Pete W

Just before 09:00, but the Sun was just breaking through the early morning clag, so most of them were taken with flat lighting, I think the G-v White had a bit of direct sun.

Thanks, it is one of my favorite lurking spots on the estuary, something is usually happening, especially on a falling tide. Doesn't always go to plan though. This Rock Pipit kept flying onto the floating fence post, so when I saw it coming in again I pre-focused on the post to get a shot of it landing. Bloody thing decided to land on the vegetation! Hey Ho, can't win 'em all.

I'm going for Garden Warbler, could well be wrong though!

Meadow Pipit taking a dip. I do have a soft spot for these birds.

Three from today, Small Copper, Red Admiral and Green-veined White.

You've been getting some good shots lately, I've never had a camera with me when coming across a feeding raptor. Most just seem to give you a look that says "piss off I'm eating", and carry on with their meal.

Some of the early breeders have now fully fledged young, while I've seen some still sitting which maybe on their 2nd attempt. Noticed a bit of Lapwing movement last week when I was in Galloway.

Couple of little cuties for ya, Ringed Plover chicks, probably less than a week old.

Some nice shots there, like the way that wings and tail are arranged on that Damselfly shot. I use the 600mm lens most of the time for insects, but closest focusing is 10ft and have often thought about using a thin extension tube to give a shorter focusing distance. One tip I was given is to fix the focus on the subject and then fire a burst whilst rocking very(very,very) slightly backward and forward to get the different parts in focus. *I no longer need to do this, as being a doddery old git I struggle to hold the bloody camera steady anyway!

Away from Cumbria to Galloway for a couple of weeks, but still out gathering snaps. A bit of a random selection. Gannet provide plenty of action, There are at least three Ringed Plover chicks in one of the small coves, Arctic Skua harass the Terns for their catch. Okay I know they're not birds, but had a pod of Dolphin come in so close I could hear them exhaling.

My Laptop isn't particularly high spec: 4 core i5 @2.50 GHz, 16GB Ram, Nvidia GTX1050 4GB graphics card, 2TB SSD, hooked up to 28" 4k monitor. Unless I do some really serious processing I find it quite acceptable speed wise. As I have been using Linux for the last 20 odd years I've no idea what it's like on another OS. Darktable has a steep learning curve especially for people coming from other software as there are so many different options with the modules, I have a standard preset that I apply to all imports (puts it to approx jpg off the camera) and then go from there. Some excellent tutorials on Youtube, Bruce Williams, can be a bit long winded, but the "Noobs" ones are worth watching. The great thing is that Darktable is free so only costs time and effort to see if it works for you. RawTherapee is another that I have dabbled with but haven't spent time with it, others put it to good use though. As to the Damselfly snap, used f11 to try to get a decent depth of field, this lens has decent resolution up to f16 but sharpness falls off above that, as it was quite windy with the grass stem blowing around didn't want to drop the shutter speed too low. My method of working in the field (literally in this case) is to use my standard camera settings to get a couple of bankers in and then if the subject stays put, mess around with exposure etc. As I often say, "Once I stop being awed by nature and learning new things, just dig a hole and bury me." Sorry for the long rambling post.

Both! Testical details, Sigma 105mm Macro, 1/500th f11 500iso -0.67 EV Nikon D7500 (makes the lens 150mm effective) , shot RAW and processed in Darktable, Here's the full frame.

Nice shots @AJStrees I've not managed to get close to any Dragonflies this year,although did see loads of copulating Large Red Damselfly on one of the woodland ponds when I was path clearing yesterday (no bloody camera!). Some shots of the common Damsels here. Large Red, Common Blue, a couple of Blue-tailed and face to face with what I think is Common Blue.

Stop it, you're making me blush. I don't think you can ever stop learning, with wildlife photography knowing your subject and location is probably more important than the technical side. Also patience and a willingness to suffer a certain amount of discomfort, as standing in one position for an hour or so can become quite painful! I have been visiting these Gorse bushes for over 30 years, so I know what I'm likely to find. The light makes all the difference though, Meadow Pipit out in the brightness, Whitethroat lurking in the gloom.

Nice one, I'm taking that as a Marsh Tit (could be wrong though), I'm lucky to have them come to my workshop feeders, but they are well distributed though the woodland.