If I could get a day off work I'd take a photo for the competition

50/50 handheld or monopod

Gwenhwyfar wrote: Just joking Guys

No you weren't

Martin.

So Denise forget what said about using manual, as I expect your auto focus on your 400d is pretty good. Gruditch Gary, you will not get better focusing than with my 1DmarkIIN, but I still use manual focus most of the time for macro :) I find that with such shallow depth of field it is easier to loc...

There doesn't seem to be much attention being payed to the wellbeing of flora in the above photo...

Martin.

Male Brimstones (in the spring) seem to follow definite flight paths, weaving in and out of gaps in hedge. Different individuals use the same flight paths. Male Orange Tips (limited observations) seem to do exactly the same. I presume they are looking for likely "hiding places" of females...

Hello Pete...welcome to UKB's

Martin.

Rosy Rustic wrote:I hear from the local residents association that there are all sorts of new species to Horsenden Hill turning up, such as Ringlet and Brown Argus, which is good news.

Do you live close Rosey? I'm a 10/15 minute drive away in Uxbridge.

Martin.

Pete Eeles wrote:[
And biceps the size of tree trunks

Yep, that's me

Try using manual focus too...work out at home what it needs to be to get a fairky full frame and leave it alone. Move the camera untill the subject is tack sharp and fire the shutter...if your shutter speed is over about 1/200th you should get a sharp photo. The other thing about digital is to sort ...

Each to their own Peter D, :D but I would say a Macro lens, is the best lens to use for Macro photography. :roll: Gruditch Unless it's a Canon 100-400L IS with extension tubes of course :wink: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v520/V6GTO/Butterflies/Long-tailedBlue-AndaluciaSpain-Sep0.jpg http://im...

Yep...I'd agree the pink with yellow center is the one to go for.

Martin.

Polly,
I have Lantana at my house in Spain...it can grow VERY big!

Martin.

PS - In Spain Lantana, in particular, is loved by Painted Lady.

This is the stuff I was shooting all weekend...22 Gig of photos on Saturday alone!



Martin.

Rosy Rustic wrote:
I have considered fishing the dead slugs out of the beer traps and feeding them to the birds though ...

Watch out for the crash landings!

Hi Martin, Log on to http://www.hertsmiddx-butterflies.org.uk and upperthames-butterflies.org.uk, your most local Butterfly Conservation Branch websites. Keep an eye on their sightings pages for Grizzled Skippers. Where there's one there's more! It's still very early in the season for them and they...

Where and when would be the best for me to see my first Grizzled Skipper? I live in West London.

Martin.

As some of you guys know I am a Gardner by trade, and therefore slugs and snails should be my sworn enemies, but I'm afraid I'm really fond of slugs and snails. Last year I had a particularly big slug that managed to find my stash of lettuce that I feed the Koi with. I kept the picked lettuce along...

Spooky. And talking of spooky weather, I had this cloud over my house in the middle of summer in Spain...it got redder as the sun went down. There was a very strange, subdued, atmosphere over the town. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v520/V6GTO/Odds%20and%20Sods/Clouds-1.jpg http://img.photobucket...