A frustrating week with good weather only sporadic and opportunities to get out and burn pixels rarely coinciding with those small pockets of chance... Houses still need to be found, phone calls made and letters written. On top of that Quinn had this Friday off so the week was curtailed... It is now half term... will I get out? Who can tell... The good news is that another job came in - a quote from March was finally answered in the affirmative...
Photographically I continue on my various projects... the main one is to record common flora and fauna in an attractive way and encourage people to take a fresh look around them. Many of the species I photograph are all around us, we brush past them when out walking and never give them a second glance. Yet these species are survivors; they are successful colonists of habitats and niches that we share on a day to day basis... have a look at my pictures and take another look... they are as worthwhile as any species...
So what have I been shooting? Well I started with a trip up to Scarborough, North Yorkshire to visit Mum and Dad and whilst there we had a trip to Forge Valley NNR - a delightful remnant of ancient woodland sited in a river valley with steep sides... The ground was a carpet of wild garlic and bird song filled the air...
Spring woodland...
Along the paths a mix of plants, the most obvious...
greater stitchwort (Stellaria holostea) - one of my favourite woodland plants... and along the river banks...
pendulous sedge (Carex pendula).
Now I shall digress into a bit photography speak here... whilst shooting in the woodland I was under bright sun. This coupled with the dense shadows cast by trees leads to excessive contrast - tricky to meter for. When shooting in these conditions I tend to use a diffuser. This is a large circular disk covered with a translucent material. This spreads the light over the subject, removing the harshness...I hand hold the diffuser close to the plant producing the lighting I am looking for. Compare the picture above of the sedge.. taken with diffuser in place, with the one below... with no diffuser...
The difference in lighting is marked. Some people may like the second version, that is personal preference...
So, a good trip even though the paths were awash with dog mess - thanks dog owners...
A couple of days later I slipped into the garden...
another of the hoverflies (Eristalis spp.) I think... this one is having a pollen moment!
and
a study of lesser trefoil (Trifolium dubium) - a delightful little member of the the clover family. I bet you have seen it, walked on it, cursed it and ignored it... take another look...
When waiting to pick up my little boy from school, I have found a footpath, lined with vegetation that is a great place for invertebrate subjects - species that are around us all the time, never given a second look...like these...
green fly on nettle flower...
greenbottle... love the eye colour...
small tortoiseshell butterfly caterpillar on nettle...
long-jawed spider... showing its fangs...
malachite beetle...
mirid bug...
It's fascinating what you can find when you look...
What else has happened? Well a couple of job confirmations came in for later in the year... which is good news... I am doing a dragonfly survey on Wicken Fen this year so I had the livestock awareness training he other day, which was interesting - how to read the behavioral signs of a highland cattle bull etc...also very informative...all that and an excellent meeting with Quinn's teachers to boot
All my comings and goings can be found here and if you don't Facebook they can be seen here so don't be shy... have a look...
I hope you all have a great week; and I shall see you all again here, next week...
TTFN
Photographically I continue on my various projects... the main one is to record common flora and fauna in an attractive way and encourage people to take a fresh look around them. Many of the species I photograph are all around us, we brush past them when out walking and never give them a second glance. Yet these species are survivors; they are successful colonists of habitats and niches that we share on a day to day basis... have a look at my pictures and take another look... they are as worthwhile as any species...
So what have I been shooting? Well I started with a trip up to Scarborough, North Yorkshire to visit Mum and Dad and whilst there we had a trip to Forge Valley NNR - a delightful remnant of ancient woodland sited in a river valley with steep sides... The ground was a carpet of wild garlic and bird song filled the air...
Spring woodland...
wild garlic (Allium ursinum)
Along the paths a mix of plants, the most obvious...
greater stitchwort (Stellaria holostea) - one of my favourite woodland plants... and along the river banks...
pendulous sedge (Carex pendula).
Now I shall digress into a bit photography speak here... whilst shooting in the woodland I was under bright sun. This coupled with the dense shadows cast by trees leads to excessive contrast - tricky to meter for. When shooting in these conditions I tend to use a diffuser. This is a large circular disk covered with a translucent material. This spreads the light over the subject, removing the harshness...I hand hold the diffuser close to the plant producing the lighting I am looking for. Compare the picture above of the sedge.. taken with diffuser in place, with the one below... with no diffuser...
The difference in lighting is marked. Some people may like the second version, that is personal preference...
So, a good trip even though the paths were awash with dog mess - thanks dog owners...
A couple of days later I slipped into the garden...
another of the hoverflies (Eristalis spp.) I think... this one is having a pollen moment!
and
a study of lesser trefoil (Trifolium dubium) - a delightful little member of the the clover family. I bet you have seen it, walked on it, cursed it and ignored it... take another look...
When waiting to pick up my little boy from school, I have found a footpath, lined with vegetation that is a great place for invertebrate subjects - species that are around us all the time, never given a second look...like these...
green fly on nettle flower...
greenbottle... love the eye colour...
small tortoiseshell butterfly caterpillar on nettle...
long-jawed spider... showing its fangs...
malachite beetle...
mirid bug...
It's fascinating what you can find when you look...
What else has happened? Well a couple of job confirmations came in for later in the year... which is good news... I am doing a dragonfly survey on Wicken Fen this year so I had the livestock awareness training he other day, which was interesting - how to read the behavioral signs of a highland cattle bull etc...also very informative...all that and an excellent meeting with Quinn's teachers to boot
All my comings and goings can be found here and if you don't Facebook they can be seen here so don't be shy... have a look...
I hope you all have a great week; and I shall see you all again here, next week...
TTFN
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