Minehead - Part II - A Walk Along the Seafront
Well after lazing around on the terrace all day we went for a walk along to the harbour and down towards the beach (the opposite direction from Butlins!) to get away from the people and get a bit of fresh air and exercise.
It was a nice walk, along by the harbour, the lifeboat station and down along the beach.
Quay Street - Minehead
Moored in the Harbour
Dubai Desert Safari - A must do!
Ah finally back from Dubai, my sleeping pattern is a bit screwed though because of the 4 hour time difference and the 7 hour overnight flight..
It'll get back to normal soon enough I guess..
Well yes, finally I'm back! Dubai was...hot and sandy and it makes me fat as you can order everything under the sun there without moving your ass off the sofa...Pizza, fried chicken, chinese food, arabic food, indian food, iranian food, lebanese food, groceries..basically whatever you want. And the portions are all huge!
We managed to grab a couple of days off towards the end and relax, we planned our trip out and went for a Dubai Desert Safari the day before we came back.
I recommend the Desert Safari to everyone, it's an amazing experience, if you are ever flying with Emirates, just stop over in Dubai for a couple of days, check out Jumeirah, perhaps the Mall of Emirates and do the Desert Safari, that's enough 
The Desert Safari includes sand duning (driving fast up and down sand dunes in a massive jeep which feels like it's about to turn over!), a camel ride, belly dancing and a bbq in the middle of the desert, oh yah and some shishas!
It costs between Dhs 150 and 280 depending which company you go with (that's equivalent to the same amount in RM as the exchange rate is 0.99 = 1) and is worth every cent!
You leave for the safari about 3-4pm as it's too hot before that, and it's a good time to head out and catch the sunset on the dunes.
After quite a long journey and a quick stop at a buggy place (you can take a buggy on the dunes for Dhs100 for about 20 minutes and get sunburnt for free), which none of us took up, we hit the dunes.
The driving is crazy, it's fun, it's like a rollercoaster, up and down, sliding sideways down sandunes in a heavy 4.5 litre Toyota Landcruiser GXR.
You stop off a couple of times to admire the view and take some pictures of the dunes, it's a beautiful peaceful place and is suprisingly windy.
A Trip to Worcester Cathedral & FOOD!
Hmm nothing like a lovely fat pork chop covered in stuffing and some lightly boiled vegetables!
The stuffing on top means the pork chop rind goes super crispy but the meat itself stays moist and juicy!
The left over boiled potatoes were turned into potatoe salad the next day and served with some super fresh premium pork pie, DELICIOUS!
After that I headed into the cathedral with my new el-cheapo telescopic tripod to try out some HDR, I forgot to change the ISO down from 500 though...AGAIN so they are a little bit grainy.
Still some nice ones though, enjoy!
Canon 350D (Rebel XT) vs Nikon D70s vs Olympus E500
I've gotten more and more interested in photography as time has gone by, and I've noticed (as have others) I'm pretty good at it, I've always had an interest, but with digital it's allowed me to experiment with my camera and learn at a lower cost.
I've started finding the limitations of my camera, and I've started being able to take pictures that push the boundaries of the camera, which means it's time to upgrade.
I wouldn't mind freelancing aswell, doing some portraits, events maybe even weddings, so it's time to get a more serious camera a digital SLR.
As for the camera, ah it's a tough choice, it's more down to the Canon 350D
Things like the Canon EOS 20D
I did consider the Nikon D50 at first as a cheaper option, but for the price difference between the D50 and the D70s, the D70s is so much more worth it.
Olympus E-500
I'm not really big on Olympus, even though it seems like a solid camera, and Olympus is of course a favourite of TV Smith, one of our local photo pros. It's the lighest dSLR in this class, and seems ergonimcally good, feature and lens wise tho, I don't think it can compete, so sorry Olympus, you are the weakest link.
Buy it from Amazon:
Canon EOS 350D - Rebel XT
At first I swayed towards the Canon 350D (The Rebel XT), as I'm an existing Canon user, with my old faithful Canon Powershot A70 (a mere 3.2 megapixels), but plenty of manual modes.
The main advantage of the Rebel XT seems to be low noise at high ISO, I do like nightshots, so this was a good point, plus it seems like an all around contender, and pros are great fans on the Canon series of lenses.
The best reason I saw to buy Canon was this:
Also funny (Yeah all the white Lenses are Canon).
It can be good with a much more expensive lens, but that's out of my range right now, and the main reason is the way it felt when I tried it in the shop.
The kit lens (EF-S 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 II Zoom) isn't that great and produces images that are a little soft.
I also read that the Canon (unlike the more expenside 10D/20D/1D etc) has a lot of features hidden away in the menu, rather than having buttons for them (white balance etc), which does make it hard to take shots at short notice, what's the point in having such a low startup time, if you have to root through the menus to find the settings?
The Nikon doesn't have this problem.
Canon 350D/Rebel-XT Reviews:
Buy it from Amazon:
Nikon D70s
The best advice I heard is to go to the shop and try the camera, this is ultimately where I made my decision.
Also I found out that the Nikon kit lens is much better, both from reviews and from a sales guy, the Nikon kit lens has a metal mount and has glass components, whereas the Canon kit lens is mostly all plastic. Definately not as durable.
Plus the Nikon just feels so much more sturdy, probably because I'm a big guy with big hands, but the Canon felt a little flimsy, and rather small, something like a toy, not a real mans photoweapon!
Whichever side of the fence you sit on, there are rabid fans, Nikon or Canon, locally though, people seem to much greater fans of the Nikon.
So I'm pretty much decided on the Nikon D70s with Lens kit (Nikkor DX 18-70mm f3.5-4.5G IF-ED Zoom), if anyone can get me an awesome price and some freebies thrown in it'd be great 
(Tripod, 2GB ultrafast CF card etc..)
Next up probably a SB-600 speedlight, perhaps a macro and 70-300mm zoom lens.
Nikon D70s reviews:
Buy it from Amazon:
Some reference material here if you are going through the same decision:
Canon 300D vs 350D vs Nikons D50 vs D70
Nikon D50 Image Samples Compared to Nikon D70s and Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT / 350D kit
350D Owners - Why didn't you buy a Nikon D70/D50?
Nikon D70s Kit Lens Compared to Canon Digital Rebel XT Kit Lens
Of course if anyone has any opinions (owners of either of the cameras, or similar models are welcome to pipe up).
I hope someone finds the research useful
