ajax_andy

I should probably have said I need the car during the day for work, so would always have to drive to work.

Not a bad suggestion tbh but my journey back home involves some quite steep hills and is uphill a lot of the way... might need a proper mountain bike sadly

I'm thinking of buying a bike and cycling home from work, and letting the missus have the car to get home in. Currently she has to get the bus as finishes at half 5 and i'm a shite and refuse to hang around for an hour after I finish at half 4. So I thought if I got a bike I could cycle home, it'd be good for my fitness and also she wouldn't have to get the peasant wagon home... so win win really. Anyway I'd need a bike rack or mount for the back of my car and wondered how easy they are to fit, and any issues with it scratching the car or damaging it in any way? We'd be strapping it on (ooh err) 5 days a week so need something practical that won't cause damage and is easy to use. Any suggestions or issues anyone knows about?

Looks a bit 2D this one mate due to only being able to see one eye. I'd have included at least some of the other eye just to give the photo a little more depth.

No probs

Photoshop mainly but lightroom for basic editing. Learning those are nearly as important as learning photography truth be told. However just like photography you can learn little by little so it's not too bad if you can again stick with it and do plenty of reading up and looking at tutorials on youtube etc. As for the pic, I like that you got down to more or less the same height as the dog which is a really good technique, works brilliantly for kids photography too as brings you in to their world as if seeing through the eyes of another child, or dog in this case. However although you got down to almost the right height (would have personally got a bit lower) the fact you took the pic side on to the dog kind of defeats the object as there's no real interaction with the subject. Which leads me on to eye contact... the saying "the eyes are the window to the soul" works as a great reminder in photography to get eye contact with what ever you are shooting... yes in some situations not having eye contact works well (rules are made to be broken), however until you've grasped things a bit more then always try and get that eye contact. I don't have any dog pics I have access to on my work pc so can't post any examples of pics that i've done, but here's one of a young lady instead. Totally different subject matter but try and imagine a side on shot like your dog one i.e no interaction with the camera, and think how this pic would suffer if i'd not got that eye contact:

Cheers for the info guys... it's not something I'm going to be doing any time soon but doesn't seem like there's a huge downside providing the land and planning permission are easy to come by. Might be tricky like Wykiki said to get the planning though but I guess I could look in to that at the time and speak with local planning officers to find out what was possible and not before purchasing the land.

yep good advice by JawD there... also read lots of forums for hints and tips. My favourite is - http://digital-photography-school.com/ The home page has lots of great tutorials updated on an almost daily basis & the forum is especially helpful. Here's a great link from that site http://digital-photo...s-for-beginners Scroll down a bit and you'll see loads of links to all the basic aspects of photography Another great way to learn is post photos either here or especially on there for critique (there's an actual critique section on that forum) and you'll get lots of feedback. Now it's not always easy to hear but it helps you grow quicker than any other way. I remember my first pics on here just after I got my DSLR and JawD basically ripping them to shreds... I thought 'cheeky shite' but in all fairness everything he said was spot on and so began my journey of learning that hearing the negatives about my photos was far more helpful than people going 'ooh nice pic'. If you put the work in, and are willing to read, learn and commit to getting better you can achieve a lot in a short space of time. I only got my 1st DSLR 22 months ago... feel free to check out my website (www.andyhudsonphotography.co.uk) to see just how far you can go in a short space of time. I knew sod all back then, but now I'm at a stage where I feel confident and am charging people for doing my hobby. Oh and one advice would be that you'll either need a very well paid job or a large overdraft + an understanding girlfriend / wife, as once you get the bug it'll cost you a fortune... photography is not a cheap hobby! (Hence why I started charging people as spending £4.5k in less than 2 years on gear took it past the hobby stage lol) Oh and welcome to the forum

Yes that's a good point

I'm kind of tempted to buy a plot of land in the future and just get a kit house built... It'd be cheaper (I think) and also you could have it built within reason to your own style. Well actually they come in certain styles and you pick one, but at least you choose the type you want if that makes sense? I can understand in some countries that building what is in effect a wooden house would be possibly dangerous (hurracane / tornodo territory), but in England I'm not sure of any down sides that I can think of. However not many people seem to go down this route so I was wondering if anyone had a better idea than me on the negative aspects of say building a 4 bedroom house on the outskirts of a nice village in the countryside would be?

No worries mate, I enjoyed our little debate anyway so no hard feelings on my part

Haha being given moderator privileges for the photo forum has clearly gone to my head. Who will I piss off next?!

Apparently he's gone to find my opinion so he can give it to me

He said Foo Fighters were better than Nirvana, and also said that if he wanted my opinion he'd give it to me? The boy clearly types a lot of shite

Please see below: Honestly you're just embarrasing yourself now

Ahh you really shouldn't bother wasting your energy typing if that's all you can come back with. Time to bow out with what little dignity you have left mate

If you wanted my opinion you'd give me it? So you'd have my opinion, and you'd want it, but instead of keeping it you'd give it to me? That's mighty generous of you

Actually I was just thinking about Foo Fighters songs and did you know the song 'All my life' is actually about felating goats? I looked up the lyrics and although I thought Dave Grohl was singing other words he's actually signing: All my life I've been searching for something Something never comes never leads to nothing Nothing satisfies like fellating a Goat Closer to the prize at the end of it's rope All night long I dream of the day When a goat cums it don't make me gay Leaves me with the feeling that I feel the most Feel it come to life when I fellate a goat Never realised they were the lyrics until now, but it's all starting to make sense

Very true... I hadn't considered this method before and may well cut down on the amount of 'toothyness' that I've been experiencing from the goats recently. I can't image 80's power ballads working well for this position though... any recommendations to get the mood just right? Maybe some Foo Fighters?

This is true... however please note that should you wish for the Goat to return the favour I've always found power ballads from the 80's work wonders

But surely if you are felating a goat it's not you that needs to maintain the erection... it's the goat. I'm afraid your ability to keep a goat hard whilst Abba is playing is more down to your own poor technique rather than the music, as personally I've always been able to bring a Goat to climax before the 2nd chorus of Waterloo

I prefer to back up my arguments with concise information that shows the thinking behind my statements. You prefer one line answers that fail to back up anything you say... yet you still want us to believe that your statements are fact and not just your own opinion that is and will always be in the minority on this issue. Case closed I think

Show me a band that aren't. There's a reason why all highly rated bands are rated as such... because so many people absolutely love their music. Doesn't mean everyone will, and those that don't will always say they are over rated and that x band are better. Nevermind and In Utero are always featured very highly in polls carried out by industry types / journo's etc... Nevermind even coming in the top 3 in many... no Foo's album ever has or will. The foo's aren't shit, I quite like them... but Nirvana are a different class, and without them the Foo's wouldn't even have existed. Even Dave Grohl says that the pop melodies combined with the rock sound are learnt driectly from Kurt Cobain. In this sense the apprentice certainly hasn't surpassed the master. Each to their own though, some people like ABBA and would probably argue that they are better than either Nirvana or the Foo Fighters... whereas personally i'd rather felate a goat than listen to their music