nature

Urban wisteria

/ mikeosbornphoto / 4 Comments

A brief joy of the late Spring is when these regal mauve and white flowers put on a stunning display. You expect to see them in English country towns, clinging to honey-coloured stone and around the doorways of grand homes.

But wisteria also makes its way into the city and less fanciful locations. I spotted a terraced house in Shepherd’s Bush here in west London, bursting with flowers. This is an area with its fair share of urban grit, so this was a sobering sight.

The house was being renovated, so I slid up the pathway to catch these shots. One of them is drained of its yellow and purple hues – it just has to be done, really…

Visit Photo Shop - white brick (2)

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Two bells

/ mikeosbornphoto / 11 Comments

Two bellsThere 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

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Dark tulips

/ mikeosbornphoto / 20 Comments

Black floral sheenA beautiful flower bed peppered with velvety tulips in a cultivated corner of London. 

In monochrome, these blooms look silky and black as ink – in a richly coloured high key shot, they are a rich maroon as they rest on a dazzling carpet of yellow blossom. The colour sizzles while the black and white broods – which do you favour?

This was one moment in a photographic walk taken with fellow camera fancier and blogger, Richard Cooper-Knight. You can see our first joint post here very soon…

Tulips on gold

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Bloomgasm

/ mikeosbornphoto / 8 Comments

Bloomgasm

The month of May is upon us, and there is a profusion of sweet-scented, candyfloss bomb blossom everywhere. It knows no bounds – this beautiful bunch was spotted in White City, west London on my way to work. There are few delightful country cottages in the area, but this transports you far away from the urban grime.

Botanica

/ mikeosbornphoto / 15 Comments

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. 

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Resting water dragonThis 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.