gapvic

Hi all, I stupidly bought the wrong remote for my camera so I'm happy to give this one to anyone that it may be of use to. This is the remote: http://www.aputure.com/en/product/digital_timer_remote_shutter.php It's model no. AP-TR1N and works on the following cameras: Nikon D300s, D3X, D3, D700, D300, D200, D2Xs, D2Hs,D2X, D2H, D1H, D1X, D1, N90s, F5, F6, F100, F90, F90X, Fujifilm S5 Pro, S3 Pro, Kodak DCS-14n If it is of use to anyone please pm me and you can have it. It's brand new, never used. Kind regards Larissa

Lovely photo MnDM! It's amazing what phones can do now. Is it OK if I put up two for this week? If not, please let me know and I'll come back and remove one Week one: Running away... or running to? In front of the bluestone house

Yay!!! Another yaaaay from me LOL

How cool! Snook and I won't feel quite so silly if there is more of us doing self portraits :D

I completely understand Snook - I've been working on my self portraits for a couple of months now and it took ages before my face made it into the pics LOL . I got a great, and very cheap, remote off ebay for my camera (Nikon D80) (remote cost all of $9) and a friend has kindly allowed me to borrow her tripod.

Snook, I'll join you :-). I've been mucking around with self portraits and am actually really enjoying the challenge... I think it's helping to improve my photography skills. I'm new to Flickr but think I've just created a set for my self portraits here http://www.flickr.com/photos/64486163@N06/sets/72157628629283463/.

Thanks too for the info Persephone! I was able to download a manual for the camera from a link on the site you gave me :-).

Maybe we need to start a thread for photos taken with old cameras to get us all motivated and inspired :-)

LOL - there is actually film in it! Which I probably ruined when I opened the back of the camera....

Hi all, While in a Salvo's store recently I spotted a lovely large camera bag and camera for $35. I really wanted the bag as it is so big with heaps of compartments so I bought it without looking at the camera or lens included :-). I've now gone through it and there is: PRAKTICA MLT5B camera (says on base "Made in Germany") Pentacon auto 1.8/50 lens Elicar 1:2.8 f135mm lens with an Erectar Auto Tele Converter 2x attached Kenlock f3.5/35mm - f4.5/70mm lens Does anyone know anything about these? Are they worth keeping or passing on? Larissa

Yours are great too Ange!

They are fabulous!!! Maybe we should start a selfie thread for next year :-). I'm learning an enormous amount from my (somewhat poor) attempts.

I bought a really cheap remote off ebay (it cost under $10) and it works just fine :-). I've been using auto focus to get the focus right, then switching it to manual to hold the focus (otherwise when I use the remote, it tries to focus again). I love your pics Huga - have you done any self portraits?

Wow! Hopefully Terra will drop by. One every day, or one every week? I've now got hold of a tripod and that has helped a lot too - much easier than trying to balance the camera on books, window sills etc :-). Stop down really low to help with focus?

Over the last couple of weeks I've been enormously enjoying the challenges associated with self portrait photography. I have very little in the way of equipment (my new remote arrived just yesterday and has helped a lot!!) so there has been a lot of improvisation and learning. Has anyone else had a go at taking self portraits? If so I'd love to hear your tips and see your photos :-).

I made calendars through Red Bubble for the first time this year. I ordered them Sunday and they arrived on Thursday. While they certainly were not cheap (worked out to be just over $80 for three calendars, including tax and postage), I'm very very pleased with the quality and turn-around time and wouldn't hesitate to use them again :-)

It is correct that for a green collar assessment here at GAP Vic, the dogs do need to come and stay at our kennels for a week. We used to undertake one off assessments but found it did not give us an accurate understanding of the dog. Often they would be stressed at being in a strange place, and being handled by a strange person, and would test OK with our small dog as they were shut down. A greyhound wearing a GAP collar looks like, for all intents and purposes, a dog that was adopted from GAP. It is essential that we get the assessment right. This is why the dogs now come and stay in our kennels for a week so that we can firstly give them time to settle down and relax in a strange environment, and secondly assess them several times over this period. In all honesty, the dogs generally cope far better than their owners with this arrangement :-). Greyhounds are used to being in a kennel environment and are quite comfortable here as they are surrounded by other greyhounds. Of the privately adopted dogs brought in for collar assessment I'd estimate that 98% pass. I'd be happy to answer further questions on what happens here at GAP Vic - email us at [email protected]. It's also correct that we are now adopting dogs with Pannus thanks to the recent changes in the COP.

Ah, seems it might have been a crack code LOL! Just went to ebay to see if I could find the listing, and found this in my emails from e-bay: "160625136601 - Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3.4 Full Version,Window​s/Mac Most items listed on eBay are legitimate, and there are many things we do to protect our members from buying items that aren't. One thing we do is remove items reported to us as allegedly infringing through the eBay VeRO program. In this case, we removed the listing because the copyright or trademark owner of this product reported that they believe the item may not be authentic."

Thanks Kja. Are you allowed to sell crack codes on ebay??

Hi Helen, not sure what a crack code is but I put it into my Lightroom to register once the trial finished, and it works just fine :-). I've been using it for about five months or so now with no dramas.

Slightly off topic, but I downloaded the Lightroom trial version (free) and then later bought a code off ebay for about $40. It works perfectly. Have no idea how the ebay stores can just sell the code like that, but I'm happy as it was cheap and works :-).

Yes, I can see how short term kennelling and removing all external stimulation may increase drive (amongst other things I guess). However in this case the dog, like 99.9% of greyhounds, had been kennelled for most of his life. Also, in our kennels they are not removed from all external stimulation. They are handled and let out into large yards twice daily, and in those yards they are either with another dog, or next to another dog. There are toys in the yards. All yards allow visibility to our small dog yard. There are also horses that are usually hanging around the fences when the dogs are out. Perhaps greyhounds are just different, given that they are raised in a kennel environment rather than the usual domestic environment? Just thinking out loud here too .

I personally believe you are correct m-j, which is why I did disagree with the statement. I really feel that if kennelling a greyhound caused an increase in predatory behaviour then 1. there would be less non-chasers around and 2. we'd have more dogs fail assessment as all greyhounds are kennelled for a significant amount of time. Poodlefan, sorry, can't say at the moment what the dog was like with other large dogs other than greyhounds, and with them he was obviously fine. We don't often see greyhounds exhibiting predatory behaviour towards large dogs.

Yes, no doubt it was predatory behaviour. All classic signs - stiff body, elevated heart rate, stalking then (attempted) grab.

I found an article by Jean Donaldson that was really interesting. Part of it reads: Barrier-related Barking and Aggression Dogs get important information about other beings with their noses and through up-close interaction and investigation. Most dogs therefore feel compelled to make social contact when they see a person or dog. In a kennel, tie-out or in many on-leash situations, they may be repeatedly unable to do so. The result is barrier-frustration. Barrier frustration behaviors — barking, lunging and aggressively displaying at dogs or people from behind bars, fence or glass — exemplify the general concept of "thwarting": the physical prevention of an animal behaving as it is highly motivated to behave. Physiological stress responses, emotional states and certain well-known behaviors (agitation, barking, aggression) can all be reliably predicted by thwarting scenarios, especially chronic ones. The epidemic of thwarting situations in the daily lives of dogs is not yet widely recognized, nor is the impact it has on their behavior. Most notably, environmental exploration and establishment of social contact with people and other dogs are prohibited by leashes, fences and enforced obedience. It would be difficult to design a more frustrating environment for a dog than a kennel. In most kennels, dogs are kept alone in extremely barren environments virtually around the clock, with some tantalizing visual access to the outside world. This low-stimulation situation is then punctuated by the passing of people and other dogs — they are always visible but they cannot be investigated. The dog’s urge to meet and investigate is repeatedly frustrated. With repetition, the sight of dogs and/or people becomes associated, through classical conditioning, to the feelings of frustration and agitation. When the dog finally has the opportunity to meet, his behavior is over the top in intensity and may be aggressive. The dog’s poor social behavior may then cause the staff to prohibit the dog from further social contact. In addition, defensive responses from the other dogs he encounters or punishment by walkers for unruly or seemingly aggressive behavior may make the dog’s behavior even worse. The sight of dogs and/or people may then be associated with a high likelihood of punishment and aggressive responses from other dogs, along with the original frustration. This results in further deterioration of behavior and a cycle develops. Barrier frustration usually manifests in a shelter environment as dramatic barking and lunging displays at passers-by to the dog’s kennel. This can bleed over to on-leash lunging and aggression and, with sufficient time for classical conditioning to take place, aggression directed at people or dogs, including out of the original context of the kennel or other thwarting situation. She does not specifically talk about predatory behaviour though, only aggression, and the two are quite different. I can see how aggression can increase in dogs kennelled long term, but still don't see how it would affect predatory behaviour