The days draw out and the summer fast approaches... After the dark days of winter, it is a delight in north west Europe to have these long summer days... even after a sunny day, there is something special about still enjoying the light at nine o'clock at night... I missed extended twilight when I was in the UAE... The same can be said about the early mornings... Anyone who sees my posts on Facebook will know I'm a lark rather than an owl. It's just gone 6 o'clock in the morning at the moment, but I've been up for about an hour... looking out of my office window, over the green in the village of Wicken I can see early morning sun through the horse chestnut trees and the remnants of yesterdays rain glistening on the grass... Early summer mornings...
Photographically it has been a week of delight and frustration... delight in an image I took of Quinn...
Sulky he may look, but I am very pleased with the result... I had noticed how good the light was in that particular part of the kitchen but failed to persuade Lucy to pose for me... Quinn was more willing (only not much!) I will try to get Lucy there one day!!! The picture works well in black and white as well...
That made a pretty good start to the week...
As for the rest of my photographic endeavors - well as you can probably guess they have been natural history based... I seem to be building a small but loyal following on the web through my Facebook and Flickr pages, which I update on a daily basis... This blog also has a regular readership - I hope that will build, so please feel free to share it with your friends...
Some of my favourite images of the week...
A trip down to the fen yielded these two - I am particularly fond of the bee in mid flight... even though two legs are not visible...
...and this is dog rose (Rosa canina agg) - flowers can be white or pink, but I prefer the pink version here... adds a certain colour to the landscape...
The rest of the week was spent sorting houses and tendering for work... but I did manage to get out and about with the Nikons occasionally...
Ashy mining bee - feeding on hogweed... just in case you though all bees were orange and black...
a hoverfly - also on hogweed... actually, hogweed makes a great place to photograph insects... it is abundant and forms a nice flat saucer-shaped surface of flowers on which to observe and capture individuals. The whiteness of the flowers also helps with some under-lighting on the lower abdomen and legs... worth making a mental note if any of you are keen photographers...
2-spotted ladybird taking off... I have been trying for this image for some while now... still not perfect so I will have to keep trying, but I like this effort... The beauty of my macro lens is the almost perfect bokeh it gives...(that's the out of focus area behind the subject... the smoother and more uniform it is the better)... the leaf on which the ladybird is standing forms a nice arrow shape - pointing the insect in the right direction... a natural runway so to speak...
Scorpion fly... so called because it raises it's tail in a manner reminiscent of a scorpion (they are not however, poisonous, it is merely a threat gesture). This individual, photographed in my garden is eating a crane-fly...
If that is enough insects, here are some images of our native flora...
Red clover (Trifolium pratense) - it maybe common, almost ubiquitous, but it is a vital food plant for our bumble bees. Many species of bee are in decline and simply by planting red clover we could make a difference; we could help the populations - it is that simple...
This is my star pant of the week - wild clary (Salvia verbenaca). I had noticed some biting stonecrop near a roundabout outside Ely so had gone there to take some pictures. Whilst walking along the main road I found this on the verge. Not rare, but not common either and favouring the south east climate, with the dry, calcareous soils, wild clary is in the dead-nettle family. I love the blue of the flower and the silver hairs on the leaves... great plant...
now one of my favourites... common poppy... ever more associated with the glorious generation of WW1 and this year more poignant as it is 100 years since the out-break of that conflict...
Scarce chaser - my second effort at photographing this lovely dragonfly... still not the perfect background so I will have to try harder...
These two images were taken in the long grass at the end of our garden... I have called them the Grass House - somewhere a child plays for hours - when was the last time you lay in long grass and saw the world as an insect sees it? Whilst playing with Quinn, I noticed the light through the stems and saw patterns, shapes, colour...
Love the second one of these the most, but the whole series has merit... I will revisit this idea throughout the summer, in different habitats and lighting...
Finally, I am looking to shoot some film - yes good old fashioned 35mm - maybe black and white... I want to test the restriction of limited emulsion...limited images... every image must count... every image costs money... look out for results from that... My old Nikon FE and 50mm lens will be dusted off...
Hope you like the pictures here - keep up with me on Facebook and Flickr - links at the side or above, and I shall hopefully see you all next week...
TTFN
Photographically it has been a week of delight and frustration... delight in an image I took of Quinn...
Sulky he may look, but I am very pleased with the result... I had noticed how good the light was in that particular part of the kitchen but failed to persuade Lucy to pose for me... Quinn was more willing (only not much!) I will try to get Lucy there one day!!! The picture works well in black and white as well...
That made a pretty good start to the week...
As for the rest of my photographic endeavors - well as you can probably guess they have been natural history based... I seem to be building a small but loyal following on the web through my Facebook and Flickr pages, which I update on a daily basis... This blog also has a regular readership - I hope that will build, so please feel free to share it with your friends...
Some of my favourite images of the week...
A trip down to the fen yielded these two - I am particularly fond of the bee in mid flight... even though two legs are not visible...
...and this is dog rose (Rosa canina agg) - flowers can be white or pink, but I prefer the pink version here... adds a certain colour to the landscape...
The rest of the week was spent sorting houses and tendering for work... but I did manage to get out and about with the Nikons occasionally...
Ashy mining bee - feeding on hogweed... just in case you though all bees were orange and black...
a hoverfly - also on hogweed... actually, hogweed makes a great place to photograph insects... it is abundant and forms a nice flat saucer-shaped surface of flowers on which to observe and capture individuals. The whiteness of the flowers also helps with some under-lighting on the lower abdomen and legs... worth making a mental note if any of you are keen photographers...
2-spotted ladybird taking off... I have been trying for this image for some while now... still not perfect so I will have to keep trying, but I like this effort... The beauty of my macro lens is the almost perfect bokeh it gives...(that's the out of focus area behind the subject... the smoother and more uniform it is the better)... the leaf on which the ladybird is standing forms a nice arrow shape - pointing the insect in the right direction... a natural runway so to speak...
Scorpion fly... so called because it raises it's tail in a manner reminiscent of a scorpion (they are not however, poisonous, it is merely a threat gesture). This individual, photographed in my garden is eating a crane-fly...
If that is enough insects, here are some images of our native flora...
Red clover (Trifolium pratense) - it maybe common, almost ubiquitous, but it is a vital food plant for our bumble bees. Many species of bee are in decline and simply by planting red clover we could make a difference; we could help the populations - it is that simple...
This is my star pant of the week - wild clary (Salvia verbenaca). I had noticed some biting stonecrop near a roundabout outside Ely so had gone there to take some pictures. Whilst walking along the main road I found this on the verge. Not rare, but not common either and favouring the south east climate, with the dry, calcareous soils, wild clary is in the dead-nettle family. I love the blue of the flower and the silver hairs on the leaves... great plant...
now one of my favourites... common poppy... ever more associated with the glorious generation of WW1 and this year more poignant as it is 100 years since the out-break of that conflict...
Scarce chaser - my second effort at photographing this lovely dragonfly... still not the perfect background so I will have to try harder...
These two images were taken in the long grass at the end of our garden... I have called them the Grass House - somewhere a child plays for hours - when was the last time you lay in long grass and saw the world as an insect sees it? Whilst playing with Quinn, I noticed the light through the stems and saw patterns, shapes, colour...
Love the second one of these the most, but the whole series has merit... I will revisit this idea throughout the summer, in different habitats and lighting...
Finally, I am looking to shoot some film - yes good old fashioned 35mm - maybe black and white... I want to test the restriction of limited emulsion...limited images... every image must count... every image costs money... look out for results from that... My old Nikon FE and 50mm lens will be dusted off...
Hope you like the pictures here - keep up with me on Facebook and Flickr - links at the side or above, and I shall hopefully see you all next week...
TTFN
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