Photography is a funny occupation really... in how many others jobs I wonder do people think that they can do just as good a job as the professional - so much so that they expect us to work for hardly anything or indeed for free... because let's face it... taking pictures is child's play... (?) Well of course it isn't - even if you are a very good amateur and your work will stand up to scrutiny against the rest you don't have to shoot if you don't feel like it; or the weather is bad; or you can't think of a subject... I was in conversation the other day and the subject of Wedding Photography came up... "A friend of our didn't have a photographer at their wedding... we all took pictures then then sent them copies..." How many other aspects of the wedding did they trust to amateurs and luck? Did someone who couldn't open a can of beans do the catering? Did someone who couldn't thread a needle make the dress? I would guess not... these jobs are entrusted to an expert... someone who knows what they are doing - be them a friend or someone picked from the local Yellow Pages... but photographs? Nah... we will give everyone a camera and as they drink more during the day we will be left with hundreds of brilliantly taken images of all our friends enjoying themselves... And how does this pan out in 5, 10 or 20 years time? Do they sit back and think about the pate? The flowers (now what colour were they?)... what colour was Grandma's hat? "I tell you what lets look at the wedding album... oh we haven't got one of those... the images are on the laptop somewhere - ah yes here they are in My Pictures... Oh, we didn't get one of Grandma - shame that as she had come all the way from Scotland and it was the last time that whole generation was together... still there's one of Barry relieving himself behind a tree and there is one of Charlotte drunk under a table... still we did get the one of us leaving the church and the family group... Oh no we didn't because everyone was talking to old friends and didn't take one..."
Still think it's a good idea not to book a professional photographer to cover your wedding?
Rant over...
So, what have I been shooting this week? Well I went out on Wicken Fen on Saturday for an hour or so... and found the following...
forget-me-not (Myosotis spp.)
lady's smock (Cardamine pratensis) - above and below...
reed reflections in a pond... I just liked the light and colours here...
sedge (Carex spp) flower...
spittle-bug larval case...
St Mark's fly (Bibio marci)... so called because it emerges close to St Mark's Day - 25th April
remains of a wild bees nest - found inside a fallen willow...
Well, that was a productive hour or so and enjoyable - spring is my favourite season (when we get one) and the emergence of St Mark's fly, the song of returning warblers and the blossoming of trees is just a delight...
So a couple of days later I went out into the garden to see what I could find there...
bee fly (Bombylius spp) - an important pollinator; the mimicry is for protection...
honey bee (Apis mellifera) - my favourite shot of the week...
hoverfly (Platycheirus spp.) inside some apple blossom...
hoverfly (Rhingia campestris)
and whilst in the garden Quinn made an appearance...
Now, this next bit isn't for the squeamish... whilst taking pictures I noticed an odd thing - something I hadn't seen before; and after talking to a fellow ecologist discovered what I was seeing... Just outside the garden is a small patch of hoary cress (Lepidium draba) and on the underside of the uppermost leaves were many dead flies...
Now, apparently what is happening is this... the flies are infected by a fungi - Entomophtora muscae - this fungi invades the body of the fly and slowly digests it from within. Before the fly dies however, it affects the brain, making the fly move to a high point and spread out it's wings - so allowing the spores to spread... the fungi is used as a biological control of pest species of fly... How fascinating is that!!! Thanks Richard for the information!!! May sound a bit unpleasant to some, but I love this sort of ecology... the way this has evolved is just amazing...
And so to prettier things...also in the garden is...
geranium...
honeysuckle
Today (Friday) I have been on a shoot in Cambridge - just an insurance claim thing, but the car was parked near Trinity College cricket ground - to get there I drove past the Cambridge University Real Tennis Club and the Cambridge University Rugby Union ground... lovely looking venues and places I would have loved to have played... the shoot may have been dull but the surroundings surely made up for it... And now the weekend approaches... who knows what that will bring... On Monday I have a meeting with a prospective client and to top it all the pictures taken at the dance performance are selling... two orders yesterday...!
You can keep up with my imaging here... or here... if you are that way inclined and I hope you all have a great week...
TTFN
Still think it's a good idea not to book a professional photographer to cover your wedding?
Rant over...
So, what have I been shooting this week? Well I went out on Wicken Fen on Saturday for an hour or so... and found the following...
forget-me-not (Myosotis spp.)
lady's smock (Cardamine pratensis) - above and below...
reed reflections in a pond... I just liked the light and colours here...
sedge (Carex spp) flower...
spittle-bug larval case...
St Mark's fly (Bibio marci)... so called because it emerges close to St Mark's Day - 25th April
remains of a wild bees nest - found inside a fallen willow...
Well, that was a productive hour or so and enjoyable - spring is my favourite season (when we get one) and the emergence of St Mark's fly, the song of returning warblers and the blossoming of trees is just a delight...
So a couple of days later I went out into the garden to see what I could find there...
bee fly (Bombylius spp) - an important pollinator; the mimicry is for protection...
honey bee (Apis mellifera) - my favourite shot of the week...
hoverfly (Platycheirus spp.) inside some apple blossom...
hoverfly (Rhingia campestris)
and whilst in the garden Quinn made an appearance...
Now, this next bit isn't for the squeamish... whilst taking pictures I noticed an odd thing - something I hadn't seen before; and after talking to a fellow ecologist discovered what I was seeing... Just outside the garden is a small patch of hoary cress (Lepidium draba) and on the underside of the uppermost leaves were many dead flies...
Now, apparently what is happening is this... the flies are infected by a fungi - Entomophtora muscae - this fungi invades the body of the fly and slowly digests it from within. Before the fly dies however, it affects the brain, making the fly move to a high point and spread out it's wings - so allowing the spores to spread... the fungi is used as a biological control of pest species of fly... How fascinating is that!!! Thanks Richard for the information!!! May sound a bit unpleasant to some, but I love this sort of ecology... the way this has evolved is just amazing...
And so to prettier things...also in the garden is...
geranium...
honeysuckle
Today (Friday) I have been on a shoot in Cambridge - just an insurance claim thing, but the car was parked near Trinity College cricket ground - to get there I drove past the Cambridge University Real Tennis Club and the Cambridge University Rugby Union ground... lovely looking venues and places I would have loved to have played... the shoot may have been dull but the surroundings surely made up for it... And now the weekend approaches... who knows what that will bring... On Monday I have a meeting with a prospective client and to top it all the pictures taken at the dance performance are selling... two orders yesterday...!
You can keep up with my imaging here... or here... if you are that way inclined and I hope you all have a great week...
TTFN
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