Hoverfly

[[snorri]]

it was a +10 filter... shall have to try with lower ones as not a lot of adjustment to use for focus. really need a true macro lens, most can double up for portraits too.
still saving my pennies tho for a new body. still not decided on D7000 or D300s so lenses will have to wait.

[[Geoff Slocock]]

The strongest I have is 4x, and that starts to look as round as a pebble. A 10x must be heavy, too!

I haven't spent anything on gear for ages. And then when you do, you have to carry it around!

I am going to leave photography for today. But I am planning on going out to a pond I know in Epping Forest, tomorrow.

Geoff

[[snorri]]

got my set of filters from Ebay for £5 inc postage. mine are just like UV filters for size but have magnifying glass in them instead. last thing i bought was my Nikon sb700 flash. now thats something i need to practice with. I have no problem getting shots in manual mode etc but add the flash and its like learning again. fastest shutter speed is 1/200 so still getting used to it. need to talk folks into portrait sessions i think.

we have a pond near us too, thats a great idea but will have to wait until next Sunday as back at work tomorrow for 8 days. my managers off so covering his shift and my own. but the pay is good.

[[Geoff Slocock]]

My visit to the pond inside of Epping Forest, yesterday, was not quite so successful.

I saw one large specimen patrolling the pond. I had hoped that there were lots out and about. It was not quite hot enough, I feel, for these beasts to start resting up on perches.

So, I will have to wait for my chances on some very hot day, in the next few weeks.

-------------

I have held back on buying a telephoto lens. And as I have been moaning on and on about, once having bought it, you have to decide when to carry it and then indeed lump it around. At the moment, I have a dodgy big toe nail, and that is why I doubtless moan about carrying stuff.

Geoff

[[cyb]]

Nice pictures guys, unfortunately I don’t have any macro filters (although £5 off ebay sounds a good bargain) but can I suggest Geoff I think you could add a little more ‘sharpening’ as the focus looks a little soft
Perhaps using a lasso tool to sharpen just around the fly as in my edit below.

[[cyb]]

mmmmmmmmmm actually now its uploaded it doesn't look that much difference, but you get the idea

[[Geoff Slocock]]

Yes, Colin, that makes quite a difference.

In the past I have used the sharpening brush. What went wrong with this one was that I just ASSUMED I wasn't going to get it any better.

The craftsmanship with processing is something that gets improved all the time.

Thanks for pointing that out Colin. I think also I felt I had done some other clever things (like local contrast enhancement and mid tone sharpening) and that possible localised sharpening enhancement eluded me, some.

Geoff