The UK has been quite poor too - last couple of weeks excepted
vicious things, they're also cannibals
Moth is a tort (fam Tortricidae), don't know which though.
Fabulous, well done!! I'm jealous, there's a shortage of hummingbirds here in the UK. :( . Only reason I ask is because by sheer coincidence I was looking at this link yesterday, a prepped hummingbird shoot.
http://www.rpphoto.com/howto/view.asp?articleID=1031
Wonderful shot - was it a a prepped setup or completely natural?
Definitely sensor dust bunnies. Easiest way to deal with them is either cloning in the final image, or use retouching in Zerene. Cleaning the sensor and having no dust spots is obviously the best solution :)
For me, the biggest thing I like about the topend models is their recycle time. They all freeze ate a low output and all have more than enough light. But there's quite a bit of variation in the recycle. I have a Metz 58 af2 (not on the chart), but it lets me keep shooting at a low power at 3-4 fps which can be very handy.
This is actually the major limitation of onboard flash units. Yes you can make a diffuser and use them, but their recycle time on all the Pentax models that I have with onboards is fairly hopelessly slow sadly.
Another thing is consistency. I've noticed that on some of the medium cost flashes I have the consistency is a lot less. Ie you get strange colour temperatures from time to time. This can be a bit of a chore on a large stack as I shoot JPG for stacks.
There are also other features on top flashes which differentiate them from budget flashes. HSS, rear sync and use as master all have a place in my workflow.
Yes, it was Kurt's work that turned me into a fan :)
I've heard nothing but good things about this and the macro ultrawide they've done.
Looks like a member of the thorn subfamily to me, but I'm not familiar with which ones are in the US
I use an old fashioned soft plastic lens cap with the hole cut out
Particularly nice isolation of the subject on #4, great stuff
I like that the diffuser is from the right - seems to add an extra bit of personality?