@ kgb224 and myrrhluz : thanks so much. I decided to post this "bamboos" photo because of the green vertical lines within the vertical lines of the bamboos.

@ Mooriser : congratulations, these shot are great (but beware of the trains !).

@ dochtersions : thanks Mies, I'm glad you like it...you should spend some time in France and visit this bambouseraie which is magnificent and very popular (it's crowded in the summertime !).

@ mariogiannecchini : thanks much. To be true, I'm impressed by the quality of your photos...and there are bamboos too where you live !

Aaaaargh ! I can't find a third one !!!

I found another "vertical lines" photo taken back in 2006 in England. This photo, let's call it "Pencils", was taken in the playground of a primary school, where ? I can't remember, maybe not too far from Nottingham.

As a newbie I didn't know how this challenge worked ! I had a look at all the photos posted and I have to say I'm impressed...the challenge is very high level . Congratulations everybody.

@dochtersions : thanks Mies, I appreciate. I agree with you gonzojr's photo is excellent.

@Lashia and myrrhluz : thank you so much...I was on the terrace of my (cheaper !) hotel at Costa Adeje, looking at these chimneys and thinking "there is a photo ! there is a photo..." When I got back home, I was not very pleased with the photos....but after almost two months (as usual !), I said to myself "this one is not too bad".

Thank you very much , I'm very pleased if you like it.

One of my photos chosen ? Wow ! I really am honoured and so pleased ; thanks so much. A big bravo to the other entrants.

Thanks to both of you cspear and bagginsbill : I guess the "V4 skin realism kit" is the right product. I read it helps you to control "oiliness" as well as bump map, etc. If I get it for Xmas I'll tell you more. I was meaning that some characters are by far too shiny and if some artists provide both shader and no shader mats ( I'm thinking of Subgraphix for instance ) many don't ; the result of this is unrealistic oily characters. I know blinn is the answer but it's a lot of work...and a lazy guy like me was dreaming of an easier way to reduce or get rid of oiliness...
Again many thanks. Merry Xmas + a very prosperous New Year 

Many thanks for your help, cspear, I think it's what I was looking for ; will put it on my wishlist -hope it's not too late ! Merry Xmas

Poser3 does indeed come with sample horse animations ... specifically a trot and a walk. They are in the "Cool Stuff in Here!" folder on the CD. They come as pz3 files but it is a simple matter to save the animation as a multi-frame pose for future work. If you can't afford to upgrade to Poser4 right away, there's a good chance that the price of Poser3 will plummet in online trading areas such as eBay after Poser4 is released. Mind you, this is pure speculation on my part, backed by thousands of historical precedents. Gaius

Oooh ... good deal there. I found the full versions (all 3 volumes) at the local University library. There were a lot of 10 and up framecount sequences that would be perfect to pose creatures to and then let Poser tween the animations. Unfortunately, many of the images were placed on the pages too close to the binding, thus making them almost impossible to scan correctly without destroying the book. Librarians frown on that sort of behaviour I'm told.