RR's Wildlife Portfolio....

[cmdrfire]

That's why you want a digital Leica M Robin - much smaller than a DSLR, small enough that I can carry it practically anywhere, with some of the best lenses ever designed, and all manual controls. M8s are quite reasonable these days ever since the M9 came out.

[RedRobin]

^^^^
Which Leica M, Neo? There seem to be quite a few and some at £3.5k - More than I want to spend on a camera nowadays. My pro 35mm Nikons and Canons earned me enough money to pay for themselves.

[cmdrfire]

Leica M8 (used) in box, £1799 + lens.

http://www.reddotcameras.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=34_35&products_id=2476

For a superb camera that's quite a good price. But I do appreciate it is big-ish money.

[RedRobin]

^^^^
Hmm.. I fully appreciate a Leica's supreme quality but my Fuji Finepix 200EXR only cost me just over £300 and it's far more compact for a pocket in the real world. Plus I only use the results for internet posting / email attachments. Notice how I'm trying to justify not considering spending money on a Leica!

[RedRobin]

.
Some more pics, taken recently:



^ Wing of a dead Small Tortoiseshell butterfly who had hibernated in my house and not survived the Iron Butterfly loud rock music.



^ Discarded Magpie feather.



^ Flower Power about to be unleashed.



^ Room enough for a threesome.



^ Maturity. Pushing towards the 10 ft mark and with 6 more flower heads now on the way.



^ Drama.



^ Caterpillar of the Large White butterfly.



^ Large Red Slug - Good for the garden. They can grow to nearly 6 inches.





^ A Garden Spider aka Diadem Spider. A lot larger than all my reference books say!

Now what the heck are these!?:





^ They suddenly appeared on a water lily leaf yesterday evening and there are no signs of them today.

Bug? Mite? Beetle? Water or land based? - Any experts in the house?

[RedRobin]

.
Another round of recent pics:



^ Honey Bee wearing fur coat in the early morning chill.
Actually, he had died and was just hanging there. I wondered why he kept so still for me!



^ My log pile in the early morning - A lucky sunlight reflection.



^ The wier on the small river at the back of my gaff. From the footbridge. A snap on the way into town.



^ Autumn leaves - The season is changing.



^ The Sky Diver. Always a good idea to look up! Most people don't.



^ Ambush on the street, or possibly guarding the footpath to my gaff.
Carl is gonna supply him with a gun. One of the many Wolf Spider species I think.

[Top Cat]

Great pics Robin.  I think your little mites are aphids (green fly ). 

My garden is really small so not to much in the way of wildlife to shoot.

Caught the cat and bits with the new camera. No composition or thought went into these. I was just excited that i was getting exposed pics in manual mode for the first time. 

[RedRobin]

@ TC:

Funny thing is that though you say not composed, these shots look composed even if subtley so. I like that first grass pic best - It has a strong sense of movement. The bottom line is whether a photo appeals on some 'emotional' level or not - Just like in any art form. And it's best not to over analyse or get too intellectual about it imo.

[Hedge]

This one here is my favourite.
Obviously the subject matter is close to my heart but the picture is well exposed (not easy with blacks and whites) and you know that one wrong move and he will have your face off. 

[RedRobin]

^^^^
Yep, the cat shot is strong. As it's so simple I think it would be justifiable to Photoshop away the debris.

[cmdrfire]

<3 that white cat. Love the slightly awkward paws.

Here's a pic of our garden wildlife that I took...



(he's a big sweety really)

[RedRobin]

More wildlife and pondlife pics coming soon   

[RedRobin]

.
It's Ladybird Time! 



^ 0-spot ladybird emerging from its pupa (July). Will it develop spots?



^ The infamous bad boy on the block Harlequin Ladybird.



^ Another shot of the same Harlequin.



^ Another Harlequin bad boy, identifiable due to the dimples.



^ A black Harlequin.

The Harlequin Ladybirds are considered as unwelcome aliens by some purists - It's a whole different and very debatable topic.



^ My recently installed Bee & Ladybird box. Hopefully solitary species of bees will inhabit the upper bamboo tubes (aka missile launchers) and ladybirds the basement.

[RedRobin]

.
My daughter bought me a Bumble Bee Nester for my birthday :





^ It's ceramic and frost-proof 

This is why I leave large areas of my grass uncut and there's no such thing as weeds in my book :

[Jack Rabbit]

i like the bumble bee nester 

we used to have a bumble bee nest in our wall, our patio table was in the flight path and was hilarious to watch them come into land heavy, miss it and not seen them for a year or so.

Where did you find that nester mate? and how do you encourage bumble bees to nest? genuinely interested - would love to have some in our garden again