Welcome to edition #197 of the Pentax Forums' Picture of the Week. Special thanks to jmschrei for hosting the previous week and inviting me to host this week. Feel very privileged!

This edition covers photos from 1 January 2012 - 15 January 2012. That lets you show off any shots you took last week but haven't processed until now. In other words, you can post your shots from this week AND last week.

POTW is a great place to show what you've been shooting day-to-day. It gives us all a chance to see what other members are up to with their Pentax (and Samsung) cameras in the parts of the world in which they live or have visited. We can share ideas, learn from one another, and have a good time.

So show us what you've seen in your little corner of the planet! Looking forward to seeing all of what's out there this week. A special welcome to all new members!

Again same rules as always:

1) No theme, just post your favorite pix.

2) Lets keep it to fewer than 6 images per post just so the thread doesn't get too big each week.

3) Any Pentax camera or Samsung SLR is fine, whether it's film, P&S, or DSLR.

4) Enter anything you shot last week or during this current week until the thread closes.

5) The current host will appoint the new host as an invitation via Private Message (PM). If possible, the new thread will be linked to the previous one and the new thread will start between Noon EDT and 5PM EDT on Sunday. If the thread doesn't start, please contact Peter Zack, Moderator via PM.

Here are the links to previous POTW threads:

1 Peter Zack, 2 Eaglerapids, 3 rmtagg, 4 Peter Zack, 5 daacon, 6 Bramela, 7 mtnbearhug, 8 dantuyhoa, 9 gawan,10 roentarre, 11 daacon, 12 Kris, 13 mtnbearhug, 14 SCGushue, 15 daacon, 16 maxwell1295, 17 dantuyhoa, 18 daacon, 19 maxwell1295, 19(2) daacon, 20 Bramela, 21 Syb, 22 maxwell1295, 23 maxwell1295, 24 dantuyhoa, 25 Gawan, 26 Peter Zack, 27 borno, 28 daacon, 29 gawan, 30 Damn Brit, 31 maxwell1295, 32 maxwell1295, 33 dantuyhoa, 34 daacon, 35 Peter Zack, 36 Damn Brit, 37 Borno, 38 Kevint, 39 Peter Zack, 40 Timbo13, 41 daacon, 42 daacon, 43 gawan, 44 dantuyhoa, 45 daacon, 46 Rense, 47 daacon, 48 Rense, 49 borno, 50 Rense, 51 daacon, 52 Peter Zack, 53 Peter Zack, 54 dadipentax, 55 David Whiteley, 56 planedriver, 57 daacon,58 Bramela, 59 daacon, 60 gawan, 61 virgilr, 62 daacon, 63 RickL, 64 Peter Zack, 65 Peter Zack, 66 Causey, 67 daacon, 68 Bramela, 69 georgeweb, 70 daacon, 71 seacapt, 72 daacon, 73 AOski, 74 Rense, 75 eccs19, 76 daacon, 77 xs400, 78 daacon, 79 Bramela, 80 borno, 81 legacyb4, 82 daacon, 83 gawan, 84 Rense, 85 Peter Zack, 86 davef, 87 davef, 88 xjjohnno, 89 Bramela , 90 Peter Zack, 91 daacon, 92 stevebrot, 93 reeftool, 94 jezza323, 95 oldschool, 96 Iris, 97 Rense, 98 planedriver, 99 xs400, 100 Peter Zack, 101 Netuser, 102 Photolady, 103 Tamia, 104 Irishwhite, 105 Ramseybuckeye, 106 xjjohnno, 107 Bumbibop, 108 JeffJS, 109 Tpeace, 110 Nomad, 111 Photolady, 112 rparmar, 113 Peter Zack, 114 casil403, 115 Tamia , 116 JeffJS, 117 bbluesman, 118 Clou, 119 ruggiex, 120 Jimbow007, 121 jmschrie, 122 VaughnA , 123 pop4, 124 casil403, 125 woof, 126 twitch, 127 stevebrot, 128 ohce, 129 jmschrei, 130 photolady, 131 photolady, 132 bbluesman, 133 rparmar, 134 reeftool, 135 reeftool, 136 Oldschool, 137 xjjohonnol, 138 KarenH, 139 Rense, 140 daacon, 141 Tamia, 142 JeffJS, 143 bbluesman, 144 fotaki, 145 fotaki, 146 Woof, 147 Bramela, 148 Bramela, 149 Tamia, 150 Nomad, 151 Clou, 152 drugal, 153 rparmar, 154 Nomad, 155 jmschrei, 156 noelcmn, 157 noelcmn, 158 rwfarnell, 159 ramseybuckeye 160 christophleipzig, 161 JeremytheIndian, 162 SpecialK, 163 emetcalf, 164 emetcalf, 165 stevebrot, 166 rparmar, 167 Mattt, 168 JeffJS,169 jmschrei, 170 fotaki, 171 xs400, 172 TOUGEFC, 173 TOUGEFC, 174 Warped, 175 MaryAD, 176 Davidw0815, 177 baro-nite, 178 baro-nite, 179 pentaximus, 180 lukulele, 181 lukulele, 182 rob 1234, 183 lukulele, 184 lukulele, 185 pentaximus, 186 ramseybuckeye, 187 ramseybuckeye, 188 StDevious, 189 Free Soul, 190 Clou, 191 brvnara, 192 Pentaximus, 193 Noelcmn, 194 Noelcmn 195 GmcarsMAN, 196 jmschrei

[wolfiegirl]

Ok, this is the first time I've ever hosted a thread like this, so bear with me if I do any mistakes! To start the ball rolling, here's one taken this morning. We stayed at my mother in law's in Sydney overnight and woke up to this:



A very different view to my usual rural scenes!

k100d, tamron 80-210 103a. Click on image for exif data.

[xjjohnno]

Wolfiegirl, thanks for hosting this week's POTW. You're doing fine, Sydney Harbour North Shore?
Some birds from today's stroll in the park.

[mde1970]

This is my first attempt at replicating the dark, grungy style of photography of old decaying buildings. It was a return trip to an old abandoned Victorian school house and I think it proved a interesting scene for this type of photography.

[cif]

Great pics everyone.

[baro-nite]

Thanks for hosting, wolfiegirl! OK, not exactly rural, but then that's not typical big city bustle either. Looks like a lovely spot to live.

Thanks for the birdies, xjjohnno. #4 is especially nice.

mde: very atmospheric ruined interiors. Some call it "ruin porn", I call it fascinating.

cif: lovely and varied set!

We're making it around the world rather quickly already.

Finally got out to try my new (to me) A 400/5.6. Not as bright a day as I was hoping to shoot with a long slow lens, but I got a few I'm pleased with, enough to show me that this is a capable lens. I'll be posting some elsewhere, but here's a couple. One of my pal the GBH with a fish, and something you don't see every day -- a man taking his Mandarin Duck for a walk. Here he (the drake) gives him a playful bite.

[wolfiegirl]

Thanks for all the welcoming encouragement

Wolfiegirl, thanks for hosting this week's POTW. You're doing fine, Sydney Harbour North Shore? Some birds from today's stroll in the park.

Yeah, up near Hunter's Hill Love the ducky shot

This is my first attempt at replicating the dark, grungy style of photography of old decaying buildings. It was a return trip to an old abandoned Victorian school house and I think it proved a interesting scene for this type of photography.

Gorgeous pics mde! That one of the decaying floors though.. YIKES! I hope you were wearing a construction hat!

Great pics everyone.

Love that tree shot cif!

Thanks for hosting, wolfiegirl! OK, not exactly rural, but then that's not typical big city bustle either. Looks like a lovely spot to live. Thanks for the birdies, xjjohnno. #4 is especially nice. mde: very atmospheric ruined interiors. Some call it "ruin porn", I call it fascinating. cif: lovely and varied set! We're making it around the world rather quickly already. Finally got out to try my new (to me) A 400/5.6. Not as bright a day as I was hoping to shoot with a long slow lens, but I got a few I'm pleased with, enough to show me that this is a capable lens. I'll be posting some elsewhere, but here's a couple. One of my pal the GBH with a fish, and something you don't see every day -- a man taking his Mandarin Duck for a walk. Here he (the drake) gives him a playful bite.

hahaha.. "ruin porn" love it!

that last picture is gorgeous. those colours are amazing! i have a 400 5.6 squirreled away somewhere. it's super light despite its cannon sized length. should probably take it out for a spin. last time i did it was miserable and grey and I was a bit meh with the results.

yeah, my mother in law's place is a nice place to stay - nice and quiet and all that - but it's a bit hard to get to. commuting to sydney is a total drag. i think on bad days it takes about an hour (i think on weekends it's only like a 10-15 min drive into the cbd?). and the ferries that take you across sydney harbour take just as long i think. anyway, i don't even live in sydney anymore.. boo hoo.

[SpecialK]

Airshow/carshow.

[wolfiegirl]

great shots SpecialK! Love the first and second. You even got the hand wave!!!

[lukulele]

Great Job Wolfie! Great work from everyone already
Went to town this weekend for systemwide magnet school fair in preparation for student lottery. Played with sensitivity and lighting for the first time in staircase and dimly lit hallways.The quilt is from a home improvement show. Have a great week everyone.

[wolfiegirl]

Thanks Lukulele. That first shot is a total riot of colour! Absolutely gorgeous!

[lost.echo]

IMGP0732 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7025/6665057075_fcdb412905_b.jpg

[wolfiegirl]

very interesting shots you've got there, lost echo what's that last pic of? plug hole/drain in sink? *curious*

[mde1970]

cheers wolfiegirl & Baro-nite. Never heard of the term "ruin porn" I'll have to google that one (although not from work :-)

No construction hat, just being very careful when walking around upstairs! It really was an eerie place. Need to return at night soon with some lighting for effect (although will limit to downstairs shots only).

Lost.echo -That last water drop shot is great!

[wolfiegirl]

cheers wolfiegirl & Baro-nite. Never heard of the term "ruin porn" I'll have to google that one (although not from work :-)

No construction hat, just being very careful when walking around upstairs! It really was an eerie place. Need to return at night soon with some lighting for effect (although will limit to downstairs shots only).

BWAHAHAA.. i can just see it now.

Boss: "mde, we're going to have to have a little talk about your searching for "ruin porn" at work. It's not really appropriate.."
mde: "nah nah nah, boss. it's not what you think!!!"
Boss: *looks at mde sceptically*

*snorts*

i just took a whole bunch of sunset (aka low light) shots with the F 35-70 and was so disappointed. all this motion blur. that never happens when i use MF lenses. I thought AF lenses were sposed to be silver bullets!

i'd be curious to see what lenses you use and if you grab a tripod if you do end up going back to do some downstair shots of your ruin, mde.