Looking from Europe it seems to be proper time to start a new POTW, so as I'm here, I'll just start it

Welcome to POTW #43, 12/24/08 - 1/12/09

This week's photos will cover these dates: Sunday Dec 21st till Saturday Jan 3Rd 2009

Let's keep up the high standard of shots we have seen over the past weeks.

Rules as before:

1) No theme just your favorite stuff.
2) Let's keep it to about 4-6 images per post just so the thread doesn't get too big each week .
3) Any Pentax camera is fine, film, P&S, DSLR (or Samsung DSLR)
4) Runs for 14 days. Sunday Dec 7th till Saturday December 20th.
5) Enter anything you shot last week or this current week until the thread closes.

Previous hosts: 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, 20 Bamela, 21 Syb, 22 & 23 maxwell1295, 24 dantuyhoa, 25 Gawan, 26 Peter Zack, 27 borno, 28 daacon, 29 gawan, 30 Damn Brit, 31 & 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

To start, here is a recent snapshot

[smf]

this is what I photograph.
K100D

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Last edited by smf; 11-30-2012 at 10:14 AM.

[xs400]

Pano of the Crystal Springs Reservoir, about 20 miles south of San Francisco
Stitched from 3 images using Autopano, K100D + DA 18-55mm

[borno]

It finally cleared up here so I tried out the bushhawk and smc 500mm. I forgot the k20d was on 1600 asa but they looked pretty good anyways to me.





with an old 80-200mm tamron

[daacon]

seacapt - thanks for the comments - wonderful beach shots I like the sea shell and the second sunset well done.

bbpa103 - great idea for numbers - I like it.

Bruce - shame on you for posting that when there are lovely pictures of smoke stacks ! I like the first one and nice bokeh on the last one

Georg - thanks for the comments very nice night shot - like the blue

smf - nice close ups - the first one looks a little soft but well framed

Frank - great landscape you live in a picturesque area where is all the snow ?

Tom - love the first one ISO 1600 could not tell from those posts.

A few fire shots - I like the heat wave on this one



I like the colors in this one

[dantuyhoa]

Shot this on the way back from a visit with a friend




This is my friend . Well , we're "friends" as long as I stay on the other side of the camera



Tran

[Bramela]

Dave, sorry for overshadowing your smokestacks. They are good shots nevertheless
Perhaps I should have a little more faith in my shots, it just seems to me there are so many really top shots on this Forum it has one a bit amazed at times
The standard of all shooters on this Forum is to be commended!

[borno]

Just keeping things going (things move fast lately). This little guy lost his tail feathers, I'm guessing he's lucky

[gawan]

• smf, I like the first of the red/gren palnt images, We call that plant a "Christmas star" and it is a usual thing to bring when visiting someone at Christmas, is it the same in US?
• Frank, great panorama of a beautiful palace!
• Tom, that second heron is just great! The common sparrow in the last post is posing to you!
• Dave, I once tried to catch the warm air waves, but never succeeded like you did (I recommend to click and see the big version!)
• Tran, that bridge is amazing PP work, how did you do that? I like the portrait, specially when there are those mirrors!

This is a recent scene from nearby, mono toned this time

[reeftool]

This is what you will find the local kids doing at the beach in the winter after the lake has frozen over. K10D and Sigma 70-300.

[xs400]

OK, so you are probably thinking this is a boring photo. But there is more to it than you think. This is my desk at home - yeah, still boring. Well, I just got a copy of Photomatix Pro (HDR software) and this is a composite of 5 images taken with the K20D and Pentax A 28mm. The only light coming in the room was from the window on the right. This is the first HDR I've produced with Photomatix Pro. I am pretty happy with the results.

[gawan]

Okay Frank, this is a VERY INTERESTING boring photo! This something I would like get from a HDR, not unrealistic colours but superb lighting!

Did you use camera's bracketing feature or define your own setting for those 5 images?

[xs400]

Okay Frank, this is a VERY INTERESTING boring photo! This something I would like get from a HDR, not unrealistic colours but superb lighting!

Did you use camera's bracketing feature or define your own setting for those 5 images?

I did use the camera's auto bracketing for the shot of my desk. I think the unrealistic colors are generated using the saturation and contrast sliders in the software. But I'm not positive about that. I am still learning how to use the software. I do, however, like how I was able to eliminate all the shadows in the room.

[dantuyhoa]

Georg : Thanks . My friend and I shot at a shopping mall . It was fun .

I used this

photoshop tutorials, neon effects using filters, plugins

The trick was for the "letters" but for an odd moment I saw the all the lines in my image so I gave it a try . Won't work for all the images , I guess .

Just dogpile for " photoshop neon effects " then you can see a whole bunch . Have fun .

Frank : That is a very cool HDR there . I see your "toys" list getting bigger . Congrats on the K20D .

Tran

[maxwell1295]

I haven't been shooting much lately......a combination of cold temps, being busy, and also being under the weather. Here are a couple of recent images....

[gawan]

Thanks for joining, Alan, that portrait is stunning!