Nice shot. So, in a few words, how do you do the frame like that?

Some nice Ls here, does this one qualify?

Lord Collingwood's Monument, Tynemouth

Interesting... Seems like a strange way to fly!

Excellent video!

I had a benbo for some years, and really liked it. It certainly wasn't lightweight, though. The ability to alter the leg positions independently of each other is really useful if you are on uneven ground.

This is similar to the Kowa lens I was talking about, except the stem was about a foot longer. I imagine it would be very heavy to carry and use...

Nice - especially the one with the gator!

Only if I am lonely...

Yeah, I'd like to try that also...

Time to set up a masterclass!

I can carry all my camera gear in one bag. My still camera - Canon Powershot something-or-other - and 2 video camcorders; one is one of these things that look like a cylinder, and the other is a tiny little thing - the poor man's gopro!

I am hoping to reenter the world of the slr at some point soon, so I will probably need a bigger bag!

That first one is great... Last time I was there, was just a couple of weeks after 9/11, and you couldn't walk out on the dam, or get into the visitor's centre at all. I have some pics, but they are not good.

Yes, a very nice shot...

Nice...

As a Brit living in the US, I feel qualified to join this debate. I think 'gun control' is a farce. There are literally *hundreds* of gun control laws on the books, and look how much good they do... Obama goes on about the evils of guns, but he and his family have lifetime protection from one of the best armed services in the World, the Secret Service. He doesn't need to be able to defend himself. Course, the SAS would be better, but that's a given!

It is true that the cities in the US with the strictest gun control laws have the highest murder rates, plus muggings, rapes, etc. The gun control advocates conveniently ignore that statistic.

Gun-free zones are the product of a deranged mind... YOu are telling the nutters that here is a place you can go on the rampage with no fear of retribution until help can be summoned from afar.

After 9/11, the airline pilots asked for permission to carry guns on their planes, but were turned down because it was "too dangerous". I think that, if 9/11 taught us *anything*, it is that the person in control of an aircraft does not need a gun to commit horrendous death and destruction.

When Texas became a "shall-issue" state (for the Brits, that means you can apply for a permit to carry a concealed weapon and the state has to have a reason to deny you), crimes against the person - rape, muggings, etc. - went down by about 80% overnight. It is common sense that you need a bit more courage - or a bit less sense - to accost someone in the street, when there is a fair chance that they will pull out a .45 or a .357 and fight back.

I don't expect this to change anyone's mind. Gun control is joining religion, abortion and sports teams as one of those subjects which people refuse to consider with an open mind.

Be safe, all...

I have often wondered about that... I used to have a Kowa Super 66 medium format camera, and they had a fisheye lens for that which cost several thousand pounds - back it the 70s - and was about 2 feet long with an objective lens the size of a moderate portable tv. I figured maybe one or two fisheye photos per year was probably as much as anyone wants to look at, so how many of those did they actually sell???

I might buy a fisheye attachment for an ordinary lens, if it were priced right, but I just cannot see the purpose of spending huge sums of money for a lens like that.