Mr_Bob wrote:So..., Considering buying my first Digital SLR type camera, what do I need to look at, anyone got any pointers on what to look at, what will I get for say $800-1000? (Or possibly less)
been wanting something a little better than my point & shoot 6mp digital for a while now

I had a Nikon D40, which is the very basic starter SLR, at 6MP its quite low for an SLR but still got all the adjustments for ISO, shutter etc.... awesome as a first SLR, if you wanted something a bit better i'd go for the D60 which is the model up with higher resolution. Sits around $1000 I think and theres a few on trademe with twin-lense kits.

D40 and D60 are retired now, mebe you can find soem still in store.

All the entry level SLR's are pretty decent, canon 1000D, Nikon D3000, sony etc, not a lot between them.

We just had a bit of hail

When I looked at that my first thought was...huh?!? It's hailing leaves???? Cool (cold) pic. I love the autumn colours, and just for the confusion aspect....they're so warm.

Yeah, I need to to use a lower ISO and slower shutter speed to capture the hail stone falling, but it was rather unpleasant and I didn't want to be out there in it for long, but I see its starting up again so I might try again later if the hail gets big again.

Looking at the picture Tinkerbell, I'd suggest a faster shutter speed as the hail appears to just show as long streaks in the photo Start at maybe 1/250 and adjust up till you get the motion capture you want, increasing the ISO as you increase speed to compensate for the reduced exposure time.

Those leaves are cool. What I'd probably do is concentrate purely on the leaves in the foreground, using as big an aperture as possible to give a depth of field that removes the distracting background (get into a position that excludes all of either the brick wall or all of the garden (the green of the plants is complementary to the reddish tones of the leaves)) and try and capture the hailstones bouncing amongst the leaves. That I reckon has the potential for a really cool shot.

Maybe a bit more like this one?

I miss San Francicso! -> http://www.flickr.com/photos/35881467@N00/4638697242/

From today's uplift session at 2stage, Tauranga.

Love the third and last ones.
Especially the third

I autumn

Cos the lights in Palmy are the only thing the place has going for it...

I like the bollard photo.

Pretty cool. Is that statue lit or did you light paint it during the exposure?

Unlit...i got it with a really weak onboard flash burst. All handheld too.