Red Poppy, Green Fly
One of Mae’s latest plants for the garden is this lovely Poppy.
Papaver Orientale Turkenlouis:
It is gorgeous with it’s frilly petals and large centre compound pistil.
As I was taking the above photographs this little Greenfly wandered over the pistil.
Looking closely at this image of the greenfly it can be seen that this plain greenfly is anything but plain, in fact it is quite an interesting and colourful insect (click on the image to see it full size).
Everything is allowed to come and go in our garden as it wishes, even Greenfly!
Filed under In The Garden, Insects, Photography | Comment (0)Feeding of the Starlings
I decided on Saturday to have an hour or so in the hide as the garden was noisy with birds chirping away. I soon realized that all the activity was in the upper branches and there was nothing to see from the hide so I took myself off to our bedroom and set up there.
The reason for all the noise?
Starlings!
There was one fledgling in good view and two others a bit further away with their parents busy collecting flying insects for them. The squawking of them was loud and almost continuous and more so when an adult approached to feed them. I took loads of photographs but here is my selection.
It was great watching how busy the parents are kept feeding their offspring. I don’t know whether the two Starling Fledglings were from the same family as the one in the photographs shown here but they also maintained a noisy presence.
There was a pair of Sparrow Fledglings and their parents too were kept busy.
I watched them for nearly two hours and very nice it was too.
Filed under Birds, In The Garden, Photography | Comment (0)Mae’s May Flowers
Mae has been busy buying lots of plants. I have been busy watering them!
As it was a nice sunny morning with only the lightest of breezes I was in the garden with my camera nice and early.
Here are some of the images:
The Bluebells are lovely:
The early morning dew forms interesting patterns.
Osteospermums are fascinating flowers as they open in the morning sun and close in the evening.
Fuschias are my favourite flowers. This Fuschia has probably been forced as our garden plants have only begun to grow leaves.
Geraniums are a must in our garden. They put on a display all year.
These Tulips are past their best but are still a striking colour.
The best time to photograph flowers is early morning as the sun is low creating softer lighting and the flowers are fresh.
I hope you agree with me, an early start has produced colourful images.
Now, where’s the watering can!
Filed under In The Garden, Photography | Comment (0)Reflections at Leeds Castle
Saturday saw us at Leeds Castle in Kent where we met up with our daughter Sharon and Grandson Callum.
It was a lovely day. Cloudy but the sun was showing itself and it was fairly warm. I say ‘fairly’ as there was still a bit of a chill and I was pleased that I wore a sweater.
It was Callum’s birthday last Wednesday and as we usually meet up to give him his birthday presents (a super-dooper water pistol and a World cup football) Leeds Castle was chosen as it is a great half-way meeting point. Unfortunately our other Grandchildren, Joseph and Henry, couldn’t be there as Joseph’s Boy Scout Troop were on an important trip and Henry was at a party .
The Castle is always a joy to visit as it changes with the weather and as we have tickets that lasts a year it is free (Excellent value for money).
Reflections of the bridge in the Moat:
The water in the moat was still and the sun was hiding. Great conditions for capturing reflections.
Castle reflected in Moat:
Display of Tulips in the garden:
The Dog Collar Museum was open so we had to pay it a visit. It has the largest display of dog collars in England.
Model of HMS Leeds in the Dog Collar Museum:
This photograph was taken by balancing my camera on a balustrade and gradually increasing the exposure. (Canon 350D 1.6sec. @ f10)
Swan on the Moat:
Before we left Leeds Castle we visited the shop as Callum loves to look around and buy something. He bought a pair of ’spy glasses’. These are toy glasses with small mirrors that enable the wearer to see what is behind them.
Callum and his spy glasses:
We were lucky with the weather because just as we were leaving it started to drizzle.
It didn’t come to much but we got home in time for me to be able to watch the recorded F1 Qualifying Session of the Monaco Grand Prix (my favourite race) before watching Britains Got Talent.
Sublime to the ridiculous!
Filed under Photography | Comment (1)Out in the Sunshine
Since the wedding (see previous post) I have been busy sorting out the 400+ images and creating an album for the family. I am also working on a slide show set to music but I have not yet found a piece of music of the correct duration
Has any one got a suggestion as to a romantic piece of music of approx 8-10 mins in duration? No songs though as I don’t know what their tastes are but a choral piece would do fine.
I have made it out into the fresh air as Mae thinks I am glued to the computer.
On Tuesday we were in Broadstairs. It was a lovely day and we had a cup of coffee overlooking the harbour. It was really warm in the sunshine – until a cloud came over.
From the clifftop looking out to sea beyond the harbour the Wind Farm Array under construction can be clearly seen.
Click on this image and, although faint, the turbines can be seen. The view from Broadstairs will never be the same!
On Thursday I took a walk round Nethercourt Estate. The Avenues are looking great with the trees in blossom.
This trio is at the top of Thirlmere Avenue
Now the sun seems to be getting out on a more permanent basis I suppose that means I will have to be as well.
More ‘outdoor’ photographs in my next post.
Click on the images to see them full size. They were all taken on my little Canon Powershot.
The answer to a previous post Ramsgate Harbour Sunshine as to where this mural can be found:
It is on the wall of Pete’s Fish Factory in Harbour Parade:
I don’t know how long it has been there but it is not easily seen as it is tucked up Kent Passage and is usually in shadow and I have walked passed it many, many times without seeing it.
No-one answered correctly but thanks for looking and your comments.
Filed under Around Thanet, Photography | Comment (0)Saturday Wedding
On Saturday we went to a wedding and, at the request of the Groom’s Parents, I took the photographs.
A bit nerve-racking as I have only taken photographs for myself at any other wedding we have been to but this time I was the ‘official photographer’ so the memories of the day (for posperity) were down to me.
It was held at St. Clement’s Church, Sandwich:
The church is undergoing renovations and scaffolding is covering half the church so I had to frame the opening shot for their wedding album carefully. The tree helped.
The grave yard is full of tree blossom:
These provided a lovely backdrop for the Bride and Groom.
I took over 300 images (thanks to digital cameras) and have spent the rest of the Bank Holiday sorting them out, selecting the ones for the album and making them suitable for printing.
This evening I am showing them to the parents of the Bride and Groom.
I hope they like them!
The one piece of equipment I didn’t have was a large enough Lastolite Reflector. (there are other reflectors on the market but I rather like the look of these ones). Mine was too small and I couldn’t do reflective or soft lighting effects. I have a small reflector but it proved useless (I only use it for insect photography usually).
Now, this is a piece of equipment that any budding photographer should not be without!
Filed under Family, Photography | Comment (0)