101 uses for a macro lens

Number 23: wildlife photography.

It was a tough call between this shot and this one - both taken over the Avon at Stratford this afternoon. They're both cropped a bit, but not crazily so, and I had to straighten this - but otherwise they didn't take much editing. R preferred this one; I almost went with the other, but in the end the patterns in the feathers and the catch-light in his eye got this chap the nod. It's interesting to see that their heads are already turning black, which is their breeding plumage.

The shots which did take some editing this evening were these two of the weirs at Lucy's Mill, with Holy Trinity Church beyond. I watched this tutorial this morning, and thought this might be a good way of capturing some slow water shots without all the faff of a tripod and a graduated filter.  I hope you'll agree that it works reasonably well, but learning a new editing technique takes me a while, and I had several goes at these with different sets of shots before I was happy.

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