Wiener Sitzel

Driver Missed His Big Brake

Police officers called to a car crash in Vienna found the driver behind the wheel and sitting on a plastic box. The 12-inch high carton left him unable to reach the brake pedal. He said: "I was only going on a short trip and thought the box would be an ideal replacement for the seat."

FOOTNOTE: In the box seat.

The Right Exposure

Your Advice Will Help Merisi Make Her Decision

Raindrops on roses. I took this shot with a Pentax K10 digital SLR.

Her wonderful photographic essays from Vienna, Austria, have held my attention for several months, but now Merisi wants your help. In her own words: "Would there be any way that you could ask for opinions from your vast readership?" Yes, I’m always happy to help a fellow blogger and I’m sure you’ll support me on that.

Merisi wants to buy a digital SLR and wants your advice and guidance. She writes: "I am still thinking about staying with Sony. I love the Zeiss lens of my little pocket camera very much, I feel insecure reguarding other brands. I was looking into the Sony Alpha 100, but my husband says I should go for the Alpha 700 (Euro 700 or 1.500 resp., with an 18-70mm lens). In the film days, I used a Pentax and had a professional Nikon, still have, somewhere."

Whatever your opinion, please leave a comment here for Merisi. It doesn’t matter whether you leave a couple of words, one sentence or a long, detailed message. It’ll be a great help to Merisi and could become a great reference point for other bloggers who have the same dilemma.

Some months ago, I started answering readers’ photography-related questions on my Get The Picture posts on this blog. In this case, since I’m familiar with the terrific variety of Merisi’s work, I’ll start the ball rolling by telling her to invest in the Pentax K10D (a digital SLR) with a versatile 18-200mm zoom which is great for a) travelling and b) having a variety of options with a single retractable lens. But Merisi and I both want to know what your advice is ….

Bloom or bust. I also shot this using a Pentax K10 digital SLR.