Kirislin

It was a stinking hot day and I still didn't get to take as many shots as I'd hoped. I still find I am taking them too far away, after looking at the running shots here I think I need to get lower and wait longer, for them to come much closer before I start taking pics, I had to crop all of these alot. Whoops caught it. No, you aren't seeing things, that is a Labrador in hot pursuit of a GAP greyhound. In full flight. The dog on the right is Tag and Pucks daddy Fish, who's not only had an illustrious racing career, he's also done well in the modelling field. He's quite a looker. It's not only whippets who come, I think we had about 10 non whippets today, only 3 or 4 ran though, the rest just looked. This little guy was lovely and Ruby had a good time being constantly cuddled, I dont think I saw her with her feet on the ground once. ;) This little girl was a natural, both behind the lure, and in front of the camera

Oh wow, I wish I'd seen this earlier, YES you are most welcome to come along to take photos. If you get any good ones we'd love to put them on our photobucket site. If you want me to let you know about our upcoming days PM me with you email address and I will put you on our mailing list.

so where do you live so I can send Tag the zombie whippet?

weeeeeee! it's all systems Go for tomorrow and thanks to those keen whippeteers who've already contacted me to ask if our day is going ahead. Good news, yes it is. It's going to be warm and the greyhounds should be finished a bit earlier, which means we can start earlier too. We hope to start setting everything up at 10am so fun runs should get underway by 10.30am. The weather forecast is for a cool change around midday so that should be nice, but be sure to keep your dogs cool. There are hosing down bays available to use and make sure both you and your whippets drink enough fluids. Dont forget we will have snags and cold drinks for sale, as well as free tea and coffee, and of course please support our club by buying some raffle tickets. See you all tomorrow and if you dont turn up I am going to send Tag the zombie whippet to your house to deal with you. So be warned

thanks Bonnie, hasn't he got a cute look on his face.

Check out the muscles on this dog. http://www.flickr.com/photos/bikgc/4262270288/

They've just left here, I came in and saw your message so I will have to guess. They will take the first week slow, they think, and plan to stay a few days in Marysville to both rest the camels, and support the town. After that I think they will be trying to make quick time to get through before the snows, so I would say about 2 months, look out for them mid to late April. The other thing you could do is to contact the local co ordinator in that area by emailing the BNT office. They will hopefully know when they are around. I hope you get to meet them. Say hi from Linda if you do.

Was that from the photo5 or something els Bec? If it was the photo5 it's good they went back through them and saw yours. There were so many entries, it's pretty cool yours got noticed. I hope you can tell them about your misfortune with the camera and maybe get a 5D out of it to compensate for the 40D. Now wouldn't that be nice.

I told them about you being interested and they said to tell you they got their camels from Phil Gee, Explore the Outback. Rob did a course with him about 10 years ago and it went for 6 days and at the end you could take you camel home if you wanted. That's how he got Black Jack.

I love it, there's a dreaminess about it. what about cloning out the bed? in the background or is that adding to the dreaminess?

outside Bernadette the camel trekker. dinner I had dinner with my guests last night, it was yum, we sat under the stars and I got bitten on the leg by a nasty ant. If I'd managed to get a photo of it I couldn've called it Eek!

Mine wasn't good quality and the photos were often not sharp or had purple "fringing" which is those purple outlines you sometimes see on photos, not good. If it was better quality I would have been happy with the focal range it had.

If you are really serious they would be good people to speak to for advice. They either made, or got friends to make most of their pack saddles and bags. They wont be home for another 7 months or so though. Here's Pagan sneaking a cautious peek at Black Jack and here she is just being her beautiful self.

That's really nice of you to think of them and it makes me think if any DOLer's live on the National Trail they should keep a look out for Bernadette and Rob Sutton and their 4 camels, Black Jack, Teewah, Dodge and Wolf. They're good people.

I need mine for the whippet fun day this Sunday. Mine's only a 400D anyway.

Bec after looking at that thread I saw there's heaps of them, and the 40D seems to get this alot. Here's some more threads on error 99. You might find a fix in there too, some people have cleaned contacts and things and it's come right. http://photography-on-the.net/forum/search...archid=15671336 I agree with what JS has said about Canon possibly having an obligation to repair, it's worth a shot. Remind them if they fix it you will buy a 70-200, just dont tell them it will be a Sigma

this seems like a common problem Bec. This thread might give you a bit of info. also try searching on that forum I just typed 40D "error 99" and lots came up. http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showth...ht=40d+error+99

Hmmm.. i'll let you know when I work out what an actuation is! I think that might mean a big fat 0 serves me right for using techno talk when I am not sure myself, I think it means how many times has the shutter been used, which apparently isn't necessarily the number of photos it's taken, although if you know how many shots you've taken it would give you a pretty good idea. I dont understand why coming from China is such a bad thing, surely the cameras are still made in Japan by Canon. They aren't counterfeits, do they deliberately make crappy ones for the Chinese? I dont think so, but I am happy to have someone explain it to me. Oh, and I wonder if Michaels were telling the truth when they said they'd replace it for you. How long is their guarantee? He might have just been saying it to make you feel bad.

How many actuations (I think that's what it's called) has your camera had, I thought they were supposed to last for about 100,000.

Oh no! this is just awful, how old is your camera. Have you thought about contacting Canon direct. I've heard that sometimes in the US Canon will fix stuff for free if they feel it's a fault, even if it's out of warranty. Maybe it's worth a shot to contact them in Sydney, I think that's the head office in Australia. Also isn't there a recovery disc you get with your camera when you buy it. I think I have one for my 400D. If I was you I would at least ask for advice and suggestions on POTN, the Canon enthusiasts forum. good luck

The local rag asked me if I had any shots of the camel trekkers arriving at Donnellys weir which is the official end or Southern most point on the National Trail as they weren't able to get out there themselves. I emailed them some and they want to use them in the paper, does that mean I can say I am a published photographer?

Wolf the unwell camel is much better today! Keen to eat and looking alert. They will probably head off either Saturday or Sunday to do it all over again but in reverse.

I can't help you with Nikon advice. I have a Canon 75-300 that I dont use now but the range was good. I used it alot until I got a better quality lens.

Black Jack, Dodge and Wolf all came from SA, Teewah came from Qld and is an ex tourist rides camel.

Where did you get your camels from? I could see myself with one here as a permanent addition after meeting these ones. I dont think I'd be riding it though, I was terrified on Black Jack, even where the riding saddle sits on his hindquarters it's still easily about 6'4'' high, that's equivalent to riding a 19hand high horse. It's quite warm here today and they are coping well. 2 nights ago it was quite cool and Berandette put a blanket on Wolf the poorly one.