It's coffee. These images are great - they're on the Gallery too; it might be nice to put a comment on them!

Regards
David

I must be lucky, but I get some really great insects in our garden in Sheffield. Found a beautiful little green flourescent spider today (image posted in the Gallery) and last year got all sorts of interesting things. I have let an area of the garden go wild and encouraged wild plants and this has paid off with Grasshoppers, a myriad of flies, ladybirds and all sorts of other insects. Got some Woundwort Shield Bugs last year, first time I've seen these. We also get Grass Snakes in the garden; it's one of my photographic goals to get some really close up images of these beautiful reptiles.

Regards
David

First one is excellent and the flower pics really 'pop' from the screen. The K-5IIs is great isn't it?

Regards
David

I'm not bothered about how many megapixels my cameras have or how close they are stuffed on the sensor. All I'm interested in is image quality and all my cameras (K-x, K-5, K-5IIs) are capable of producing stunning results, even in poor light.

That's good enough for me

I just got my K-x that I bought from Comet repaired under the 5 year warranty I took out when I bought it in 2011. It developed a cloudy viewfinder and also an electrical fault that made it overheat when in use. The 5 year Guarantee was supplied by a third party. The whole of the gubbins inside my K-x has been replaced and it is now good as new!

Cheers
David

I've been having a think about lighting / flash. I made a double-header diffuser from Pringles Tubes and it has proved to be my most successful contraption to date. The best thing about it is that it's adjustable and it fires light from two directions, so no shadows. The worst thing is it is not efficient in its light output, so a powerful flash is needed and I can't get ISO 100 at F16, which is what I need.

I think a better solution is required. I don't like ringflash so I am about to build an adjustable bracket that will support two flashguns at once, one on each side of the subject. I've got some ideas about how I will build this and will post some pics once it's done.

BTW Charlotte, regarding flash, my advice would be to buy a couple of cheap and powerful manual flashguns, ones on which you can adjust the power output easily. There is no need for TTL or automatic flash. I have Neewer TT560's, they only cost £30 and they are superb.

Regards
David

Constructive criticism is healthy

I think the key to this set of shots is in Shaun's first post, where he describes them as 'snaps'. Most of us on this site will know that Shaun produces serious landscapes when he puts his mind to it and he is more than capable of knowing how to use filters and all of the other tricks in the photography book. It looks to me as though he was just out for a pleasant walk in the hills, with none of his usual kit with him.

On that basis, I think these images are just fine.

Regards
David

Yes, I like the more contrasty version better. BTW, if you set the levels in your images by using the histograms available in Photoshop and other image processing packages, it doesn't matter too much about the quality of your monitor as you can ensure the levels are correct in all your images.

Sure, you will see it better on a good monitor, but at least you will know that the image OK as far as the levels go.

Regards
David

Very impressive for £150!! I must look into buying some bellows.

Regards
David

Add a bit more contrast and that first image would be an absolute belter! I love the composition and colours, the MX-1 seems to have a very good sensor judging by these shots.

Regards
David