Sorry no bikes, but have had no time for anything other than kid’s Christmas photoshoots over the last few weeks. This wee lass was a delight to shoot and her parents were happy for me to share the images online.

Photobucket[/url] is very user friendly and perfect if you’re not too tech-savvy (like me!).

I’ve always just used cheapy ebay radio triggers – the low profile ones are the only ones which will work with brollie brackets and mini brollies. The tall ones mean that the flash head peeks over the top of the brollie.

Also, as soon as you add brollies to the equation, wind becomes an issue. No matter what I use to weigh down the lightstand, there’s always the danger that it’s going over. The cheap trigger is usually the weak point and my brackets, brollies and Speedlights usually survive! The triggers are so cheap I can afford to have a few spares in my bag.

TINAS – rather than exposing for the background / general scene, I would usually knock the overall exposure down a touch to ‘pop’ the subject with he flash. Not everyone’s cup of tea, but it works for me…

Edit; note the lightstand leg in the bottom right of the middle shot 😳

Hyundai Pony coupe. Kept three spare wheels in the back because they kept collapsing when hitting obstacles such as cats eyes, small twigs and wool.

I was so proud of it – “Electric Blue” with added rust effect. I thought it was a hot hatch!

Lol at Ho-hum’s dad’s car’s windscreen wipers saying, “Tarzan”. That would drive me nuts too 🙂

Hmmm. Could be you’re trying to light the whole scene with the flash. Try bumping up the ISO to allow the camera to use more of the ambient light. Also, the default shutter speed is likely to be 250th of a second – you can slow that right down to maybe a 60th – again, this will let in more of the ambient light and use less flash juice.

Other than that, don’t know. Could be the flash has a fault. My strobes can go a couple of hours or so, pretty much flat out on one set of 7dayshop rechargables (or Duracell AAs).

EDIT: is it a Metz flash? There’s not many that’ll go between systems like that.

Sadly, strobes are one area of photography which require a bit of wonga if you’re looking to get your flash away from the camera without cables.

What system are you using – Nikon? Canon? Other?

Autostitch is the bollocks – it stitches every bit as well as, actually better than Photoshop CS5.

When you shoot your panos, are you ensuring the exposure is the same for each shot (shutter speed and apperture should be the same in every shot)? And are you overlapping each shot by about 50%?

I’ve used autostitch professionally to put together visual impact assessment studies and whilst it does occasionally smooth out the odd detail, I’ve never had a problem with it, even over 360 degree panos….

Wait! Isn’t Santa Claus one of those religious saint types?

Stoner – your OP seems to suggest that the root of this problem is that your wife has faith and you don’t. I don’t feel for a second that Santa and Jesus can’t live in harmony in the mind of your offspring

It’s just one of many idiosyncrasies born of bringing up a child in the UK – it’s normal, it’s expected and why not?

tails – making cigarettes illegal is a truly terrible idea – just look at the ‘war’ on drugs.

Whatever you get, if you’re keen on taking natural light shots of your kid indoors, seriously consider a Lastolite reflector. Makes a massive difference and allows you to bounce a huge amount of light into areas which would otherwise be in deep shadow.

You can also get cheapy ebay versions or make your own out of tinfoil, white polystyrene or even a sheet of white card.

Or just a pair of goretex para boots for only £39.

I’ve two pairs of (non goretex) para boots and they’re spot on for this time of year.

DON’T PUT CHEWING GUM in MY BLEEDIN ASHTRY!!1!1 GAAAAAHHHHHR!!!111

Slowly raises guilty hand 😳

I used to lob mine out of the window because I didn’t want my car to smell like an ashtray.

Then one day I was driving through Glen Shiel on my way to Skye, having a rollie. Glen Shiel is absolutely stunning – all rocky outcrops and looming mountains on each side. There’s a real sense of history too – there was a bloody battle fought there and I always get a chill imagining having to slaughter the enemy on the steep, snow-covered slopes.

Anyhoo, on this particular day, the driver of the car in front threw a carrier bag of rubbish out of his window which disgorged crisp and sandwich packets, apple cores and all manner of crap.

I started flashing my lights at him and gave him a few toots of the horn, just to let him know it wasn’t on. Disgustedly, I sucked down the last of my tab and went to flick it out the window – then stopped and thought on….

Now I use the ashtray in the car, and it stinks.

Hmmm. Can’t remember 😳

I must have done it post-hack, but after a quick look at my profile, I’ve no idea. Quick email to STW maybe?

Did have a similar incident years ago in Aberdeen. First job out of school saw me working at a tailor’s shop half way down a 10 metre one way street.

In order to get to the shop, I usually coasted very slowly on one pedal, (both legs on one side of the crossbar) the five metres down the one way street on the pavement. One morning, an elderly, mustachioed gent was coming towards me and deliberately got in my way. I coasted over to the other side of the pavement and he once again put himself in my path.

He then started shouting about bikes on the pavement and kicked out. I bounced off the wall and back into him, knocking him over and landing on top of him, along with my bike.

Fortunately for me, he wasn’t badly hurt and his swearing and ranting at passers by caused them to point and laugh (his hat was stuck half way over his face). I did a lap of the block before going to work just in case though.

Looks good – I like the simple, clean layout and the logo is to the point.

In terms of getting yourself noticed by the search engines, it’s worth making your user name a link to your site – I get about 50 hits a month from STW stalkers 🙂 Every hit counts!

Probably a bargain that – if I hadn’t just got a 2nd hand Pignose travel guitar off ebay, I’d have given it a whirl. Sadly, instruments, unlike bike parts, cannot be hidden from Mrs UR in the garage.

Or here. It’s a friendly site, full of helpful types, very busy and loads of excellent tutorials.

It’s nothing like this place at all, so I heartily recommend it

😉

Eeerm, is that a fretless neck? Is that normal? I know nothing about banjos, but never seen a fretless one.

Like this – taken about five minutes ago…..

I can shoot a cigarette out of the smoker’s mouth with a rubber band from a good eight metres away. Works with spliffs too and always surprises. Has the adavantage that when a miss occurs, one can deny all knowledge.

I heard there were apologies involved before the leaks.

Why be sorry for telling the truth of the matter?

Stopped buying PG Tips after learning that they’re chopping animals up whilst they’re still alive, disembowelling them and examining their intestines.

All so they can sell the idea that tea keeps you healthy 🙁

I got one of these bad boys and it’s brilliant (as the reviews suggest).

Insulated too, so the coffee stays hot for ages.

drain;

A19 Cold Hesledon, northbound between B1285 and B1404 Seaton Lane
A19 County Durham – A19 in Cold Hesledon closed and stationary traffic northbound between the B1285 junction and the B1404 Seaton Lane junction, because of an accident involving two lorry’s. Congestion to Sheraton.
Updated 23 minutes ago

From the BBC travel site.

So it’s North of Durham and will probably be sorted by tomorrow anyway.

Aye it is a fair old bank up to Durham station – you might be better off parking in the multi-story car park. Will your colleagues get to their office? Depends where they live – if they’re out in the hills it might be a bit touch and go…

EDIT – sorry just re-read your post and see you’re taking the train. Be prepared for the folk you’re meeting to be a bit late at best.

My poor wife is stuck somewhere off the A19 – she left work at 5.30!! Usually takes her 20-25 mins to get home.

The main problem is gridlocked traffic – she says the road is just a sheet of ice. Every tiny hill causes gridlock as some twit in a rear wheel drive car spins out in first gear.

Feel a bit useless sitting here but really, there’s nothing I can do 🙁

Some ‘interesting’ suggestions, thanks. I have read Thompson’s account and hope to get away without getting the bejaysus kicked out of me for being too intrusive.

Really looking forward to it actually – they’re trying to get permission to wear the club colours for their 10 mile cavalcade to the venue – should make for a decent set of pics 🙂

EDIT: Oh and I know that the modern perception of Angels is that they’re all lawyers and accountants. The groom to be friended me on Facebook and going by his pics, this particular chapter still have teeth. The groom himself is 6’8″ and built like a tank. Won’t be messing this wedding up!*

*Or anyone else’s, obviously.

Yes, I have thought about asking the client, but decided it would be more fun to ask on here.

From a ride at the beginning of the year….

My Nikon FM film camera. Belonged to my grandfather, then my mum before I got it. I’ve got loads of other film bodies but the FM is the ‘special’ one. Relegated to infra-red film now but still gets a lot of use when it’s sunny!

It’s been dropped down mountains, fallen off car roofs and had everything from £50 naff lenses to £1000+ lenses stuck on it.

Yay!

House prices in the NE (England) seem to be in freefall. We bought our house for £83 grand three years ago. One almost exactly the same has just gone on the market a few doors down for less than £70,000. 🙁

If I don’t fill mine to the top it throws a hissy fit and spits coffee out through its valve and the threaded section. It also forces grounds up through the spout.

Cheers for the clarification on the training thing.

It seems very obvious that you love this dog to bits and putting myself in your shoes for a moment, it’s clear you’re feeling a lot of guilt. I know I would in the same position.

Our rescue dog very, very nearly went back to the rehoming centre after the first week, during which he howled incessantly at night, to the point where neither Mrs Removed or I had any sleep at all. It was worse than having a baby – they sleep sometimes and this dog just didn’t. The knowledge that he’d been rehomed three times before we got him made us persevere though, and these days, he’s a joy to have around. If I had to make a descision like the one you’re facing I’d be beside myself!

As others have suggested, isn’t it worth trying a local specialist? At least if you try that, and he still needs rehoming you’ll have tried every avenue available and the guilt won’t linger as long.

Of course. Have done so quite a few times – I suspect that a female MTBer is more likely to be offered help!

Aye – been caught out with this before. Had a new card recently? Even if it’s the same account, a new card will have a new card number – the new card needs to be added to your paypal account.

Hora – I’m confused. You say you’re going down the re-training then rehoming route. If you’re going to the effort (and expense if someone else does the training) of re-training the dog, why not just re-train and keep him? Have I misunderstood?

It’s a hard one but I must say I feel that some perseverance on your part might reap happy dividends (I sound like a fortune cookie in real life too).

Foxes are amazingly resourceful. When we lived in Somerset, many years back my folks kept geese, chickens and ducks. They had a massive chicken-wire enclosure, built by my stepdad. He got loads of advice before building it and the wire was dug into a foot deep trench underground.

The fox still managed to get in at least once a month – always went for the chickens – must have been a soft touch compared to the viscious geese!

He got fed up and shot it eventually, but another soon took its place….

If it’s the same as Russian, then yes, “Chonno”.

Whilst sitting in a remote B&B recently, somewhere north of the Cairngorms, I noticed that my (male) dog had a crusty bit on his belly.

Upon closer inspection, the crusty bit appeared to be sitting atop a nipple so I googled it, and it turns out that male dogs do have nipples and that discharge is a bad thing.

So dogs have nipples.

Oh, sorry – mis-read the OP or something….