I’m just an old guy with a new camera 
Having said that, I’ve had a camera of some sort for most of life, I started out with a manual 35mm film camera 45 years ago, I still have that camera.
I enjoy and appreciate all forms of nature photography but my favorite is macro.
I’m from North Carolina, USA and I suppose the biggest reason for joining NPN is to share images and techniques with other people that share the same interest.
As for learning, my wife says that she IS my wife because I’m always learning something new and because I’m never afraid to admit when I am mistaken about something.
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Just thought I’d add some camera info and settings.
This was shot with a Nikon P900 at 1/250s, f5.6, ISO 200 at 107mm (600mm in 35mm equivalent).
The sensor on that camera is the same size as most cell phone cameras.
I think the P in P900 stands for plastic, it’s not the best camera by any means but for long focal lengths it’s not too bad, it has a maximum 2000mm in 35mm equivalent.
I did a fair amount of cloning and spot painting as the BF appeared to have had a rough life.
If I remember right, this was taken at a BF farm, I believe this was during a tour I took with my granddaughter.
Thanks for looking!
Merv
Hi Merv and welcome to NPN! I still have my first ‘serious’ camera as well even though I’ve moved on to more sophisticated tools. I hope to see more of your macro work - this is a lovely example of the fleeting beauty of a butterfly and how often we only see the backs of them, heh.
Nice to meet you, Kristen
I took some time to look through your portfolio and I’m very impressed!
Nice work!
I think I have decided which macro lens to get, I’ve read quite a few good things about the Sony 90mm, f2.8 macro.
I’ve always used homemade macro hacks so it’s time I go legit and get a real macro lens 
A high res camera is useless without good glass, right?
Thanks a bunch for the warm words of welcome!
Again, Great work on your portfolio!
Merv
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Hi Mervin and welcome! Butterflies are my No 1 subject so I love this Pearl Crescent, a very small bf and not easy to catch. We have family in Raleigh, NC and hope to visit them some time soon. So it’s nice to see a new member from there too!
Pleasure to meet you, Mike
I live about an hour west of Raleigh, it’s a very nice city but a bit too big for my taste.
I see that you made it from Ireland to South Korea. I’ve heard that South Korea is a beautiful place to be.
Great portfolio on fllickr! I’ll spend more time this morning looking through it, the Joro spider caught my eye because of the colors I suppose.
I remember the Pearl Crescent BF being very small (ca 1 inch wingspan) and I’m happy to know the name of it, I’m sure I researched it at the time but forgot, I am terrible at remembering names, always have been.
Thank you for the ID and the warm welcome to NPN!
I’m looking forward to being here on NPN for a long while.
Thanks again, Mike!
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Hello Mervin, welcome to NPN. I am sure you’ll get a lot out of this community. I love the butterfly image. Nice start here. I hope to see more of your work.
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Hi David, nice to meet you!
I agree, I think I will enjoy being part of this community.
Thanks for the kind words about the BF image.
I seriously doubt I can compete with any of the images in your portfolio.
For that matter, I doubt I can compete with most images here on NPN so I won’t try
I am just kidding, it’s not a competition for me, that was just my way of emphasizing how great the images are on NPN.
I do hope to do some traveling again soon, my back yard isn’t that interesting - LOL
All the best,
Merv
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Merv, welcome to NPN! I’m a bit late to the party. Life has been a bit busy lately. I’m also into macro, and had an old 35 mm manual camera to cut my teeth on, and, I live in NC. My husband is from here, so that is how we ended up down here. I’m from Maryland originally.
I like the way the light shines through the wings of the BF. Nice. Looking forward to seeing more of your work. Again, welcome to NPN. I think it is a great photography community.
Nice to meet you, Shirley,
Maryland is a nice place but I think I like it here better. I was born in northern Minnesota where winters can get very brutal at times but that was over 50 years ago.
Thank you for the warm welcome!
Your images are stunningly gorgeous, wonderfully sharp where they need to be sharp, great colors and lighting too!
Thanks again, neighbor!
I look forward to hanging out in you corner of NPN as soon as I get the glass I want and have a little time to get a few shots of…something
All the best,
Merv
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Welcome Merv! Beautiful capture of this butterfly. I like the light through the wings and the details of the antenna. I’m sure you’ll like it here. I know I’ve learned a lot in the 2 years I’ve been here and still have a lot more to learn. Look forward to seeing more of your work.
Hi Vanessa and thanks for joining the welcome wagon!
Nice to meet you!
I can tell already that I’m going to like hanging out here at NPN.
I had a look through your portfolio and I like that you are exploring so many facets of photography from traditional to modern abstracts. Photography can be a lot of fun once you get past the frustrations of camera settings and getting it do do what you want it to do.
I had always wanted to be an artist but I could never get the visions in my head to materialize on canvas or paper so photography became my canvas. I’m no artist by any means but I’ll take what I can get
Thanks again, Vanessa!
All the best,
Merv
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