What I mean by ‘leftovers’ here consists of the things I have forgotten to mention in previous posts – for example:
1. Many of the photos I now use, to accompany my little stories, were taken randomly before I even knew what a blog was.
2. None of the photos I’ve taken since I started this blog have been ‘staged’; even the Ouch post was a spontaneous series of photos.
3. I am trying to take better photos with my new camera but I don’t seem to have the visual instinct required – will keep trying!
4. Weiros grind their teeth/beaks and I mean GRIND! Buttons is on my shoulder doing it now and it’s actually quite noisy and annoying!
5. Argh – Wantok is doing it now – that GRINDING thing! She does it quite loudly too.
6. I think Buttons might be a boy because apparently her/his big, round, orange cheeks indicate maleness and might explain why he is so enamoured of me (his beak under my chin right now, left eye curved up to meet mine, lots of snuggling).
7. Despite Son’s reluctance to embrace the ‘bird thing’, as he calls it, he and Wantok are so infatuated with each other that I feel a bit left out!
8. I am meticulous about grammar so sometimes I go back and edit past posts for posterity. I’m not sure if this is normal, but who cares. On the other hand, does anyone else do this?
9. WordPress is incredible in many ways but there are definitely a few glitches and I seem to keep falling into ALL of them!
10. Even though I am not lonely, or isolated, it is great to be meeting other bloggers who are wiser than I am.
11. This 11 is just to break up 10’s domination and just to say that, even though I said at the outset that there would be a photo with every post, it’s not always possible.
12. Husband comes home from hospital on Friday – yeeha!
jmgoyder 
I particularly like that last one.
Me too!
Great news about your hubby coming home. I too edit posts after they’ve been posted…. just in case I get a new grammar fanatic fan that wants to read the past few years of my blabbing. (: I think it’s a good habit. When a post gets “Freshly Pressed” it is often a post a week or a few days old so edit away. Love this list…and the thought of your admirer Buttons.
I will continue to edit away!
number 12 🙂
Yes!
Hooray for the YeeHaw on #12. I am happy for you!
Thanks!
Just to reassure you, Julie, no matter how many times I proofread my posts, I often have to go back & edit (due to grammar and spelling mistakes). \
Secondly, just to reassure you, I have to edit nearly all my photos as I misjudge the movements of animals & birds. I cannot see well through the viewfinder either. One needs to learn lots of things when new to photography. Like having the sun behind you if possible. Holding the camera the right way and so on………These little things make a big diff. to the final result. I started by downloading some free editing software off the internet called Picasa. This enabled me to lighten some of the deep shadows or crop the image to put the subject in a better position in the frame of the final image. Sometimes it’s hard to use the ‘rule of thirds’ in photography because the bird runs or flies away and we only catch then in the edge of the photo frame.
I have taken over 45,000 photos since I started in May 2010 with my first little Point & Shoot camera, then progressed to a DSLR last Dec. and I have probablly deleted 30,000 as being poor or blurred.
I really enjoy candid shots. They are so much fun. I might suggest that you (like me) is in a hurry to catch a funny expression or action of a bird and we might not take the time to hold the camera really steady in our haste.
Perhaps my number 1 tip would be to take lots of photos from all angles and don’t hesitate to kneel down to shoot from the same level as the birds (if you can). I sometimes take 12-15 shots of the one subject and then choose the best one to post (in your case, post the one which fits your article the best). In this digital age, we can afford to take many shots as we don’t have to pay for film processing. I think I took 22 shots of the Peacock that day at the zoo for example. Normally only 1-2 might have been good, but for the first time, 20 out of the 22 were good.
Your point number 12 sounds the best one though. Yeeha (also)
My final point……….I can take 350 photos in an afternoon in the Botanic Gardens and only end up with 3-5 really good shots.
I’m going to print your wonderful advice out – thank you so much, Victoria!