tdierikx

Isn't it funny how most of the responses here are for larger breed dogs... so much more of them to cuddle, yes? T.

'm a Canon girl... but would go the Tamron 18-270 over the Canon 18-200 in a heartbeat... I've gotten some gorgeous photos with my Tamron 18-270 on my 60D. Check out what it gave me at Taronga Zoo a couple of weeks ago - the photos from 27 and 28 July are with the Tamron... http://www.flickr.com/photos/tdierikx T.

Tamron lenses con with a Nikon mount too... well worth the investment. T.

What camera body do you have? For my Canon 60D I love my Tamron 18-270mm lens - best of all worlds - has been on the camera since the day I bought it 18 months ago - only recently came off to give the new 100-400mm lens a good workout. It's still the best all purpose lens out there I reckon - and it's not overly expensive, and nice and light! T.

As an owner of 2 dogs that would be the subject of such a campaign, I'm not impressed... Funnily enough I'd trust either of them with a small child much more than my other 2 dogs who are "more suitable pets" according to M Devine... Seriously, why do we have to legislate to the lowest denominator all the time? T.

Ummm... they have to be policed effectively... or nothing works. We have enough current laws and regulations already to cope with the issues out there, but what we DON'T have is any funding put into the manpower needed to effectively police them. It's piss easy to enact a kneejerk reaction law, but a whole other ballgame to make sure it is enforced. It takes the average Joe about 10 minutes to find an unmicrochipped pup/dog for sale - maybe a hour or two to go buy it. There's one example of how blatantly one current LAW (in NSW at least) is being flaunted. One look into the numbers of adolescent unchipped dogs impounded at any given time is also an eye-opener... they came from somewhere, yes? If there were people on the ground in animal management/control positions, maybe they could crack down on the high numbers of backyard breeders carelessly pumping out substandard pups and selling them to anyone with the purchase price. The "crackdown" needs to start somewhere - and above is going to have the fastest and most efficient results... and best of all, it doesn't impact all of those doing the right thing. T.

The 5200 looks pretty good value... check out the prices with different lens addons... http://www.digitalcamerawarehouse.com.au/category1303_1.htm T.

Probably got your email address from NARGA... T.

Apart from the last line and the sex, you've described my Woosie (1993-2004)... T.

Isn't Chrissie Swan the one that is a bit obsessed about being a fattie? *grin* Seriously though, who reads the Tele for an informed piece of reporting? T.

I just made a Flickr account... http://www.flickr.com/photos/tdierikx/ I also have a Photobucket account... http://s6.photobucket.com/user/tdierikx/library/?sort=3&page=1 T.

A local vet that runs his own successful practice is actually the lowest earner in his family - his brothers and sisters are doctors (of the people treating variety) and make a heck of a lot more thaan he does. I read somewhere recently that an average wage for a vet is actually around the 56k mark - that is if you are working for a clinic, rather than running it yourself. Possibly could get more if working at a pricey inner city clinic... Funnily enough, I considered wanting to be a vet when I was younger - but rather than thinking of the earning potential, I was more concerned about how I'd cope with not being able to save them all with my skills... needless to say, I didn't follow through on wanting to be a vet... *grin* Vet nurses are not paid very well either... even though they perform a huge amount of critical care work and have to deal with customers much more than vets do. T.

That last one was a bit distressing... ... and the puppy falling asleep in the waterbowl is one that every puppy owner should take notice of... The definite stand out was mumma cat pulling the kitten in closer for comfort when it was having a twitchy dream... definite "awwww" moment there! T.

From what I can see the 70-200 is approx 1cm longer - depending on which camera body you have it should fit into the 250 backpack. I have the 60D and there is a bit of room still with the 100-400 lens on. The only way you can really be sure is to go to a store and see which one fits your kit better. T.

Check whether your current lenses will fit a new Nikon - Nikon do make some very nice cameras. It will be less expensive in the long run if you can use your current lenses. T.

Santo66 - I know exactly what an American Bulldog is - and have probably been up close and personal with a few more than you have by the sounds of your arguments here. In fact I've probably been up close and personal with more bull breeds in general than you have - and that is where I draw my conclusions about them from - not media hype and ignorant spewing forth of non-facts about certain breeds. There are "bad seeds" represented in ALL breeds... sorry - but that is FACT. I have met Labs and Goldies (and other supposedly "wonderful family pet" breeds) that I've been very leery of approaching, so don't ever assume that a certain stereotype re breed is going to be the norm either. Sure, any larger breed dog will have the capacity to cause severe damage if inclined to bite - but that doesn't mean they are predisposed to do so as a whole. 2 American Bulldog attack stories in the media does not an epidemic make... *grin* T.

American Bulldogs again.........the Jogger now this one There is no place in the community for these stupid breeds for people wanting a protective type of dog. There is nothing wrong with having a dog that offers some protective quality in fact a dog can be very effective to keep potential thieves and unwanted visitors away and help people sleep at night, but a good GSD or Rotty will achieve that nicely who are genetically safe unless provoked with a high degree of trainability......bloody Bulldogs, Mastiff's and crap like that used as protection dogs are mauling's waiting to happen......when individual dogs in these breeds have a high degree of social aggression, they are extremely hard to train and direct aggression in the right areas for the right reason which is the reason why professional's don't use these breeds in formal protection roles. There is a place for every breed (or mix) of dog out there in our society Santo66... I'd be willing to lay odds that most people that own bull breeds aren't feral types that the media will have you believe, nor are their dogs. Most bull breeds that I've met have been lovely tempered things who only want to be your friend and get cuddles... and I've met more than a few since being involved in rescue. What there is no place in our community for is the type of person who thinks that they need a big powerful and inherently dangerous dog as some sort of status symbol. Not every large bull breed type is automatically going to be likely to attack anyone - just as not every smaller breed of dog is going to be calm and happy to interact with everyone either. Those of us who are responsible owners of larger dogs can get a bit defensive when blanket statements about them are perpetuated by the media and the blissfully ignorant. The problem is that uninformed or biased reporting often results in kneejerk legislation that can affect ALL dog owners, not just those doing the wrong thing... who will keep doing the wrong thing anyway because the laws and regulations aren't policed in any effective manner. T.

Sometimes having a young dog in the mix can bring an older dog into a "second childhood"... my Zeddy has been known to try to play zoomies and steal toys to "compete" with the attention the cute young ones are getting. My tip would be that Wolf has noticed you are not feeling well, and is trying to be some comfort to you by staying close and doing what she thinks will take your attention off your illness. T.

I'm certainly not "talented"... honest! I point the very expensive bit of kit in the direction there is something interesting, let it do it's focus thing, then press the button lots - sometimes I make the expensive long thing get longer or shorter too, but that's about it really. I've found that if I take lots and lots of photos around the same time of the same thing, a few of them look really good and are worthy of sharing... but there are a lot that aren't very good too... *grin* I don't do any post processing either because I'm a completely lazy git... I'm sure that if I did, some of those no so good pics could be worthy of sharing too, but really I can't be arsed at this point to spend all that time learning how to do it properly. Maybe one day... A new Zoo friend has a little Canon SX camera and she has some really awesome pics from it... check out her stuff... http://www.flickr.com/photos/55369298@N00/ - check out her sets too... I might pack the old S5 with me next time I go to the Zoo, see what it gives me as well as "The Beast"... it gave me lovely shots a few years back... http://s6.photobucket.com/user/tdierikx/library/S5%20Zoo%20photos?sort=2&page=1 T.

LG - if you ever get your butt down to Sydney for a few days, we must go to the Zoo together... I'll know all the best views by then and will happily show you around... ... and if you like the pics in this thread, you're going to love the ones that my new longer zoom lens gave me in the other thread... *grin* As for selling my photos... errr... but I'd happily give them to the Zoo people to use if they wanted them. Anything that helps them raise money to keep all those animals happy and healthy would be an honour I reckon. Did you know that Taronga is a not-for-profit orginisation? Awesome! T.

I have this one... http://store.lowepro.com/backpacks/dslr-video-fastpack-250-aw Fits my 60D with the 100-400mm lens attached nicely. T.

WOW! Look at the weights on them!! Stunning photos Kirislin... love your work! T.

The second gorilla shot reminds me of one of my cousins... lol! He gets the exact same grumpy bum look... T.

... I hope you enjoy them as much as I am taking them... T.

I'm pretty proud of some of these... ... a couple more to come...