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I have taken a lot more wildlife photos since starting this thread, so thought I would update it.
I have also updated my camera from a Fuji FinePix F200 EXR to a F500 EXR. I still have all the limitations of a compact digital camera but pocket-sized better suits my lifestyle. I usually shoot in 100 ISO on 16 x 9 format and initially upload into iPhoto on my 27" iMac. Some photos get copied into Aperture but I find that I don't feel the need to edit much outside iPhoto and very rarely in Photoshop. Obviously they are never going to be as sharp and pristine as photos taken by richwig, TC, PND, and other wildlife photogs on the forum but I am more about graphic composition and capturing the moment (not that the others aren't doing that as well).
Inspired by needing to crop some pics to use as Facebook 'covers', I quite like that more extreme panoramic format too, but those are all cropped in the editing stage when on the iMac.
Here are some of my favourite Sunflower shots this year:
^ Taken by my daughter (her idea) a few days ago. Many of those Sunflowers are nearly 8ft high!
^ Of course I absolutely had to buy this sign when I saw it. It's on my 'Bird Cafe' post.
^ I got lucky didn't I. It was a windy day too, so I had to hold the stalk with one hand while taking the pic.
^ Growing so high that some are almost out of reach for photography!
^ The chap on the left is a Hoverfly. There are over 5,000 different species and most are nectar-feeders (and are very friendly!).
^ It's so satisfying to see so many Honey Bees and Bumble Bees visit my garden for nectar and pollen etc. They have had a very hard wet Spring and Summer and honey will be in short supply next year as Bee populations have suffered very badly. They don't fly in the rain! It's easy to underestimate the important role to Life which Bees play.
[More pics to come]
