I was giving this some more thought. Barb has a certain reputation for ripping clothes etc you need to play on that. If you are into a little horror stuff you could get an eye ball from a fresh fish shop then arrange it so it looks like the wire has torn it out. Some added srips of cheap cat meat will help. Spray the eye with water so it looks fresh. Use the laser and put a red spot in the eye as a single colour with the rest black & white then the viewers eye will immediately be drawn to the eye. I other idea I had if you have or can borrow a toy man or animal put the barb in the foreground with a wide angle lens so the toy looks small so it looks like a live wire monster in essence make it come alive. You will probably need lots of DOF f16 etc. Post some samples went you come up with something.

Yes definitely a special photo your eye is immediately drawn to the goose and the spot of red is perfect. You can feel how cold it is and wonder how the poor bird will find food. It may be a composite as the reflection does not seem quite correct.

Hi Michael,
Yes I can see some potential in it, however the image is rather flat and I think the background is too distracting. Why don't you try a time near sunset or sunrise and use the strong lighting coming in from the side or back and see what shapes appear in the shadow areas or the shadow it creates. Even try to make the background disappear, perhaps holding it to the sky. You could even try a photo in the dark on long exposure and flick a red laser light over it during the exposure. Sometimes tall slim objects like foliage make a great picture on their own with nothing to compete around it, against a darkened sky perhaps in Black & White. Try a very low perspective (camera on the ground) like it is growing out of the ground with a distant object like it is going to consume it with all it pointy bits.

Hi Mike,
Having had another look at them it is a close call but I like the last one for the bright foreground and the foreboding darkness in the distance that has added interest of the contrast of the two areas and is telling a story of a pending drastic change in the weather.
Dam it, I had better do a bit more work, UHH it's very captivating my wife is wondering why I am awake all hours of the night she's was getting worried but I told her this morning... 'Nothing to worry about love it's just a hedgehog'.

Taking my wife with me on location I'm always hearing ..'Have you taken enough pictures yet?..I want to go home!

Hi Mike, yes nice composition and great to see just the right amount of exposure in the shadows very nice job on exposure. Slide film was always a good test of photos skills but I loved the medium it was expensive and for that reason forced me to put more time and thought into every shot, as a result I usually achieved a better keeper rate.

For a local and very portable solution other than the cloud SSD or Solid State Static Hard Drives are probably the best answer and they are now a lot cheaper. Much faster than any Hard Disk. I purchased an external one recently 1 trig (1,000 GB) for $100 and they are about the size of a cell phone. Better still if you have a lot to store buy 2 and do dual backups. If you ever buy a new Desktop/Laptop insist it is supplied with an SSD drive not a standard Hard Disk the difference will only be about $100.
For those that do not know SSD's have no moving parts are similar to the material used in a CD card and all the communication (read/write) is done by electrical impulse so no head crashes.
I would only use CD's for temporary storage. I keep the files on the CD card from the camera I never delete from the original card at least until I store on the permanent record from the original camera card. In fact I have tended to buy smaller CD cards like 16GB ($20) and never reuse them they become permanent just like film negatives. Then I have downloaded to a desktop with an SSD then stored some on the cloud and some on an external SSD drive.
However despite all the claims made by manufacturers there is no such thing as permanent in IT because the next generation of computers may not be able to read it. It is very likely in 5 years USB sticks will be a thing of the past and when you buy a new desktop or tablet it will not have a USB port. Yes there may be ways to download and transfer to another medium but don't leave it toó long. I still have files on floppy disk but I am not likely to be able to read them with anything. Compact Disks are another example they disappeared from computers 5-8 years ago and I would guess CD's will go the same way in the not too distant future.
You need to have a longer term plan to transfer data to the latest medium probably no longer than every 5 years.

Yes just do it the the D70 was an ok camera early in the digital error I owned one. Better still get one of him giving her a kiss on the cheek might get a reaction, then he won't notice your photo skills or lack of them...what's that saying a picture says a thousand words... The technique is called 'distracting the viewer' probably used by the SAS. One thing though you might need a good pair of running shoes! Just enjoy the moment they are not fourteen for long, wish my kids were still that young.

Yes light meters, camera computers are only a guide. Planes fall out of the sky because trained pilots dont question the readings in front of them. So called driverless cars are having crashes God help us if they become the norm. Question and experiment its such and advantage having digital to look at a histogram. In film days we may have waited days, months or even years to see the results. I lost a film cartage for 10 years then developed and it was still good.

Most of us are not saying live on manual but its a great start because you learn well how to stay in full control when it counts and it may result in a better result in some circumstances but not necessarily all. Many of us use A to control lens aperture and DOF but we are using the camera meter and if need be exposure compensation and that has come from learning what can fool a camera meter. Then there is doing things the way you want it for the result you want that the camera can never work out because it doesnt have a brain. A camera is just a tool one of many in the whole process it will never be more than that . Does a hammer build a house of course not but it has a function in part of the process.

Most of us are not saying live on manual but its a great start because you learn well how to stay in full control when it counts and it may result in a better result. Many of us use A to control lens aperture and DOF but we are using the camera meter and if need be exposure compensation and that has come from learning what can fool a camera meter. Then there is doing things the way you want it for the result you want that the camera can never work out because it doesnt have brain. A camera is just a tool one of many in the whole process it will never be more than that . Does a hammer build a house of course not but it has a function in part of the process.

Yes I agree with Bob about 30 min if you started by using a manual camera. We have been having a discussion in the last few days on UHH "Film' You see the thing is too many photographers have not learnt the craft from the bottom up. Let me explain it this way the digital platform for all it's advantages has made photography far more complicated than it actually is and I feel sorry for those that have only learnt it in the digital age.
But it does not need to be that way if you are prepared to start with the basics and work up from there. I can assure you there is still is no better way to start than by using a camera in manual mode. Its like learning to drive a car if you choose automatic then you may never be able to drive a stick shift but if you start with a stick shift you will always be able to drive an automatic.

You see even today in addition to the available light there are only 3 variables to obtaining a correct exposure, (1) ISO (used to be ASA rating of the film (2) Shutter Speed (3) Lens Aperture setting.. that's it.

I can completely understand how daunting picking up a modern camera must be with so may switches, buttons and menu options and instruction books that are 300-500 pages. Most of us 'Oldies' have been introduced to all these extras over many many years. The thing is most of it you just don't need but camera sales people don't want you to know that because that is how they sell the next generation of cameras. Right now they are pushing mirror less models like you can't do without it but do you see all the old photographers and pros running in to change their cameras when SLR's & later DSLR's have been around in total for 60 - 70 years, no because it is just not necessary to have a mirror less camera, unless you have a very special need for a silent camera like in a concert or some other restricted area.

Thing is if you get the most basic photography book (perhaps an old one from a library) that starts with an explanation of how light is controlled the function of the shutter speed and lens aperture and how ISO works on a camera and practice that on a modern Digital camera until it all makes sense then you can add in other functions slowly and build on that. In no time at all it will all click into place and you will be say at some point 'Yes I get it now!!!' and you will leave all your mates behind with you understanding while they will still be lost in a menu somewhere.

Hi rgrenaderphoto,
Thank you also for your comments I have been spotting your distinctive picture in other articles and your knowledge is spot on and points of view always well considered. This site is becoming rather addicting there are just so many good people prepared to help others.

Hi E. L... Best answer I could have wished for and thank you so much for your considerable time and effort. Yes I had read your previous article on lens cleaning and you are right I also get nervous about the idea of sensor cleaning. I have 2 very low use bodies so will run a photo test first then probably have them done by service agents. I have only recently been active on this site so I will follow all your articles with interest in future. Cheers and enjoy the rest of your evening in Canada.

Nikon Fm2n .. totally awesome, the best camera to learn on that I should never have sold, that and the 105mm f2.