yellow dragonfly
by Bujanx

Comment:
The colors are great on this one. The vibrant orange is very eye catching.

bright green bug
by Bujanx

Comment:
Nice shot of a tiger beetle you got there! Great job getting him facing you in the shot- almost looks as if he's going to scamper over and attack the viewer. Being that they are voracious predators, this shot is even better once you know some info about the subject!

Delicate Invader
by MaryO

Comment:
The sheen makes them reminiscent of some alien creature's gaping mouth all slathered up with saliva. Neat shot with the floweres all bunched up together, projecting in different directions. Like the dark background, but wish a little bit more of the flowers was lit (the filaments and anthers especially get a little lost in the darkness for me).

which way?
by tnun

Comment:
So much for the flocking instinct. I like the B&W on this- the subjects are well suited for it with their strongly contrasting colors, and it (IMO) adds to the surface of the water by adding definition to the ripples.

The Pond is Watching
by trevytrev

Comment:
Love the look of the water surface in this shot. The repetition of the ripples is great. Natural bokeh!

wildthings2.jpg
by icu1965

Comment:
It would be neat to take the same photo from this position as the wildflowers grew, but this would take far more patience than I have, and also lock up the use of a body in a tripod. Sad to not see flowers yet, but the contrast of the shapes found in the leaves is kinda neat. The out of focus leaf in the center is somewhat distracting, however. I like how some of the leaves are more of a yellow and the others have a deeper hue. Makes the shot more interesting.

The Butterfly
by Jedusi

Comment:
As others have said, DoF could include the head- another way to do this (although you may have lost the flowers if you did so) would be to align the butterfly with the focal plane of your body to achieve the same thing. Considering how flippant butterflies can be, however, you did a great job of capturing the subject with the wings perfectly spread. Great color!

American Robin
by Prism

Comment:
I'm not familiar with the Pentax system, but on my Nikon body, even if I'm using Manual focus, the camera will tell me if it "thinks" I am actually in focus (basically it says if I am focused in the same manner that it would autofocus the scene) via a small green dot in the viewfinder (this shows up when I'm using an autofocus lens and set it to manual, so admittedly I'm not positive it would show up if I were to slap a manual focus on there). Granted, it isn't always possible to watch for this specifically, given how birds often move, but robins are a perfect test subject to check this out on, since they (around here at least) aren't terribly skittish. Maybe instead of spending your hard earned cash on an autofocus lens you could put some of your hard-earned patience to use as well and become a bird stalker! My experience has been that patience will help immensely regardless of what equipment you are using when trying to chase down wily birds. Sure, longer reach helps immensely, but given enough time, you can walk right up to them (unless we're speaking of swallows, in which case you have no hope but a sunken bank account!). Not sure what focal length you shot at, but given the range of your lens, I would assume you could get a closer crop if you crept around after your subject a bit, although the spruces projecting into the frame on either side do look rather nice.

Message edited by author 2008-06-18 08:18:22.

Ever Had One of Those Days ?
by Jedusi

Comment:
The expression on the mother (?) is priceless in this photo, and as if the acts of the youngster weren't enough, this just puts it over the top. Great timing!

Day 2: Oh Deer!!
by bobonacus

Comment:
I agree about changing the contrast on this to boost the photo a bit. The colors look a little bit muted (because that's probably how they really look) and I would like it pop a bit more personally. Also, your deer look a lot "woolier" than the deer in the Rockies. Good shot and good luck sneaking up on them!