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Hi Seaboater When you are typing your reply, look below the big text area and you will see two tabs, "Options" and "Upload Attachments". Click on the upload attachments one, press the browse button to find your file, and then hit add the file. If you want to put pictures in a certain place in your post, you can then position your cursor where you want the picture to go and hit the "place inline" button that will appear once pictures have been uploaded. The only limitations are that no picture can be more than 1600x1600 pixels, must be in jpg format, and a maximum of 5 per post. Hope that helps, but shout again if not

Hi All, Just an update on the Diesel Bug situation. I changed both fuel filters today on Tranquil Breeze, as it is 13 months since they were last done, and 6 months since I started adding the bug treatment. The fuel visible in the glass bowl of the water trap was looking a bit dark, but there was also a bit of water contamination at the bottom of the bowl. Upon removing the filter, I was presented with a load of slimy algea-looking gunk around the filter element. Obviously there is some bug contamination, but it was in strands rather than a mat, so I can only assume the treatment has helped to stop the filter clogging as we have had no running problems at all. I'm glad to say it was only the first filter effected, and the second filter mounted on the engine was completely clean Sorry I didn't get any photos, but I was covered in diesel at the time!

Either or really, just to show there is more inside than there used to be. I just thought a title change would be more obvious to the regular forum members as I doubt that anyine would notice if the description was altered on its own. Also, whilst at it, could someone correct the grammar and change "A Area" to "An Area" in the description ?

Guilty as charged Simon Please feel free to delete the topic if you want mate, I was only having mucking about, and I wouldn;t want to detract from the area in any way

Sorry, I know it's childish, but I just wanted to be the first poster in the new area

Should the title of Photography Discussion not be altered then to at least show there is a "beginners" section too to the casual browser? Otherwise my feeling is those that have avoided the area for fear of getting lost in the discussions will continue to avoid it as there will be no indication anything is different.

Thanks Guys. I'll check out the links later Perry, and as always Bruce, your helpfulness is much appreciated. Now I've got it, I was wondering what use it would be! Thats a very good point. Now you've mentioned it, it does seem rather obvious that if the sky is getting overexposed, then the reflection of the sky is also likely to be too bright. I hadn't really thought about that before, but that is why the stems of the small reeds coming out of the water are so distinct and not just silhouette I should think. Time to play methinks

Having watched Bruce with his filters at Horsey on our last ramble, I plumped for the cheaper Cokin filters to have a go. They proved a point, but as I said above, the results were far from perfect. Until purchasing the filters, I had relied on applying grad filters in Lightroom2, which can enhance over exposed skies no end, and bring up cloud detail you just can't see with the naked eye. The problem with doing this is that if the overexposure is too high and there are some areas which are blown (ie pixels at max 255), there is no way of recovering any detail at all. My problem now is learning when to use what density of filter. I will have 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9 ND grads in both hard and soft transition, but it is how you know which density of filter to use which still baffles me. I suppose it is down to experience being able to determine if you need 1, 2 or 3 stops of reduction on the exposure, so I can forsee a lot of guff being shot before I get the hang of it

Sorry Jill, I didn't mean your calling it a beginners section was patronising, I meant me calling it that as I hadn;t realised you had already coined the phrase. How about just "Photography basics (an explaination for beginners and a reference for the rest)"?

Hi All A few weeks ago I took the plunge to purchase some Lee Filters, having been very dissappointed with the cheapo Cokin filters I bought to try out the whole concept. As Bruce predicted, the Cokin Neutral Density grad filters are anything but neutral, giving a horrible magenta cast to the photos. At the time I was in WE, I also purchased an ND soft grad set with the necessary filter holder and adaptor ring, but they were out of stock of the hard grad set. Typically, I have found more use for the hard set which I don't have, than the filters I have, but WE have now been out of stock, with many people on back-order, for a few weeks now. They claim that Lee are having trouble making them.... However, I got fed up waiting today and spoke directly to Lee Filters. They do not have a manufacturing issue, but as each filter is hand made, orders are typically on a 4-6 week lead-in, and so WE simply didn't order enough in time. Lee kindly gave me a couple of names of their other stockists, one of whom I contacted and the filters I want are now on their way to me as we speak. For reference, the two companies mentioned by Lee are: http://www.robertwhite.co.uk http://www.morco.uk.com Prices are comparable with WE, so it may be worth keeping these guys in mind if you need anything that WE don't have, or as a price check for WE.

Just a thought Simon, but it might be worth putting a post in the Lounge area, telling people there is an in depth guide in the photo disc area. I wonder how many forum members never ever venture into this area for fear of nit understanding anything, and thereby miss a valuable resource? I also agree whole heartedly with the idea of a "beginners" area, though I hate to use that phrase as it sounds patronising, for the same reason that maybe some of the anorak discussions are a bit scary

Yes, that's true Simon, but if you were spending that sort of money, both for body only cameras, why would you go for a 500D just to save £50 or so over a 50D? There must be something else to it, as I can't believe for one moment that a camera aimed at entry level is almost the same price as one aimed at mid range.

Quite the opposite Jonny, I take that as a great compliment, thanks!

I think you are probably right Simon, and I would guess the 350 had the same function. As I never use P mode though, I didn't realise it was adjustable until I RTFM

Well done Simon, I know how much effort all this sort of thing takes. I may be able to help our with flash settings, as I've been playing with my new camera with my 580EX speedlite, but I am still experimenting with second curtain and high speed sync etc!

Our old lino was stuck like excrement to a duvet. We (that being Sharon) used a hot air gun and paint scraper. Trouble is we uncovered some holes and large woodworm at the same time!

Hi Ken Personally I used Bilgex when we first got our boat. It was very smelly having had 30 years of shower tray drainings stright into the bilge, what with soap build up etc. I put a good dose of Bilgex in and then tilled the bilge half full of water (bilge pump turned off obviously). I then left it like that for a couple of weeks whilst using the boat normally to encourage a bit of sloshing about, and then had the bilge pumped out. I did this a couple of times and then finished off with a small dose of Mask industrial deodoriser. Works a treat and my bilges now smell like bubblegum!

Good point, Bruce. I had been wracking my brain to think of a reason the P was different to Av and Tv, and I hadn't thought of that one.

Thanks Bruce. The original shot was not particularly inspiring, but by cropping to a longer aspect, and boosting the saturation on the beach huts a tad, all of a sudden the result is quite pleasing. The good thing was, that when I took the shot, I had every intention of cropping it to that sort of aspect even before I pressed the shutter release, so I must be learning something

Interesting this one, as now I've read the manual that came with my camera, I've discovered something. I normally shoot in Av mode, allowing me to adjust the depth of fields by way of the aperture size, and letting the camera sort ot the shutter speed. However, on my 50D, it seems the P mode has a similar function. P mode still allows you to adjust all the finicky bits, such as ISO, setting the AF sensor required ,adjusting white balance etc, where as full auto does not. When half depressing the shutter button to set the exposure, the camera then chooses an aperture and shutter speed - no surprises so far. However, what I did not know, is that by rotating the selection wheel, you can then cycle through the different aperature and shutter speed combinations, effectively allowing you to choose what aperture or shutter speed you want to use. I may be a bit dim, but being able to do this, surely means that the P mode does the same as both the Tv and Av modes combined doesn't it?

Hi Jill ISO stands for International Standards Organisation (or something similar) and is merely a reference to the speed of film. In the days when I was using my first 35mm SLR camera, film speeds were quoted as ASA ratings in this country. However, at some point over the last however many years, the UK version "ASA" was brought into line with the rest of the world and changed to "ISO". The numbers are the same and mean exactly the same thing. With film, the ISO/ASA rating is the speed, or in other words, how sensitive the film is to light. The higher the number, the more sensitive and so the lower light conditions you can shoot in, or indeed the faster shutter speed or smaller aperture you can use for any given situation. The trade off for film was that the pictures from the faster films were grainy. With the advent of digital, the manufacturers of the cameras kept the same ISO standards, but now this refers to how much amplification is added to the electronic signals generated by each of the little light receptors in the sensor. If you increase the ISO rating, what you are actually doing in increasing how much the cameras sensor boosts the elctronic signal, not actually making the sensor any more sensitive. The result is that higher ISO's will allow you to shoot in darker situations exactly the same as faster films. However instead of "grain" in the film, the trade-off this time is "noise" in the captured image resulting from electrical interference. The net result though, with either film or digital, is basically the same.

Cheeky Manual now read 100% Information retained 45% Balance to be learned by playing 55%

I can't get my head around the pricing of this camera. The "Rebel" series of cameras as they are called in the states are intended to be the entry level models in Canon's line up. I had assumed the £869 price tag was including a lens, but according to the DP review, this is a body only price, meaning it is actually dearer than my new 50D. So what is Canon's plan making an "entry" level camera dearer than a supposedly mid range model? Are they phasing out the entry level models do you think?

Whew Well I just checked, and with Esure I am covered for £2500 accidental damage to personal possessions, whether at home or away, with a maximum of £1500 for any one individual item. I have also done a bit of scouting around, and Esure are still the cheapest for me, even beating Tesco's standard policy (which doesn't have accidental damage). At least that has set my mind at rest, not that it helps you I'm afraid Simon. The moral, I suppose, for anyone spending wedges of cash on cameras and lenses, is to check you policies before it's too late.

Jill, those are great shots! I love the jumbled up colourful feel to the second photo. When presented with such a great photo opportunity, also try looking for details to use as a foreground.