very cool shots Mike and Jodie and love the glow of the watch Tunde!

I thought the general standard in the gallery this week was particularly noteworthy, hats off to you guys for making a great job of what must have been a difficult selection.. representative, varied, and of a high standard.. well done to the 'chosen ones' !

Adam

horizontal.. the fence leads the eye off into the distance and the shadows are more visible, agree it's a shame the top of the tree is cut off

I have an idea what it could be Tom, depending on whether you're referring to your gallery images by comparison with how they appear on your monitor when you view them off-line? I used to find that no matter how much saturation I gave an image it would always appear slightly lighter and more 'washed out' when I posted online... I think it's to do with colour profiles, but the way around it for me has been to use 'proof colours' associated with the monitor profile, which essentially will present the image as it will appear when you post it... you can then edit it accordingly (usually darken and saturate in my case), knowing the final result will appear as such when you post it.... hope that helps, I have Rich (inshaala) to thank for opening my eyes to this little trick.

I'm hoping you're using photoshop or this might not make so much sense..

yeah what a fob-off that was!

"Anybody with a concern about a specific incident should raise the matter with the Chief Constable of the relevant force."

surely the whole point of getting this petition together, organising it to make its way to no. 10, was to provide a clear answer and free up public and state time by allowing both parties to approach the situation informed.... instead they're saying nothing of any real weight, that we can still be stopped, and that if you have a problem with it, then go waste a few more hours of yours, and officers' time down at the station!!

of course I understand the sensitivity of the issue and why it is as it is, but this is yet another recent issue serving to undermine my faith in our current gov't...

cheers for sharing the link David

.... oh, and in answer to the title of the thread... yesterday ;)

personally if I can see some merit in a shot, but spot something I think could have been done better, then I'll mention it.. honestly I think that's what this place is about - helping one another to improve. having the balls to say when you don't like something will earn someone more respect with me than not commenting, or a one-word response. to say what you see does not necessarily mean you consider yourself a more worthy or capable photographer than the next person, but the only person with your opinion is, well, YOU! and they're all valid...

like I said above, I'll critique if there's something of merit in the shot in the first place.... if I plain don't like it I click off straight away and go browse elsewhere. This isn't to say that positive comments are worthless though, far from it! Some pictures, well, there's not much that can be said, but they still affect you and communicate to you... just a few positive words convey that your work has touched someone.. and besides which there are only so many words/phrases we can come up with to describe certain styles of photos so repitition of the same seemingly inane comments might make you a little jaded... but it still means someone has viewed and appreciated your efforts and shouldn't be sniffed at..

personally I always try to convey what it is about the picture which has been the basis of my viewing of it.... be that colours/ composition/ light etc etc.. - I think it gives a better sense of what has worked well in the image..... admittedly since I'm trying to improve I do tend to come at posts from a slightly more technical mindset than others may do, people who may primarily comment on how the image has made them 'feel', what moods it may have awoken etc.... I think both kinds of responses are equally valid and important, it's just that certain character types will err towards different methods....

and on a final note... more than other photo sites I am/ have been active on, Renderosity seems at times to almost have a template of celebrated subjects, 'staples' if you will, which will elicit all kinds of 'ooohs' and 'aaaahs' and will often be well received.... pets and flowers spring to mind here.... if I was forced to put my finger on what this might signify, I'd take a stab that it shows the community as a whole is warm and supporting, but that there's a divide between those happy to display snaps of things which bring them joy in their everyday lives, and those who shoot on a more 'serious' level, constantly seeking technical advancement and creative improvement.... I'm not sure how well I've worded all that but hopefully the jist of what I'm saying comes through...

Adam

I'm very impressed by all the entries so far, too many to mention all of them but really liked Piet's led thing, and Fenton and Jeroni's (particularly the floating candle) submissions... looks like everyone's having good fun, I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for more potential lighting uploads in the coming days,

ttfn
Adam

I'm very impressed with this week's selection, a few real stunners!
I'd also like to thank the staff for choosing one of my photos.

no idea about the camera I'm afraid, but 'camera' seems to have provided you with some links anyhow..

as far as autobracketing vs manual exposures, I'd say autobracket is the way to go... it'll fire off 3 shots in quick succession so any movement in the scene will be minimized over taking time out between exposures to change settings (think of moving clouds..).. also you're less likely to knock your setup out of alignment, making for easier merging later on.

someone correct me if I'm wrong but if you shoot manually bracketed exposures you better have some idea how many stops under/over normal exposure the bracketed shots were as you'll have to enter this exposure info for each file you intend to merge.... in my experience get it wrong and it turns out a right pig's ear... at least with autobracketing you can be sure the intervals will be uniform, like 0,-2,+2... sure you may not get the same breadth of tonal range but shoot in raw and you can stretch the exposures anyway and it'll save you precious time with no significant difference in result

an interesting and crucial photographic topic... I haven't participated in one of these forum challenges for a few months (knowing their potential to be a little bit addictive!) but with a bit more free time this month I hope to get involved.... only thing is, I've been waiting for the light for 3 days now and not a peep.... if Scotland shines I shall participate ... either that or I'll be getting familiar with some candles ;)

ah, nice one Bruce, hadn't seen that little 'insert link' button.. cheers for sorting the links

congrats on a very well deserved gom! excellent gallery, I'm a particular fan of your portrait work with both animals and people alike

Attached Link: 'Authority' paranoia over photography in London

well, I have been following news of such kind whenever it crops up though I've not had any first-hand experience of being told to stop taking photos (except when being deliberately cheeky in museums and such places hehe).... it seems a pretty 'grey' area at the moment and I think the whole thing essentially boils down to a few things

1. the fact the UK has become something of a police state, one which is also on constant high alert for suspected terrorist activity ... I suspect many innocent photographers/film makers are stopped and questioned in public places so the fuzz can be seen to be doing their job 'diligently' as they pick on easy targets
2. on one hand the government claims it does not want to dissuade photographers from taking pictures in public places, and on the other they're encouraging more stops and questionings... so far these have ostensibly been a huge waste of time for all involved... there's no law to stop the person taking photos so such encounters are more likely to be justifiably disputed, leading to arguments and increased animosity towards the police, who in an effort to get their point across may rise to such bravado as 'I am the law' so as not to be undermined.... the majority of the time there's no solid legal ground on which to argue, so such a confrontation is likely to just be a big wind-up and pain in the rear...
3. the law may have been considered (in my slightly cynical mind) to free up hundreds of work hours for police officers, who can slip a legitimate legal threat into the early stages of stopping a photographer/movie maker, meaning less of the wasted time disputing... they'll be able to just send them on their way or bundle the 'guilty' party into the van for a ride downtown, in much less time than before...

I doubt this is likely to affect anyone outside of a major city though...

... oh, and I actually wanted to post 3 links... don't think I've posted one on the forums before, do we have the option of just the one attached link per post? anyway, below are much more 'amateur' vids but which show more of the issue at street level...

<span style="font-family:Arial;"><a href="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=z86z2WlqJws">http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=z86z2WlqJws</a> - Met police make up the law<br></br><a href="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=z86z2WlqJws">http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=8py1-EW94Hc</a> - 'I AM the law!'<br></br></span>