I like the blossom being set against the blue sky - looks great!

1 & 2 are fabulous, even for a non-birdy person like myself. Lovely sharpness and caught at just the right moments.

The 3rd has too much else going on I think, the little creature doesn't stand out so well.

The white balance in 2 looks perfect for the warm time of day - I'm seeing No 1 as just a little too warm? I'm aware these things can vary of course between us all.

Yes the path works well there - did you try any other compositions, say with the path more off-centre?

I find the large area of shadow on the left pulls attention though - perhaps a bit shadow lifting over there will help?

The memory menu is really a way of fixing the 'defaults' to your preferences - the USER mode as I see it is more suited to quickly setting up the camera for a specific shooting scenario (eg I have mine set for brackets for HDR when needed). This way you have your main defaults to use in Av or P, but a quick way also of catching something that requires a special setup ocassionally.

Its good to look at and consider the 'Memory' items in the menu - this affects which settings will be retained after the camera is switched off. If any item is not ticked in this menu then the setting will go back to a default after switching off. This affects things like ISO, Drive Mode, white balance for example - all of these can be a pain if not set to your preference on first switching on again.

An empty street could be Architectural or Documentary though ..... Pedestrian? What about a passenger in a passing vehicle?

Sorry, I've been distracted, very busy building on my definition ideas above. I'm considering constructing some 'Street Shooters Aperture Field Tables', listing the genre sub-classifications on the left (EG Portrait (in the Street) / Empty Street (of the Street) then with columns across to the right where the correct aperture value will appear.

The idea would be to take out the field tables (a laminated copy could be fitted inside one of those waterproof map holders placed around your neck) and once the subject is ready you would refer to it to ensure you have correctly identified the right genre sub-classification (remember to tell your subject first and ensure they remain relaxed - you could offer for them to have a glance at the field tables to reassure them), then slide your finger across to the right to locate the matching correct aperture value. Set this on the camera now.

By this method you will ensure that your street shooting genre sub-classification and related aperture value choices always work together to support the most artistic and spontaneous street image captures.

I'm very disappointed you don't think my definitions should be rigorously adhered to.

Surely 'Street' is really about the environment? If its got a person or people in it then they should be shown in 'the street' for it to qualify as 'street'. Some of the very close shots of peoples faces that we've seen recently are 'portraits' surely? That is, its just the subject without reference to the surrounds. The fact that they were 'picked up' in the street is irrelevent to the result isn't it?

I've read the term 'environmental portrait' used, where a person is shown in 'their' environment - could be the street or a workplace for example. So if the subject is shown in the street then that's an Environmental Portrait (Street) - if its just the face then that's a Portrait (In the Street).

Also the aperture has a part to play - one that brings most of the scene into focus (for an envirnmental portrait) could be described as a 'storytelling aperture' - eg f5.6, f8.0. That is what you would use for Environmental Portrait (Street). But of course, a 'Portrait' (In the Street) should be shot at a much wider aperture.

No 1 is the best there I think - its got dappled light falling over the flowers which gives a nice contrast. The yellow heads stand out brilliantly against the more muted surrounds.

Well that old film seems to have stood up to the test of time Peter! I like the 'look' of scanned negs, nowadays they almost have a nostalgic character built-in. The development seems very well handled, punchy colours and sharp.

I need to find a lot more time to get my scanner going - there's hundreds of negs to go through, its just a time consuming business, and of course its difficult to assess exactly which frame should be scanned out of a batch of similar ones so you end up doing them all.

Your scans look good to me - dust & spots is an occupational hazard here, but photoshop healing & clone tools can help out now. You've achieved good contrast with your shots here, which I find can often be the most challenging part of setting up the scans.