There are millions of these little beauties around the British countryside at the moment – and they even find a home in the leafier spots of London.
The native bluebell, more delicate than their robust European cousins, wondrous clustered richly together and in their own right.
Worth spending far too long on your knees in the woods with a macro lens to capture these flowers… Click to enlarge
We were waiting for the light to fade so we could see Brisbane shimmer from the vantage point of Mount Coot-tha.
As luck would have it, the Botanic Gardens are just further down the hill. They are packed with a huge variety of plants which thrive in the sub-tropical climate and a particularly moist, balmy autumn. The hothouse seemed almost a needless luxury.
I decided to switch over to my macro lens for this visit and was overwhelmed with natural details to capture as we wandered around this beautiful collection.
Click first image to launch the gallery
This chap was happily resting in a pile of wood chips as we walked around Brisbane’s Botanic Gardens. Australian Water Dragons are quite a common sight there – and will pose for photographs… Click to enlarge.
There is a dankness to this London winter, cold and very wet. But a burst of sun and signs of vitality can be found.
This was in my favourite local walled garden at Ravenscourt Park, a perpetual draw for my camera.
And this was the first outing for my new macro lens, which has brought the world into close focus. I’ll share more of the results with you soon.
I like travelling to discover new images, but sometimes they are close at hand, staring you plainly in the face. The place where I write, edit photos and interact with the world is next to my window ledge which is populated with geraniums.
It’s late November and the wild, cold autumn weather is taking hold. Some of the bright red blooms of the summer are holding their own and show no sign of dying. One morning as I sat here, they were dappled with rainwater and spurred me to pick up my camera.
I decided to treat the shot above with a blue filter, which made the droplets stand out and even catches the London grime caught in the petals. But for the purists there is a full colour photograph below.
Which do you prefer?…
If you’re lucky enough to receive a gift of flowers – or know someone who has – the urge to photograph them is hard to resist. It’s an opportunity to try out some macro shots and capture a frame filled with colour.
The downside of this photographic urge is to create something that is engaging and avoids the twee and the slightly nauseating. Here are a few of my own efforts, thanks to an extravagant bouquet my mother received for her birthday and a thoroughly romantic gift (red roses) from my partner Dermot.
At least when the blooms have long withered and died, you have a permanent memory of them. Do you find the compulsion to capture your flowers impossible to resist?
Are there simply too many floral photographs?…
