They sure cherry picked their chosen compitition
Hi Steve, I live here and I have to tell you that that I have never had a problem in that respect. It's not like the Wild West y'know ;) Walk around with a camera round your neck and you are going to mark yourself out as a tourist but since you are one of the people their economy depends upon, they are going to be nice to you. A druggy might go in for an opportunist snatch but it a rare occurrence. In fact I have not come across it. Having just told you that, I too walk around with my camera but I put my head and one arm through the loop so it hangs by my side a bit like a ladies handbag but not so low. You have to take your elbow out when you want to take a shot but it is not that big a deal.
As for setting it down when you go for a coffee or a beer etc, if it is just the camera then place it on the table and loosely loop the strap around your wrist. If it is a camera bag or back pack, I put it down of the floor and put my foot through the loop then place the strap on my knee. You can even put the foot of the chair through the loop as well if you want to. If the strap is on your knee you won't forget it if you need to stand up for any reason. Then you can simply give it to your traveling companion until you come back.
Although it is also fairly rare, professional thieves are more likely to go for documents than possessions. Passports and identity cards which are common in Europe, can be used to legitimise an illegal comer in and so have value. Best place for these is an a money belt next to the skin although a pocket with a zipper adds an extra level of security. Don't hang your jacket up in a restaurant with your docs in the pocket - tell me you won't do this. In fact, if you are a non European, the hotel you are booked into are likely to hold your passport in their safe for the duration of your stay so be ready for this one if it happens. The don't tell you this but they register your passport number with the police for the duration of you stay. It sounds sinister but it protects you as well. Also take copies of your docs and leave these in a different place or you and your traveling companion can carry each others.
Once, when I was in a pavement cafe (bar) I dropped my wallet out of my back trouser pocket when I stood up to leave. The guy on the next table came running after me down the street with it in his hand, so people are not all bad. Common sense and general awareness are the main things. There is no need to go around clutching your stuff to your chest like the Rain Man, you are on holiday to enjoy yourself so let that be your main priority.
Ah! this is the stuff armchair traveling is all about. It would have been nice to see what photo 3 looked like from water level. I have a pair of plastic sandles I keep in the back of the car so I can do such arty stuff whilst I am secretley indulging my second childhood.
Starbucks dipped their toe into Europe and as far as I am concerned they can dip it straight back out. Having said that, I am (ahem) old enough to remember the coffee bars of the 60's. It seems like the merry-go-round of history has come full circle. It is just that this time Sparticus has ousted the beatniks. I am sure you will agree that is a move in the right dirrection – sort of.
We seem to have srtayed a long way from the Bank of America. You see, it is not just the Nigerians that do this sort of stuff. Cough up and you could be invited to flourish the sick grandma who can't get by without your urgent medical attention. At 65 bucks a hit, you could flourish the whole of Benin. Now there is a thought.
That is a stunning shot. Sometimes you need the luck just to practice the skill.
Jeez, I would be a proud bunny if I could do that. At first I thought you had used flash but with a 400mm lens I realise how stupid that thought was. I particularly like the rim lighting on the near wing and the lighting on the feet in the first one and the almost translucent feather details on the third. The thing that makes this one really dramatic is the backlighting on the wing tips of the lower bird and you don't expect to see that against a dark background. You have caught the moment really well. Superb work.
Yes, you get what you pay for and quality never comes cheap. Having said that, it is a judgement call whether the difference in quality is worth the difference in price. Some companies that produce post processing software offer 60's effects as fun option. Hence we can see how far quality has improved in the last 50 or so years. To make an analogy, no athlete is ever going to run the ten second mile so common sense tells you that there must be a limit somewhere to what is possible and time spans are getting longer and longer between record breaking runs. In a similar way, lenses are also getting nearer to what is possible. There is always a temptation to go over budget to get the next model up. The question only you can answer is whether last years product for reasonable price is good enough for your purpose or will you actually get real value out of the latest technology for an off budget price. Billnikon's third comment above makes a lot of sense; what is behind the camera body is as important as what is in front of it. If it is something that is just on your wish list then perhaps near perfection is good enough, at least you can see what that does and then you can decide if you want to upgrade later by which time the cost of perfection might have come down a tad.
I think I remember innocence, tell her not to grow up, it is a trap.