What a cracking stage finish!

Have a look at Hitfilm. The Pro version is big, fancy and has all the bells and whistles but is pricey, but the Express version is free for all the basics with the option to buy add-on effects packs and extra. I’ve been using it for some fairly basic bits recently and it works well, isn’t to tricky to learn and seems a lot more powerful that I will probably ever need.

I bought the cumbersomely named Lowe Alpine AT Lightflite 45 for a trip to Jersey a couple of weeks ago. Grand bit of kit, not rigid backed but light, roomy and within SleazyJet’s allowance. Comes with a shoulder strap as well as a foldaway set of rucksack straps. Dead handy.

Pyro, I think you need to get in touch with these guys.

Meh. I have different taste in music to you. It’s not a crime, y’know…

Sandie Shaw’s version of ‘Sympathy for the Devil

Painful! Was she holding her nose?

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There have been suggestions it was revenge on her record company for making her do Eurovision…

Reggiegasket – if you’re talking covers of that, I prefer Sparklehorse’s version:

I was working on an ultramarathon event a couple of years back, driving the sweep/pickup minibus, bailing injured or retiring runners out to the finish. Things got pretty hectic overnight, and myself and my co-driver didn’t get a chance to stop and get a proper meal, so we had to make do with whatever was available at the feed stations. Unfortunately what they had was mainly crap, nasty sandwiches and sweets – chocolate raisins and jellybeans mostly. Needless to say, a long day and night of living on that and coffee wasn’t doing my digestive system any favours.

We did a dropoff run to the finish, the RNR spot near the Baltic in Gateshead, and I nipped off to the bogs to deal with, shall we say, a certain amount of intestinal pressure. Wandered into the traps hoping no-one else was around, and launched into a mind boggling sequence of postern blasts – long, short, high, low and everything in between. I heard someone walk in the door and take up a cubicle along from me and tried to hold a bit back until they’d gone, but it was no good. Trump after trump after trump; me, red-faced but silently giggling in my stall. Finally it ended, and the next thing I hear is a round of applause from the other end of the john. The only response I could muster through the laughter was “Thank you, but i came in for a s**t, not the Warsaw **** Concerto”…

Oh, and more recently, Portishead’s brilliant version of Abba’s ‘SOS’:

Sandie Shaw’s version of ‘Sympathy for the Devil’

Falling off a boat.

Lands you in the drink.

Kickstarter ones aren’t due to ship ’til August, so you might be waiting a wee while.

Try diesel

What’s he gonna do about it, jacknife it?

Pretty much what Perchy said, but with a middle Stage 1.5 – Relatively cheerful but slightly maudlin drunk. Happy enough sitting around drinking and laughing at other people’s jokes, but actual one-to-one conversation attempts invariably turn out to be overly serious and slightly embarassing . Usually occurs when drunk enough to get on high horse and be very serious and down to earth (perhaps trying to act soberer than reality) but at the same time sober enough to know and understand that I am being a tit.

Regional ones

Brummie/Black Country – Why does the queen have so many kids? ‘coz she’s got ER written on her knickers.
Geordie – Is that a cake or a meringue? Naw, ye’re reet, it’s a cake…

If I dropped in on one particular year of my life:
“RIGHT:
a) The one you really fancy (but never get with) is totally batcrap crazy and a walking disaster zone, and also wouldn’t look at you twice. Give it up.
b) Her best mate (who you do briefly get with) is gorgeous, lovely, kinda fancies you as well and will be very tolerant of the fact you’re a complete idiot. Focus on her.
c) When you do get with the second one, don’t screw it up quite as badly, and then when you get to my age, she might still be talking to you, even if you’re not together.
Got that?”

I was fairly middle of the road. I had some fun, some ladies paid me some attention, I did okay at uni and I kinda like my life nowadays. But I do regret the breakups that resulted in exes and I not speaking any more. I’d always hoped my few relationships would end amicably, but a couple definitely didn’t.

Bernard

As long as they still let 70% (or 75%) of light through, go for whatever tint you like. I’d recommend these guys:
http://tintmaster.co.uk

Glad F-Stop got a mention, I’ve got a Kenti and a Loka UL and they’re both superb. Kenti for quick jobs and lighter trips (two bodies and lenses, couple of extra lenses and a flash), Loka for longer hill stuff and carrying day kit along with the camera gear.

Before you explode from indignation, consider this…..why don’t we get the same level of belligerence from SEAT owners, after all it is basically the same car.

Because SEAT don’t get the same level of belligerence from everyone else as Skoda do? For whatever reason I’ve never heard anyone say, to paraphrase wwaswas, “I’ve never been able to bring myself to get within 6ft of a SEAT”… ;)

Couldn’t bring myself to drive a beamer. You know what they say about the difference between a BMW and a hedgehog? ‘s true…

How very helpful 8O [/quote]

Sorry Iain, should have put a winking smiley at the end of that one, was meant as a tongue-in-cheek response to all the BMW-luvvin’ Skoda haterz out there* :D

For reference: I’ve got a shagged-out 53 plate 1.2 petrol Fabia, and it does what I need it to, gets me from A to B with people, bikes, kayaks and whathavyer in the back/on the top. I’d love a Superb, and loved driving one when I got given it as a courtesy car. Didn’t do much in the way of mileage in it – was a work day so only the commute, sadly – but it was very smooth, very nice, had more toys than I’d ever need/want, and went quite quickly. I think they’re grand, and I think there’s a lot of, imho undeserved, brand snobbery against Skoda. I don’t know whether you would, in your own words, ‘regret’ the change, that’s entirely up to you, your driving and whether you spend all your time thinking “I wish I’d stuck with the Bimmer”. I don’t think there’s any physical reason why you would, but then to me a car’s just a car…

*I was serious about the ‘couldn’t bring myself to drive a beamer’ comment, though. None of the ones round here seem to have working indicators… ;)

Will you prefer the beemer? Yes, of course. They cost more for good reason. For starters, it’s a SKODA

Not sure you can state outright what someone else will prefer, you know that old term ‘YMMV’?

I’d prefer the Skoda given the chance. Couldn’t bring myself to drive a beamer. You know what they say about the difference between a BMW and a hedgehog? ‘s true…

Hey geetee, thanks for your response, and my apologies; my comment wasn’t meant to be confrontational or demanding of an answer. As I say, I think my ‘not getting it’ probably reflects more on me as a viewer than on you as a photographer.

I’d be interested in discussing a little, would you mind if I emailed you?

The second Deltron album, Event II. Came out a couple of years back but I was slow getting hold of it. The first album, Deltron 3030, was on rotation for a lot of my uni life, the second album’s on regular play now.

Interesting article, geetee, nicely put together. Thanks for sharing.

I don’t really get ‘Street Portraiture’, though. Your shots are really nicely composed, lit, exposed etc, but I just don’t get it as a genre. I suspect it might just be me, but I find those kind of portraits awkward and unnatural, no matter how hard either party tries to make them seem natural.

(NB for avoidance of doubt: Not meant as a criticism at all, just a comment, and probably more of a comment on me than anything else!)

Bin dun…

My small XC’s arrived. Seems to fit well – I’m one of these people who’s bonce seems to be right inbetween helmet sizes, which usually means I’m either the pinhead in a small or the mushroomhead in a large. Tweaked the pads a little but only had a brief try-on in the office so far (looked too much of a divvy wearing a helmet at my desk so took it off). Not had the strap issues a couple of people have mentioned, but everything seems well built and easily adjustable, so for £20 I’m pretty happy with it.

You do get some nice effects with f1.4

You do, but you also get a lot of people using shallow depth of field as a crutch to compensate for poor composition.

(For the avoidance of doubt, that’s not a dig at anyone here, just a general observation!)

aP – If you decide to get rid, let me know, could be interested in one of them.

( /end minor hijack… )

I shot on a pair of D7000s for a long time before upgrading to two D750s and a D7200. I do a lot of shooting outdoor sports (kayaking, biking, adventure racing) and the occasional wedding. Something people haven’t really mentioned above is the practicality of certain lenses, which I guess matters to different people depending on what they’re shooting and for why.

I’ve shot with most of the Nikon 70/80-200mm range, hired for events over the years, but bought the newest 70-200mm f/4. The f/2.8s are lovely, don’t get me wrong, but I got sick of hauling that much weight around, especially when I’m on a bike or running along a river bank. I’ve not missed having the extra stop, the D7000s are good enough at high ISO that it doesn’t make a massive difference (and, depending on how much you edit and where you’re outputting shots to, camera noise can be more-or-less irrelevant). The depth of field difference is negligible or at least not noticeable to most people (me included), and the VR system is good enough that you can keep the shutter speeds down if you want to. The 700g weight difference has been the most noticeable thing!

My favourite lens for the D7000s, which I’ve now sold on as I’ve gone mainly full-frame, was a Tokina 50-135mm f/2.8. Well built, great range, smooth zoom, lightweight and perfectly designed for DX. Slightly sad to get rid of it, but it duplicates the 70-200 range on a full-frame body, so was surplus to requirement. The only DX lens I’ve kept is the 17-55mm f/2.8, to fill in a gap between a full frame 16-35mm f/4 and the 70-200.

Workstand ordered! Saves me doing the usual: Getting to the local Aldi not-quite-early-enough and finding some pikey curnutt’s bought them all up to lob on Ebay…

A box of Timothy Taylor Boltmaker
A BOX?????
since when has any decent Tim Taylors come in a box?

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Since people started doing brew-your-own clones?

I prefer the original by Blaze Foley on the Ausin Outhouse recording

Aye, I meant the best of Haggard’s versions!

House brick. The wheel fits nicely in the V shaped indentation.

Random trivia – that indent is called a frog

Had a plastic riser block with my trainer but it cracked. Now use a brick. If the brick cracks, I’ll start taking the effort to lose weight more seriously.

A_A – The version on the same-titled album is the best one. I was never sure he could cut it convincingly in the versions when he was younger. As an older man in 2000-ish, the cracks in his voice made that song shine. Bit like Glenn Campbell’s re-recording of Rhinestone Cowboy, it’s a song that (IMHO) got better with it’s imperfections.

In the words of the Dixie Chicks – “They sound tired, but they don’t sound Haggard; They got money but they ain’t got Cash” – now we don’t either. RIP Merle.

Proper tea please, milk, no sugar.

Just don’t tell Proudhon, he’d tell you all proper tea is theft.

JJA’s been a bugger for using anamorphic lenses, which can do some funky flare thingies. Didn’t he apologize for over-using them in one of the ‘Trek movies he did?

How did people get on? Muddy in places but at least the weather got out nice later on. De-signing the Cinder Track in the afternoon was positively pleasant!

This’ll go down well on here…

We start putting the signage out on Thursday morning. Just hope the weather’s better than it was last weekend and at last year’s event!