They're good fun and we're just coming into the right time of year for bug shots, saw my first Brimstone butterflies this week.

Nice blue tit! I've got a pair at the moment but they always get all shy when the camera comes out - I'd love to get a nice sharp shot like that but my blackbirds are the only ones that hang around and pose for me as a rule...

My garden was visited by a pair of bramblings on Sunday; they stayed for about an hour (presumably on their way north) and gorged on sunflower seeds. I managed to reel off about 80 shots but it was through double glazing with the Tamron 70-300 so none were exactly exhibition standard.







Good luck with shooting yours!

Excellent (and speedy) judging Rob and congratulations to Gary for the win - I look forward to next week's

K10D / D-FA100 / f5.6 / 1-250sec / ISO100

John's typing fingers are quicker than mine!

During a long exposure your camera's sensor generates a certain amount of electronic "noise" that will show in the photo. By having the long exposure NR switched on, your camera will take two shots; the first as normal and the second using the same parameters but with the shutter closed. The second shot will consist purely of the camera-generated noise and so this information is then subtracted from the first shot to leave a (theoretically) "clean" picture.

They're vital for QuickTime VR work where you have the camera at 90 degrees to the upper tripod head - unless you like the idea of a lot of post processing work anyway...

I'm not a pro portrait artist so perhaps I'm not the best person to offer a critique, but to my (untrained) eye I think you have an excellent set of shots there. Friends of mine who recently paid for a portrait session came away with far less pleasing results, so for a first attempt I think you should give yourself a pat on the back!

I like both shots - I think the noise patterns in the first shot actually give it a nice atmosphere.

I use it with Vista and it works perfectly. In fact it flies!