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I have just joined and thought I should introduce myself. I hope that this is the right place to post this;)

I have recently started out photographing insects as part of my interest in wildlife. I am using an Olympus E3 with Sigma 50-500 for Birds and Mammals and an Olympus E500 with Sigma 150 DG Macro for insect photography. I have purchased the url www.imageinuk.com to upload my photographs and display them on the web. It is early days yet (started with SmugMug in May 2009) and I am learning how to build the site.
Any comments on my efforts in photography or website would be very welcome as that is the best way of improving what I do.
I have had great assistance from some of the members from the wildaboutbritain site and it is through one of these that I discovered this site. From what I can see on this site, I can also learn a lot from members here.

Thank you for reading this

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Hi Peter,
Great to see you have joined! B)

There's a lot of very knowledgeable people on this site, firendly too! I really must spend more time getting my flies identified too, winter is coming up so watch out!;)

I'm sure you will have a great time wading through the Gallery pics as I have done...:D

Janet :)

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Thanks Janet - what a good stear. I already have had one member trawl through my recent insect images and I have got a number of things to check. I cannot believe how enthusiastic he was in checking my images/ids out. ;) It's just what I needed to motivate me furtherB)

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Hello Peter,

I joined up earlier this year and have learned a tremendous amount. I recommend Forum Search as a way of checking IDs once you think you are in the right area. There is a lot of detailed knowledge there which goes way beyond what can be shown in the Gallery.

One thing I have learnt is that a good proportion of even very common flies cannot be identified to species level from photographs except by people who are unaware of the full range of possibilities. (I used to think all shiny green flies were called Lucilia caesar, but now life is a lot less easy!) With birds and butterflies an expert is someone who can identify them all at sight; in diptera only a beginner can do this! Happily my ignorance is still expanding; perhaps one day it will be complete ;)

Congratulations on your website. I hope you will continue to expand and refine it. Welcome to the party:D

Stephen.

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Stephen - Thank you for your warm welcome and comments. Further to your comments about complexities and ignorance:D. It reminds me of th time a couple of years ago when I learnt that not all brown birds in bushes are sparrows. The discovery of the Dunnock was a complete revelation;) and birding was never the same again. I am beginning to find this is also true in the invertebrate world. It's good fun to learn though and that is another reason I created my site. By creating your own database of subjects you can more easily learn about them, their habitat and life stories. It is also good to share with others.

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There is also another part of this site where you can introduce yourself. Go to the following thread http://www.dipter...ad_id=5360 :D

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Oh Andre, that's fine if you still have the edge of youth over age, :|

How did you manage such a sophisticated shot of yourself? B):D

Peter, I'm pleased your enthusiasm has taken a leap of faith!;)