Fantastic!
The only one I can add that’s not listed is lichens.
Lichens:
Lol that sounds like my internal dialogue too 
My internal dialogue consists of things like:
see’s something fly past “oooh whats that!?”
see something just chilling where they were “hello (name of that thing)”
trying to chase something thats playing hard to get “please, just give me a chance”
I like to ask birds (and other critters) if they would like to have their picture taken. Sometimes I phrase this as “would you like to do glamor shots?” if they are really close.
If they stay around and pose then I thank them for their time and tell them they are great models. If they fly or run away, I tell myself I am respecting their boundaries.
Unfortunately, my inner dialog usually comes out. I once told a bird to “Stand still for five seconds” rather sternly. When I looked down some poor walker was frozen on the trail. I don’t think he believed I was talking to a bird.
Me whenever traveling, my philosophy is just take a photo, take the best photo I can, take as many photos as I can. Keep taking photos of anything and everything. It might be rare, it’s probably new. If I feel like I haven’t seen it, take a photo. If it’s unfamiliar in any way, take a photo. If I know it’s going to be a pain to ID, don’t stop taking photos until it’s out of my sight. Same thing if I know it’s rare, or something I might not get to see again for a while. And if the opportunity presents itself to get a really nice photo, get it, take as many photos as possible. Even if it’s common, if I can get a better photo, just do it, because it won’t be common when I get back home.
Too funny!
My inner dialogues go like this:
“Camera, find your satellites!!” (I use an Olympus Tough camera with built-in GPS.)
“I really should know this by now.” (Muttered while looking at many, MANY plants.)
“Oh, it’s just an Amphibolips gall, I’ll ignore it.” (Sorry, gall guys!)
“My feet/back/knee hurt.” Also, “It’s just too hot.”
“You can’t be depleted already!!” (Said to the camera batteries.)
“Ooo, a rare species! I get ice cream today!”
“The more I get done, the better off I’ll be,” (Said while IDing, or identifying my own moss specimens, or doing paperwork, or vacuuming, or life in general, really.)
“Ooo, a bug!”
“Boy, this is fun. Life doesn’t get much better than this.” (Said almost every day I’m out iNatting somewhere.)
I try to quiet my mind when pointing my camera at a bird or another animal that hasn’t yet seen me because you never know which ones might be telepathic. ;-)
Seriously though, I think if you have too much excitement and your mind is racing while trying to get the shot, you’ll be less successful. I swear some animals pick up on that. Plus it makes you twitchier and that affects your photography. (They probably teach you this in sniper training.)
I forgot about that one. I have the exact same problem, particularly since I often turn the camera off and put it away after each photo or set thereof, and it has to reconnect the next time. I have a large group of observations from the same general location on two different days, none of which has a precise location because I put too much trust in the camera’s GPS and turned it off too often. On my last road trip I made sure to note all the locations I thought I’d forget when it didn’t have time to get a GPS lock.
I love this topic because it makes me think that maybe I’m not as crazy as I think I am. Or am I?
My inner dialog is usually something along the lines of:
“Should I wade through that field of tall, tick-infested grass to get a photo of that butterfly I see way over there, that will probably be gone when I get there?” Or “Ooh! ooh! A yellow flower! maybe it’s something I’ve never seen before. Nope, just another ordinary species X, but okay, hey, let me take 10 photos of it anyway.”
My external dialog is along the same lines as many of you:
“Hello, cute bug, who are you?” And “Stand still, for Pete’s sake!”
But to the best of my knowledge I’ve never actually frightened any hapless strangers…
I leave my camera on all the time I’m out, which is one reason why I also swear at the batteries quite often.
I’d rather have peace of mind that I’ll always be able to use it if I need to, than more location data and less photos. I just wish it would connect to those satellites faster. With my habits the battery can last multiple weeks on a charge - although eventually it does run out, and then I’m never expecting it.
There’s something else that gets said when all too often those two happen in the reverse order …
I realized I left out lichens and almost went back to add something but then realized I’m 100% unqualified because I just try to get a closeup and don’t really know what lichen IDers are looking for. I know many are not really IDable to species without e.g. chemical tests or microscopy.
Great tip about foliose lichens! I didn’t know that was important at all to look at the undersides.
“Ouh, is that – nope, it’s a leaf.”
“Ouh, is that – nope, it’s bird poop.”
“Ouh, is that – I guess it doesn’t matter anymore, it just flew away.”
I try to take a few ‘safety shots’ as I’m approaching animals but sometimes grow overconfident and wait too long between pictures, leading to a few occasions where I ask myself, “Why did I wait so long to get another photo?”
There are also times when I apologize to insects that have flown away as I’m photographing them. “Sorry, didn’t mean to bother you.”
Every once in a while when an insect or spider is being particularly cooperative and I’m happy with the photos I’m taking I’ll make a comment along the lines of, “Well, aren’t you a handsome fellow.”
For lady beetles in particular there’s, “Let me get a good look at your pronotum.”
For butterflies, “Could you open your wings for me, please?”
And for jumping spiders it’s often, “I know you’re excited - I am, too, buddy - but did you really need to jump on the hand holding the camera? Let’s get you down and try this again.”
This is a great topic.
Usually, I don’t have much internal dialogue apart from “Please don’t fly away!” I just try to get clear photos from as many different angles as possible. (Hopefully at least 1 good dorsal view and 1 good lateral view)
However, when photographing hymenoptera and diptera, I started to focus on trying to get the wing venation into focus on at least one image.
Additionally, when taking photos of cuckoo wasps, I try to get a dorsal view of the abdomen because the edge of T3 (or T4? I can’t remember) usually helps to identify species.
And when taking photos of flies, I also started to try and photograph the face, as the frons can be helpful for ID sometimes.
For grasses (Poaceae), I’ve started shooting closeups of the sheath. I don’t know how to ID grasses, but I think I remember a professor of mine telling us that the sheaths were an important characteristic for identifying Poaceae.
Edit to say: Also, I forgot to mention the absolute fury and hatred that rushes through me when a beetle lets itself fall down. Insects flying away might be mildly annoying, but it’s nothing compared to the sheer disrespect of the cool ladybeetle lifer folding up into a ball and rolling down the leaf, never to be seen again. >:(
Yes. And then you swipe between them for a good 10 minutes to figure out which one is most in focus, though in practice it probably doesn’t matter.
Much of my internal dialogue is stuff like, “another schoolboy error”, when I look at the disappointing shots I’ve taken and realise that in my excitement I’ve just snapped away at my subject rather than thinking about the camera settings. If the creature is still around, I’ll then have a second attempt, and if successful my internal dialog will be aimed at the subject, “you sat up well” or “thanks for being so forgiving”. If not, it’ll be a string of self-directed expletives, “Bxxxxx, bxxxxx, bxxxxx, bxx”!