Help needed to prevent major disaster.

I have a huge problem, apart from the fact that I'm fat and ugly. Seriously, I have saved all my images over the last 3-4yrs to an external hard drive. I have somewhere in the region of 10k images on it. However when i tried to use it recently after a request from Dave Slater it wont work.

I have tried to use it on two seperate computers with no joy. I am not very computer legitimate, as any of you who know me will agree, but I did ask a very nice Geeky man at PC World who told me that I needed to do. control panel, administrative tools, disc management, locate external hard drive, and repair. However when I get to the locate external hard drive bit and click on that it says "disc not ready" or "drive not ready". I know that I've done nothing so far that can harm the drive as the nice man told me in no uncertain terms not to click on anything other than repair, and I havent got to that bit yet.

Can any of you out there help? I know I have not got many great pictures but thats not the point. to lose the record of my efforts over the last 3-4 yrs would be devastating ( I know I always said different chris but I never expected it to happen).

I would willingly post the hard drive to you if you are expert enough to repair it for me or do any of you know somewhere where I can take it to get it repaired?

Please help if you can, get back to me on 07794 562074 or my email address b_davis20@live.co.uk.

Thank you.

Oh and by the way the purchase of a new bed meant that I didnt get the new computer yet so be patient with me.

Computer is Kaput

I had got some shots that I wanted to bring you today but the computer is causing me horrendous problems. It wont transfer half of my pictures from the camera, it wont let me open pictures in EOS to change them into TIFS, so I can only advise you that a new comp is on the cards for the end of this month. So be patient and come back in a few weeks time.

I've had some lovely sightings too, Grass snake, Wood mouse, Barn Owl just to name a few. Work is still curtailing my photography though so whilst I have some I have actually done very little. Its a good job there are others out there doing some good stuff. Both the Bob's are still producing stuff, Brian W has given us some good stuff from Scotland but Mike Smith, who still hasn't done a website or blog, has produced some cracking Little Owl shots which he has posted on Birdguides (www.birdguides.com). Michael, I said it on BG and I'll say it again I am truly envious of your Little Owl images, but I know that it is only a result of your hard work and perseverence, well done mate. Hope we can get another trip to Norfolk or maybe Scotland in soon.

So a new comp will be mine at the end of the month and then I promise I will do a catch up.

From my back door and a little beyond.

I have myself a job now, working 4 days a week, so chances for photography are few and far between. Add to that fact a head cold, very high winds and problems with my 1D mk 3 and you will hopefully understand why I have not got a lot to offer.

However, I hope that what I have got is of a quality that will please. I want to start with a subject that I have mentioned before, the moon. I love the moon, I find it very calming and mesmerising. I spent a while looking at the moon one evening recently and played about with different settings on the camera. I wish I had the ability to read the destruction booklet and learn more about using my camera but as soon as I start reading, my mind goes blank. I got one shot that I'm happy with.

I would love to get better shots, 

Something else that always amazes me are Dandelion clocks. You know the one's that you blow to tell the time, unless you're a 4yr old child and you suck and get a gob full of seeds. I love the delicate nature of the things.

This isn't probably the best shot you've ever seen of one but it shows what I mean.





The birds in my garden are looking somewhat rough, the Blue tits are unphotographable at the moment. The Starling stay for only a second or two and are extremely flighty. The Woodpigeons are great but my dog dashes out to chase them off as soon as they land on the fence. The only birds that are brave enough to ignore her are the House Sparrows.

The best surprise of the week though was a Hornet in the garden. When I first saw it I thought it was dead.

This is exactly as it was. But as i set up my kit it started to move and only then did I actually realise just how large they are.







I can't recall having seen one this close.

I dont think it was well, it found a hole and crawled into it, but I enjoyed the short time I spent in it's company.

I banged my camera this week and have been having intermittent problems with it, now that I'm working I will be able to afford to send it off to get it checked. Thankfully I have the 50D as a back up. so hopefully weather and time permitting I will be able to post again soon. The exposure seems all over the place so best get it checked. I'm also still having problems with the computer, so a new one of those is on the cards too.

Thanks for your patience in waiting for this post. Andy C, you can update your website now.



Mixed bag.

Hello all, I've been continuing with the Macro stuff for the last few days with an hours long lens thrown in, in the Forest on Weds whilst I waited for the dog at the hairdressers.

Ladybird.

Large White Butterfly.

Pearl bordered Frittilery.

A Cerposis Vulnerata.

are enough examples of the Macro stuff, the Wood Warbler was very frustrating, I found one who was not too afraid of me but it just wouldn't come low, this is a crop.

Wood Warbler.

One of the most enjoyable opportunities this week came from some more views of one of the Terrapins on the local pond, I have seen two together this week but the one decided it wanted to remain anonymous and plopped into the water just as I got my lens set up.

It is hard to photograph them on their favourite log as the sun is wrong in the mornings and the angle wrong in the afternoon. However I decided to have a go when it was very hazy the other day, I'm pleased with these.

Terrapin.

and

I tried to get the Mallard ducklings that are currently on the pond but the Cob Mute Swan was adamant that he did not want them in the picture, I have never witnessed such unfaltering chasing of ducklings. The Swan did not seem interested in stopping the mother from getting the bread that I had thrown out but it just wouldn't let the ducklings come close.

Mallard and Ducklings.

I hope you will agree another mixed bag of not a lot. But my I've been having fun doing the tiny stuff, its almost given me back my desire to do more photography.

On a sad note, I'm having horrendous problems with my laptop, it crashed the other day and despite getting most of my stuff back I lost a months worth of pics including some lovely ones of my Grandson, I cannot upload pictures to the gallery link, because it say's "access denied" every time I try and the EOS utility programme seems to be working only intermittently. I have problems with Photoshop updating too. I will get it looked at as soon as I can but for a while there won't be any updates in the gallery.

Just for your perusal and because I can I want to show you this shot of my boy, My little Grandson Kenzie-James Lamb, who now can say, Grandad, Car and Keys, and whom I have to allow to drive my car outside his house for 5 mins every visit.

As always click on the pics for larger versions.

Little Birding, Little critters.

I have very few photos to show you this time, I have been struggling to get bird pictures due to weather and wind.

I did have a good week adding to my bird list, Common Whitethroat, Garden Warbler, and Yellow Wagtail have all been added since my last posting. I got photos of two wagtail species, but unfortunately neither was very good as both were large crops.

Yellow Wagtail.

I saw this bird in Herefordshire at a pond a few miles from my house, I was chatting to a fisherman when I saw it on a pad of lilies, it was having a wash. By the time I had gone to the car and fetched my camera a coot had decided it didnt want it in its patch and was just about to shoo it off. I managed a few quick frames but nothing to sing about.

Grey Wagtail.

This fellow was at another pond in south Herefordshire, clearly collecting food for its young. Again it was a snap shot and from a distance, its a large crop. You can see immediately though the difference between the two.

I was out with the camera today and whilst waiting for a Chiffchaff to come into range a Shield bug landed on my lens. I got the 50D out of the car and got a few close ups of it, this encouraged me to try my hand at a few others. I really would like to crack macro work, It gives me a lot of pleasure. The hardest part is identifying what you've snapped.

I think this first one is a Soldier Beetle but I only have a Collins Gem book of insects so I cant be 100% sure.

I have no idea what this is, or what it's feeding on.

This next one is a Cercopis Vulnerata. A very speedy little bug, when disturbed it disappears so quickly you dont see it go, honestly, I did not see it fly off, the book says its a quick mover too.

This is a Shield Bug, I think its a Green Shield Bug. This is the critter that landed on my lens initially and then proceeded to walk all over my kit.

A slow mover this one, no sense of urgency whilst it was on my kit.

The weather is going to be somewhat mixed again this week so it'll be get what you can whilst you can. Come back soon.