Anything but touristy from your travel

[Birma]

Hi Bruce - nice to see you back. Those are very nice shots. I like the rich colours in all of them. The lighting is particularly good in the second one.

How are you finding the A99 after the A900?

[BruceKingston]

Thanks Valery, Suri and Birma.

Suri, here's one for you from last year's trip to Lucca. It was taken in the square in the centre of the walled city next to the cathedral

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..and while I'm at it, two more from last year's trip. These ones are both from Monterosso Al Mare in Cinque Terra

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About 8 months before we were there they had a huge flood. if you look closely at the last of the photos, you can see where the flood waters scoured all of the village to ABOVE first-floor level!!! They had done a pretty good job of fixing the damage in the short time between it happening and us getting there.

Birm, these are all from the A900 because they are pre the A99s release. I think I bought the first A99 sold here in Australia and I love it. It's VERY hard to go back to the A900 when I occasionally do. For me, the EVF is spectacularly helpful. I love seeing what I am going to get in the view-finder before hitting the shutter button and I use the electronic level all the time which saves a heap of straightening in Lightroom or Photoshop when I get back to the computer. Focus-peaking in DMF is the best thing since sliced bread and I'm a fan of the GPS as well! There are some things on it I thought were a bit "gimicky" but I've seriously found myself using a lot of them. Face-tracking s awesome and nails focus every time. I leave it turned on all the time because it has no effect when you're shooting a landscape. The only thing I don't like is (was) the mode dial locking button. The reason I speak of it in the past tense is because before we went to Italy, I had to shoot a friends wedding in Hemel Hempstead and the day before it I knocked the button off and lost it at the gates to one of the tube stations in London. Not only that but the force of the blow was enough to change the mode to Auto. Couldn't get it repaired but I managed to use a paper clip or tooth pick or something to change the mode to manual so I could shoot the wedding. I've got a paper clip wedged in there permanently now after some "engineering" and have no intention of replacing the button.

I see you're a proud owner as well!!! and I assume you are as much of a fan as me??

I'll post some of the stuff I did at the wedding later - it bloody snowed!!!

[ValeryD]

Just returned back from Texas and start working with a shots...


a57 Tamron 70-300 USD
http://www.flickr.com/photos/valery_rw/ ... 832084400/

a57 SAL1680

http://www.flickr.com/photos/valery_rw/ ... 832084400/

[Birma]

Nice shots Valery. I especially like the second one; great reflections. I have never associated this sort of terrain with Texas so it works well in the thread

[Birma]

I see you're a proud owner as well!!! and I assume you are as much of a fan as me??

Definitely Bruce . I'm still getting to grips with the video side of things. I agree the face detect focus is really useful, but the best thing by far is the MF assist and peaking, with the flippy flappy rear screen. I couldn't manage without that .

[sury]

Bruce,
Thank you and those are great contributions.
Valery, I never associated Texas with "swamp" terrain either. Great capture.

With best regards,
Sury

[ValeryD]

More swamp from Texas - Caddo Lake


Caddo lake by Valery_RW, on Flickr


Caddo lake by Valery_RW, on Flickr

[Birma]

Lovely swamp pictures Valery. Very nice dappled lighting. You make it look cheerful in the sunshine

[Dr. Harout]

Superb shots Valery.

[ValeryD]

Birma, Dr. Harout! Thank you for comments!

[Cogito]

Lovely swamp shots. Really excellent. And now a couple from Quebec from a long time ago before I had any Minolta DSLR gear. These with our first digital camera - an Epson 850Z.

Saw this alleyway.


I don't know how this stayed in Quebec old town..


A shop selling what appears to be Xmas ornaments - but in July!

[caporip]

A900 +24-70

The Chuck Berry Statue outside Blueberry Hill, St Louis.

[Birma]

Nice pictures Tony and Richard Some views you wouldn't see in the tourist brochures.

[ValeryD]

Heirophant, Grand Caliph very interesting pictures.
I'll add some grim picture of Moore, Kansas. After the tornado ... I had only in the hands of a long zoom 70-300 USD, I could not stop on the freeway, just took a few quick shots from the window of my car.

It was a neighborhood by Valery_RW, on Flickr


Tornado... Moore by Valery_RW, on Flickr

[ValeryD]

It looks like I killed the topic...
Ok, a300 Opteka (Samyang) 6.5 fisheye

Hamilton pool by Valery_RW, on Flickr