Lovely shots Paul, I love the colours in the sunset clouds.

Beautiful shots Martin - well done.

Excellent sunrise shot Richard. Really like it.

Excellent first Macros.
I'm no expert at Macro photography but here are some pointers that have helped me.
1. The usual tripod and remote trigger are essential and mirror lockup if you want to get really into it.
2. Set an aperature ratio to give you enough depth of field for the area of interest in the shot, but not too much that your background doesn't blur (usually not an issue).
3. Using Manual focus will usually do away the wrong points of interest being selected by AF.

Excellent shots Richard. That panoramic of the bridge especially.
Hope you haven't forgotton that mission of a moonrise shot between one of the spans. Now that would be awesome 

Thanks for all your kind comments - photography is all thats kept me sane all summer, your comments help of course 

Hi Conor,
Most of  the shots above are shot using Sigma 150-500mm (BigmOS) at 500mm, even the sunset (not a very landscape lens).
The Macros were done with a Sigma 70-300mm and the M27 is my 500D direct attached to the scope using a T adapter/T ring, scope is a C8N-GT.
You can click on any of the above shots and you'll get more detail and camera settings on each shot.

Amazing shots Richard.
I totally agree, BIFs are much more difficult than Sports photography. I've spent quite some time this summer trying to get a decent flying swallow shot (still not happy with the results).

Sorry to have been out of the frame for so long. Between a hectic work schedule, a crashed laptop and Flickr doing away with BB code links I haven't posted in some time. I hate to post and run, but that appears to be what I'm doing. Anyway, I've spent some time trying to get a decent shot of flying swallows - a satisfactory result still eludes me. Anyway here are some pics from my hectic summer, these are my moments of peace (without photography I'd be burned out). Sorry about the amount of shots, but I don't know when I can get back here again.


Skimming Swallow (Hirundo rustica) by John C. Murphy, on Flickr


Swallow Splash (Hirundo rustica) by John C. Murphy, on Flickr


Flying Swallow (Hirundo rustica) by John C. Murphy, on Flickr


Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea) by John C. Murphy, on Flickr


M27 Dumbbell Nebula by John C. Murphy, on Flickr


Brown Rat (Rattus norvegicus) by John C. Murphy, on Flickr


Into the Blue by John C. Murphy, on Flickr


What a tangled web we weave........ by John C. Murphy, on Flickr


Hoverfly (Scaeva selenitica) by John C. Murphy, on Flickr


Sunset Gold by John C. Murphy, on Flickr


Armageddon outta here by John C. Murphy, on Flickr


Chopper1 by John C. Murphy, on Flickr


Fallow Doe and Fawn by John C. Murphy, on Flickr


Flying Swallow by John C. Murphy, on Flickr


Heil Heron by John C. Murphy, on Flickr

Lovely shots Conor...

Well done John - love the Great Crested Grebes.

Sorry I've not been around much - up to my eyes in work at the mo'.

I've set myself the task of getting a decent Swallow BIF. Its almost impossible but with a bit of luck I'll get a decent one before the end of the summer. I've noticed a certain pattern to help, in that they rise slightly before dipping to the water surface to pick off any flies skimming on the surface. At this point they bleed off some speed and allow the best chance to capture a shot. Still not happy with the results but I'll keep on tryin'.



Also - Old man Heron is still goin' strong and giving some nice poses:

Beaut shots John - love the last one also.

Sorry guys - long time no visit, too busy with work etc...
With the good weather I managed to get a few more shots of our local ornithological residents.
Yesterday was quite interesting as a Mute Swan on our local pond attacked a hybrid mallard and laid into his brood of 13 chicks. I'm afraid the swan came out on top killing probably 4 of the chicks. Sorry for not being around more, I'm finding it hard to get time for anything these days, my astronomical endeavours are shot to sh.....









Hooded Crow (Corvus corone cornix)


Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)


Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea)


House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)

Beautiful rainbow shot. Its hard to get the exposure right on these - well done.