Pond life

Really not enjoying the windy weather! Spent today mostly indoors but did a tour of the garden mid-afternoon. In the pre-digital days, I had a nice macro lens, which I mainly used for fungi close-ups. I'm hankering after a new one for my Nikon, but can't really justify the expense of a Nikkor VR lens at the moment, but nothing less will do, so I use my 70-300 zoom for close-ups. It's not quite the same, but it's surprising how often people think I'm using a macro lens. It has the advantage that it enables me to get apparent close-ups of flighty creatures such as butterflies and dragonflies from a safe distance. I've been trying to get a half-decent shot of one of the many pond skaters in our garden pond, and this is easily the best I've managed to date. Not quite pin sharp, but then this little creature is no bigger than a pin.