~*Shell*~

I have had all three and I think you should go with whatever you will use more. I love my 1.4 but I also love my flash (the hood thingy you're getting would be the diffuser?)! I probably use the 1.4 more but I think having the 1.8 and the 580EX will give you a better range. You can always upgrade to the 1.4 later on down the track - I managed to get my 1.4 for about $450 (then I bought the lens hood for it which was about $50) but my flash on it's own was $470. That being said - the 1.4 works incredibly well in low light! This was taken with only the normal lights you would find on a sports field - not the best shooting conditions! 1/250, f/1.4, ISO 800

I wish Zero took a long time to work out how to get the food out of it. He's worked out how to hold it between his paws to lick the inside of it and if I freeze it, he picks it up and drops it over and over till everything falls out. Damn smart dog! Then again, he is the dog who worked out how to pop the $16 treats out of the everlasting treat ball and ate them in less than 5 minutes.

Awwww - that photo of Asha is great!! She looks like she's smiling! Love the shot of Jed Nik!

*steals Morgie*

Congratulations!!!!! It's fantastic when someone likes what you do but even better when it's a awesome photo of Charch!

No shots from today yet but since I'm shooting on the set of a friend's film tonight (she's one of our producers at work so she's getting a bunch of us to help out), I'm sure they'll be one I can use! We have 2x12cm tarantulas on set tonight so I'm hoping to get some shots of them even though I'm terrorfied of spiders!! Here's my shot from yesterday - since I'm on holidays for 2 weeks, I thought a shot of "death" was rather appropriate. He sits on top of my computer screen.

From what I've been told, all canon lenses have an international warranty, camera bodies have only a national warranty which I think means you would have to send it back to BH for repair. The colour of the lens shouldn't matter - in fact both the canon 50mm 1.4 and 1.8 are black (I've owned both - the 1.8 was not imported, the 1.4 was and looks exactly like the 1.4 you would buy here). The grey lenses are usually the L series lenses and they definitely have an international warranty - a friend bought her 70-200mm 2.8L IS lens in hong kong and had it fixed by canon in Sydney.

Whoops!!!

I love it Nik!! Iltby - that second shot is great. I'm sure I've told you how much I love your cat before but I really do! Great capture fluffypaws - Zero suffers from couch potato syndrome too so I know how hard it is to get a running photo!! Again, I couldn't post yesterday because I was so busy (left home at 6.30am and got home at 12.30am - yes, the next morning!) so here they are: Day 13 - Yoda protects my desk at work. Everytime someone walks past, his lightsaber lights up and he yells at them which is hilarious first thing in the morning or late at night when the security guards walk past because they can't work out where the sound is coming from. Best $7 I ever spent! If Yoda doesn't get you, the sibes behind him will. Day 14 - Remy is my (little bit) deranged cockatiel but i suppose that's what happens when you spend the first few months of your life at pets paradise before they decide they can't sell you and try to release you "into the wild" :. He loves rope swings so this photo is like Rem's Mecca. He's definitely got his "happy place" facial expression going

All you need to do is write, "PROOF ONLY - photo by Shell" or something like that. It doesn't need to be fancy. True. I would like it to be pretty though . I might have to crack out photoshop tonight and see what I can come up with. I would at least like to watermark it with my name or my initials or something. I'll have to design something I can live with.

Great shots Ruth - it's so sad but I hope your photos help them find the perfect homes. The only photo I saw of Zero before I went out to see him was all blurry and I didn't realise what kind of condition he was in. In the blurry shot he looked a whole lot bigger than he was and I'm not surprised no one wanted to see him based on his pound shot! I'm sure photos like these will really make people want help these gorgeous little guys.

It'd be nice to be half greyhound so I could but I just don't see that happening Even as lazy as Zero is, when he wants to run, he can really book it!

Love the shot of Charche by the bed, love the shot of the galah and love the shot of Bob!! My favourite for the day is probably Warley's first shot. So much personality in one shot! Mine for yesterday and today are coming later. I left yesterday at 6.30am and got home at 12.30am, went straight to bed and got back up and went back to work so my shots from yesterday are still sitting on my camera! I'll hopefully get to them tonight. On the plus side, because of this challenge and posting everything on my facebook album, I've had a couple of people ask if I'll do some shoots for them. This weekend I'll be going to shoot some things on the set of a short film (done by a couple of the producers at work) which is exciting and some more shoots of different dogs belonging to friends. On the downside, none of it is paid. I think I need to come up with a watermark but I don't know what to put on it.

Awww - poor Chopper! I love your shots Helen! It makes me wish I had a dog I could let off leash. Alas, sibes and being off leash do not often mix!

That shot of you and the boys is gorgeous Bindii! I love that Hugo is looks like he's smiling!!

Oh snap Winpara! That last photo looks like a shot I took of Zero the other night! He just needs to be looking at the camera!

Wow Justice shades!! That's a great shot - shame about the fencing going up! Love the cricket shot SB! Here's mine for today: I would have used this one since Mow looks so cute and his little paws are crossed but since I used a shot of Mow yesterday I didn't want to double up!

No pressure here TLC!! Week 2 - 3 years ago to the day Zero was sitting in a pound with a matted coat. Now he's sitting in my backyard with bokeh:

Breed: Siberian Husky Age: 5 Dry food: Artemis grain free - healthy weight management. Cost per bag: $110 Lasts for: about 4 months Total cost per week: $6.40 Total cost per day: about $0.92 Zero also has other things in his diet like sardines ($2 for three tins - he gets a tin every second day), RMBs (usually free with our meat or a couple of dollars for a bag of 5-10 bones) or he gets a chicken carcass ($2 for 5 frames) or chicken wing ($5 for 2.5 kilos). Total cost to feed Zero for a week: about $11.

Can't wait to see what you all come up with for the second week of photos! As always, if you're on flickr and have a set you'd like linked to in the OP, let me know and I'll add the link. I've added as many as I could find.

I've just bought a 580 speedlite this week! It should arrive in the next couple of days and I'm so excited. I was looking at the 430 as well but I loved the idea of being able to use it as a slave or master and I'm sure when I get into using the speedlite more, i will want to have multiple flashes. i found the flash on the 450d to be very harsh and I just wasn't a fan. I rarely use it - in fact i used it for the first time in about 6 months the other day and it was only for 1 photo that didn't have to be any good. Thanks for the website kja!

I love your shots Leena - they're amazing. what do you shoot on? Last I heard, you were using a point and shoot? Either way, you have a brilliant eye! And Mow is a pretty lazy cat - I don't really do anything to make him sit still but he only has 2 speeds, slow and not moving at all unless it's zoomie time. ETA: I didn't realise how long my hair was Nik! That must've been during one of the times Zero wasn't trying to steal everyone's food!

Ooooo - I really love that shot Danedame!! That's such a cute shot evolving!! I love your photos FionaC! The first one is just gorgeous! I haven't had time to post over the last few days but I have been taking photos so I thought I would do a quick catch up now! From the 9th - a friend's clock and the shelf above her desk. She has some great things up there but since she's doing her masters, she spends a lot of time at her desk and she says she needs them to distract her! The 10th - Terranik and Jedi at the moonlight cinemas in centennial park. And today - Mow loves to sunbathe but doesn't like having to squint into the sun so I often see him sitting half in and half out of the sun. The first thing people comment on is his eyes - the yellow stands out in the dark and can be creepy in the middle of the night!

I'll have to get one Mim - to me he's too big to be pure. He's just a wierd looking dog in general but he's got a lovely personality and he is gorgeous!

Wow Seita - I've never seen that second video before. Ella is fantastic! This is what Zero looks like when he's in prey drive - he lowers his head and eye stalks what he's about to go after, in this case, a toy. He may also crouch down a little and do this weird slinking side step so he's in the best position available to pounce. In the pic, his eye stalk isn't as focused as it would be if the fox toy was moving a little bit but considering I had the camera and treats in my hand, he's pretty focussed. I was lying between Zero and his stuffing-less fox in this pic and got no attention from him whatsoever, even though I had food and was lying on the ground (Zero loves it when i do that) in front of him. It's exactly the same thing if he's trying to get at a possum in a tree. The eye stalk first, then he orientates himself so he's in the best position he can be by lowering his body a little and side stepping or slinking forward (a bit like a border collie but not really - definitely not with the same grace or speed) and then he chases.