Black loch, deep in the hear of Galloway Forest Park
a difficult loch to get near as there is very wet and hidden deep holes round the edges

The Sea side scene was taken on the road to Port William
luce Bay

The sweet pea was taken in my garden after a very heavy downpour, the sky was dark and moddy which was great as a dark background against the green and water droplets
enjoy and comments please
regards
Duncan

Black Loch


Winter Beach


Sweet Pea

I sat a long time waiting for these little beauties to Land
after several bad shots I managed to get this one
Taken near Black Loch, Dumfries and Galloway
South Scotland

Ble Damselfly

Yes
Heard that one before, was my Line Manager one day when I told him my camera body cost me £1200 and the lens was the same !!

Duncan

Emm5

Not exactly sure what you are asking, however to make it a bit simpler, a small aperture will be a larger number ie F22 giving a larger depth of field, a large aperture is a smaller number ie F5.6 , F2.8 etc, this will give you a limited or less depth of field, no matter what lens you are using as a general rule, so for example you want a landscape with everything sharp from close to far distance you would use a small aperture ie F16 or above, this will give you a big depth of field and most of your landscape nice and sharp, you could do this with you macro lens no problem, the macro in a lens is designed to get you close, when you get close your depth of field gets very limited so to get as much of your closeup in focus you will need to stop down, ie use a aperture of around F8 and above, if you want the background to be completely out of focus ie shallow depth of field you would open up to your lower number, ie 5.6 etc.
All very confusing, so to Somme-rise stopping down means a higher F number, best for more depth of field but can give you a very slow shutter speed as you are basically closing the blades on your lens, this reduces light so camera will need "more time" to expose the image
To open up on the other hand is to use a lower number giving you a shallower depth of field, good for portraits, opening up will also let more light in thus giving you a faster shutter speed, good for moving subjects
I could go on forever about your ISO setting etc but will leave it for now, take a look at my Red Deer shot, this was taken wide open tat is at F5.6, see the background and the back end of the deer is blurred, this is very shallow DOF
regards
Duncan

Hi

I live near New Galloway, approx 15 mils north of Castle Douglas
regards
Duncan

p.s
I work with a guy called Scott Brown from Coatbridge this past year
small world don't suppose you known him ??

Happy Birthday to you

Glad you on the mend, i spent 10 moths not life or death but very ill when I was told Imay not walk again due to an accident I had

So a tip from me, do not dwell on the past, move forward and enjoy what you have round you, ie you family and friends

regards
Duncan

Hi
Nice shots and yes great for portraits, I use the canon 100mm macro, first and foremost if you want pin sharp macro shots use a tripod, as you get close your light levels will decrease this will i in turn effect your shutter speed, to answer your question yes a fast shutter speed will freeze "action" movement, however you should be thinking more of using your new lens in Av mode ie aperture priority, as the very nature of closeup photography its you depth of field that you want to concentrate on, for example if you use TV mode and set a high shutter speed, get in close the chances are the camera lens will open up to allow more light in, this in turn will reduce your depth of field which can me millimeters or less if you are working close.
OK I'll take my anorak back off for now, hope this helps, enjoy your lens, get it on a tripod, use a cable release, self timer and if possible lock your mirror up as well
anything else lase give me a shout
regards
Duncan

Hi

Welcome aboard, I just joined yesterday so still finding my way around

best wishes
Duncan

oh and its still raining !!

Hi

Nice shot, so different to woodpeckers I have
regards
Duncan
S.W Scotland

Sarge

Not sure if you are being serious or not, so just in case you DON'T know what a Scottish midge is, its a very tiny flying biting insect that loves biting people, it lives all over Scotland, worst in Summer if a little damp or near wooded areas, we now use avon skin so soft at work to keep them from biting, we all smell REALLY NICE, but who cares if it stops them biting
Glencoe caravan park have some with really big teeth, also Isle Of Skye and not to forget my Garden
if you are pulling my leg nice one !!
best wishes
Duncan

Sarge

Your quire right !!

a nice we dram of Laphroig would get me sorted out
if you have never tried it, it is very smoky, peaty and basically makes you feel real good
regards
Duncan

Lary
Thanks for your comments and questions

firstly exposure, I have noticed before some of my images are a little dark when viewed on different monitors, it may well be I have a problem with my eyesight as I have three monitors I can try at home and I always seem to make my images rather dark if viewed on others ie at work, any thought on this one we can talk.

As I mentioned this was my first ever shot, was shaking littraly like a leafe at taking it out of its noce new case, it was shot handheld with a little support from a nearby post ie I was leaning on the post to get a little support. It was shot at F5.6 thus giving me a very shallow DOF. To be very honest I was not exactly sure what to expect, the fear and the og so heavy weight I am surprised I got such a good shot. This is the 100-400mm push pull lens with the locking ring, really not that easy to use but I am getting more used to it now, I tend to have set the zoom to say 300mm in this case and lock the ring in place, if required its a two hand job to release and re zoom if required, maybe in time I will get used to it a little more, out of interest one of my work colleagues bought same lens and took it back to the shop not long after as he absolutely hated the push pull zoom.
Think that's all questions answered for now apart from my exposure monitor probs as I don't think it my camera or my exposure settings, I'll upload some more image today and you can advise, non of my friends, work colleagues are camera anoraks so cant discuss anything at all technical with them
speak to you soon and greetings from a slightly warmer Scotland at the moment
its a balmy 9 dec C, soon be time to get my shorts on me think not !!

hi
Wow huge trees, nothing like that over here

only problem I would have is if that's the size of the trees what on earth are the midges like ??

regards
Duncan
S.W Scotland

Hi

Nice shots and definatly not easy, I should know

as for sharpness, well not bad concidering the size of lens plus and extender, have you tried a little high pass sharpening in photoshop
it may help a little, also did you use a tripod
regards
Duncan

This little one is a very frequent visitor to my garden, bit of a bully really as it tends to chase the other birds away and they dont get a look in.
Its costing me a fortune on seeds and peanuts but well worth it

Woody