe even someone who will let you try out their lens.  Plus you'll perhaps learn all sorts of things by going to their lectures and entering their competitions.

I love Color Efex.

As you know, I take a lot of pictures of my Siamese cat and his chest, which is almost white, tends to burn out when I am using lights (most of the time).  I've found an excellent was to recover it is to use the detail extractor in a heavy handed manner, then put a mask onto the layer, invert it, and paint back in some of the detail that has practically burnt out, using the brush at about 40-50% opacity.  Lots faster and easier than mucking around dodging on a 50% grey layer.

The only annoying thing was I spent £100 on it last December and a month or so later, they made it free (and even gave refunds back to Jan-16).  But can't complain too much, as it's my favourite plug-in and I use it a lot (for other things too).  

Vulcan 607 by Roland White about Black Buck raids to The Falkland Islands during the war.  Amazing book.  

Bought it after meeting Martin Withers, the pilot who flew the first raid.  And amazing and unassuming man whom you'd never guess was a hero who holds the DFC.

About this time last year, my son gave me a s/h iMac.  It's like the one you're getting rid of, Kev, but to me it's wonderful.  Not retina, and it's i5 and I love it to bits.  I've upped the RAM to 24gb and I can't complain about the speed.  I'll never go back to Windows 10

My desk is in my living room and my screen saver is pictures from my folder of my best photos, resized at 2560x1440.  So everyone who comes in has to look at my pictures!  lol  But the screen size is impressive and shows every small detail.

One day, I shall have a newer one, and be even more impressed.  My son showed me his and the Retina is to die for.  I hope you enjoy your new one

Well done, Mitch - not bad  ;-)

I suppose you were showing off, hand-holding your 600mm, whilst taking competition-winning shots?  Not that I'm jealous or anything!  ;-)

I would like both the D5 and D500 but will have to stick with my D750 or the time being ......

But consider where we were just, say, ten years ago with DSLRs, with some people saying they'll never produce the standard of pictures as could be done on a film camera.  And look where we are now - even an iPhone camera takes better pictures that what we had back then.

Only 15 years back, my first digital camera had 1mp and now I have 24mp, which is small fry compared to the top range Nikons and Canons (I know that measurement isn't the be all and end all, but for comparisons sake).  My longest lens is an old Tokina F5.6 210mm, but I can still photograph distant things - tigers, the Vulcan, for example - and be able to crop and still get a decent picture, albeit perhaps not so good as my friends with their fancy 400 and 600mm lenses.

So although 3m ISO isn't usable except in extremis now, it will probably be accepted as normal a few years down the line.  Such is progress  :-)

Just my two-pennyworth  :-)

Well seen and photographed  :-)

On 22 November 2015 at 18:30, VWGolf said:

Here's mine - is this where I'm supposed to post it?  If not, please feel free to move it.  :-)

Oops - sorry, I didn't read the rules  :-(

Here's mine - is this where I'm supposed to post it?  If not, please feel free to move it.  :-)

Lovely, thoughtful picture - great winner :-)

Went onto fleaBay to buy A-V software as mine was about to expire.  In a hurry, I chose a download (no disk).  English seller, who sent me a message to download and use the Kaspersky 30 free trial, then add in the serial number he gave me. 

Ripped off!  Kaspersky later confirmed that the serial number was an Australian one and I couldn't use it with my UK software. Because the seller had told me to use the 30 day trial, by the time I reported it to fleaBay, it was 30+2 days and they weren't interested and wouldn't help.  The seller, needless to say, ignored all messages from me.

So yesterday, went and bought another licence from Amazon, who delivered the disk today.  I duly installed it, the serial number worked and I was happy.  For about ten minutes.  Kaspersky works fine, but it has removed all my browsing history, all my bookmarks and automatic sign-ins.  Some of the sites I've visited have been auto sign-in for years and I can't remember my passwords!  Grrrrrr!

On the bright side, I found a pound coin under the radiator this morning!  :-)