I've decided to repurpose this website slightly, and talk a bit about equipment and techniques used for the photographs.
I'd been getting out and about more following a bout of illness - this mainly meant going looking for wildlife to photograph. However, I thought it was about time I put some up here - these are from August 2014.
My earliest interest in wildlife (assuming dinosaurs don't count!) was in lizards, so I was pleased to see this Common Lizard sitting on a dry stone wall beside the road. It is our commonest lizard, and found throughout the UK. However, the Peak District is something of a local stronghold for this lovely little lizard.
Shot with a (rather old, but good) Minolta 80-200 f2.8 APO lens at f8.
However, the main reason for visiting Ramsley was to photograph dragonflies and damselflies.
Photographed with the Minolta 400mm f4.5 APO lens, which I originally bought mainly to photograph birds, but have discovered it's also very useful for photographing Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies). (The Common Hawker was shot using the 80-200 lens).
There is a good review of this lens on Michael Hohner's Fotografie website (an invaluable resource for anyone interested in Minolta autofocus or (now) the Sony A-mount system). I bought my copy of this lens after reading this review, and haven't regretted it once. I mostly use it with a manfrotto 393 long lens bracket and either a monopod or a tripod. The manfrotto bracket is a (relatively) cheap alternative to a Wimberley if you want a gimbal, and quite responsive, especially if used with a monopod.