Linda K

was glad to see on Sunrise this morning that the guy from the RSPCA said that any dog could attack, and the most important things to do with your dog was education and training for you as well as for the dog, proper socialisation of your dog with other dogs and people and the warning that any dog can attack. It was reported during the news as a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, belonging to the son of the couple that were attacked.

the problem with using the auto setting, is that you are letting the camera decide how to take the photo (which it will do, without any artistic decision) - you need to learn all the stuff to take control of how YOU want to expose the photo, making the judgement call on the settings so you get the depth of field and exposure the way you want, not just at the 18% grey that the camera wants it at (which makes white snow grey and black dogs grey too for instance). A highly recommended book is "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson, which is great at putting the relationship between all those things and how they relate to each other, and helping you take the scary leap from auto to manual and not freak out with it.

yippee, that is the best news I have heard in a long time!!!!!!

see it only as their attempt to say that you don't need to stop the puppy factory dogs being sold here - we will do the right thing - yes because they are so ethical already, and we could certainly trust the bored 20yo behind the counter to make that sort of assessment - NOT

what an awesome thoughtful gift, and what a gift you obviously have given them too through the joy they have in watching your dog. Just makes you feel good.

what an awesome job you have done with this old girl, was so worried that there was a different reason this one had been bumped, but so happy when I saw your post with her happy beach shots, she is definitely having a wonderful retirement

my 7yo was in tears watching it too, was really quite upset by it, so we had a talk afterwards, when I told him that was why mum was against the pups we see in the pet shops, and why our animals come from good ethical breeders that we know and trust. Was happy that the RSPCA did not trot our their usual get one from us only line, but also said if you want a proper purebred dog, to do your homework and get one from a reputable breeder. Of course there was the promotion of him as well, but you would expect that, this is afterall their star they are trotting out doing a story, not a real journo, but at least as others have said, it gets it out there and in the peoples minds. Did also like him terming it a puppy factory scenario, as puppy farm does not necessarily have the same overtones in peoples minds, as they may still think of a farm being somewhere where the dogs can run around on acreage - calling it a factory brings the focus more to the point of it being a concrete enclosure production line - not rolling hills.

Bless you for giving this beautiful boy a chance with a loving home for the rest of his life

looks good so far, and what a beautiful boy, glad he is with you, and hope your gang of 3 all settle nicely for the night for you.

think you're right, that at least no news so far hopefully means the pickup occurred, and he is hopefully doing a meet and greet with the new family. Will have to check back after dinner.

and waiting...........

another point is that on auto focus, just because you are telling the camera to use a focus point does not mean the camera will use that one, it will always go for an area of high contrast. A great tip is instead of using the whole eye to focus on, use the corner of the eye, so you have a contrast with eye and fur, rather than the whole eye. If you move fractionally between focusing and pressing the shutter, which can cause the camera to refocus slightly. Manual focus would avoid this, or using a narrower aperture - say F4 or 5.6 to start with, and practice before getting wider and wider will help.

fingers crossed it all goes well. Have a soft spot for dallies - my aunt had the most gorgeous one called Sadie, who lived to a ripe old age

nice wide aperture on the lens (say 1.8 or bigger), and as close to the bars as possible - ideally the animal not up close or touching the bars that way the bars are out of the focal plane and will not be included. use this method all the time at cat shows to get the cats in their show cages, but without the bars in the way, using my 50mm 1.4 lens

the advantage of the P & S is the size and compactness, whereas with the DSLR you have the advantage of superior optical lenses to achieve the outcome. Have never heard of the hybrids, but think it sounds gimmicky, if you want to really get a DSR, then that is what I would be getting.

would hesitate before spending $25000 on anything, as I know how long it would take me to make that, and given that the woman has had to give up the job to look after him full time, not sure about the quality of life for the cat. Would not spend that much myself, but that is me

I was also getting the labrador crosses vibe too

for mine, you can't go past "Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson"

yes, they showed several pictures of Harry, so hopefully that will do some good

yep, not really impressed with making such a joke of it, and amazingly, Dr Chris was the sanest comment on the segment. The one thing is at least all this publicity would be making it tough for whoever dognapped him to do anything, but hopefully they don't just dump him somewhere. They did mention on one of the stories that he was not microchipped too, which might make it harder if he is just dumped somewhere, but hopefully there is enough word to look out for a little chi that he would still be reported to the police.

how awful for his poor owners, hope he gets recovered safe and sound

ditto to what Anne said, would also add that the biscuit size would be alot smaller with cats too.

just love meerkats, they are one of my faves at the zoo, and I always have to stop and see them (and at Werribee, love to sit next to their enclosure and watch them) Great captures

tears down the face, such a beautiful tribute to your kitties, time is never long enough. Hugs to you and RIP Ari & Baz

would only be uncomfortable if the bit was being pulled on by inexperienced rider. Have been around horses of all shapes and temperaments for 40 years, but no way would I use just a halter and lead in this situation, and as I said, the lack of hat worries me - my kids do not even hop on a scooter without one.