Hello,
My name is Stephen Farrugia... do you remember me? I haven't updated this journal since January! Well, I'm still alive and kicking, and in the interim have been round quite a bit - read all about it in my blog, Stevo Goes Walkabout - www.iburstthebubble.com

Well, since July I've been back in Malta, looking for a challenging new job and always taking photos photos photos. Still no luck on the job front, but I'm not too stressed about that at the moment - I'm sure the right role will turn up eventually!

Here on DA I've set up a prints account - well, a free one for now. I'd like to gauge how successful (or not) an account might be before making a financial commitment to a proper, premium Prints Account. So if there are any particular works that you think would work well as a print do let me know! I've started with a few pieces that stick out in my gallery, works that I wouldn't mind hanging on my wall. But that's a bit biased isn't it, since I'm the one taking the photos

In terms of kit, I've just received a Zenitar 16mm f/2.8 fisheye lens. This interesting little gadget cost me some £150 off Ebay, comes with a built in EOS adapter and is fully manual (focus *and* aperture). The barrel has handy focusing distance markings on it, and at such a small length focusing has been generally easy in the small test run I gave the lens when I received it. On the 400D the fish eye effect isn't as pronounced, and the field of view is reduced considerably from the 180* that you'd get on a full frame. The lens goes wild when you stick it into a film or full frame camera - I've put it onto my film SLR and will be going taking the lens for a run this weekend. I'll post photos and technical comments when I'm more familiar with the lens and its behaviour. All in all it looks like it's a cheapie bargain when you consider that a Canon fish eye will cost as much as a second hand car!

If you're on facebook I can be found at www.facebook.com/stevofarrugia

Take care!
Stevo