£20 for a classical LP (vinyl), half that for a CD with 50% more music on it. Analogue can be expensive nowadays.

Having said that, 36 exposure Kodak Gold 200 35mm for £5.99 at Speedgraphic, pack of 3 for £14.95. 36 exposure Ektachrome £16.50. And I can confirm they've been delivering quickly throughout lockdown 'cos I've bought stuff from them (albeit not film).

Steve

Technically excellent, as usual.

Not so sure about it artistically, though. The dangling legs and black background suggest something alien wandering through intergalactic space - from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy perhaps?

Steve

Who can possibly disagree ... ? Are you sure it's not an SEM image of something atomic???

Fascinatingly abstract and technically superb.

Steve
P.S. How's the Orange Tip pupa?

You can have some of my bindweed if you want a change from ground elder...

Steve

Looks like fun!!! And a lovely picture.

I wonder if NASA would attach a Q to the Hubble space telescope...

Steve

..or neither Sometimes it's good to take things for what they are rather than trying to squeeze them in pre-conceived boxes.

Whatever the colour-label, it's a nice picture of a fascinating flower. What is it??

Steve

If you use the self-timer function (i.e. shutter fires a few seconds after button is pressed), shake reduction should automatically be turned off (need to check it's the same for your camera as for mine). Useful to ensure that the camera is rock-solid steady when the shutter fires, even pressing the button when the camera is on a tripod can cause a bit of movement. Of course, that's only good for stationary subjects. Birds, beasts, people and flowers in the breeze seem to know how to cause maximum frustration by moving after the button is pressed but before the shutter fires...

Steve

Or even better, don't even think about getting something else to put on the front of the camera and just do what PRYorkshire suggests:
If you haven't got one already, the only bit of equipment that's definitely worth thinking about is a tripod. There are so many reasons for using one and it's useful in so many situations. And sooner or later we all realise that we can't hold our hands as steady as we used to (or thought we could).

Steve

That's a very good lens. And being a macro lens, it will let you get very close to a subject - at its closest, something 1 inch long will fill the frame (lengthways).

Comments about pictures are usually subjective, so if you've taken a picture for your own pleasure and you like it, ignore what anyone else says! Having said that, here are a couple of hopefully constructive thoughts about the pictures. I hope you don't mind me tinkering with your pictures to show what I mean. You'll be able to do better with the full size pics rather than the reduced images on this forum.

- With the first one, the (i.e. my) eye wants to settle on the red plant but is pulled leftwards by the bigger space to the left. A symmetrical image can be very striking. Try removing some of the left hand side so the red plant is central. Something like this.


- With the second one, there's a lot of detail, including scruffy grass at the bottom, the background isn't horizontal and it isn't clear what the subject is. Try straightening so the background is horizontal then cropping all round. Aim for less distraction and the flies becoming part of the story (suggesting that the wood has been left for a long time). Something like this (other crops with similar effect are also possible).



Keep at it, we're all somewhere on the learning curve, just at different places!

Steve

Yes, but you have to feel some sympathy for the insect. Controlling 6 legs must be really difficult, controlling 2 is enough for me.

Steve