Macro photography
South Africa has no king! Instead they have some of the most beautiful flowers in the world, including this one – the King Protea (Proteus cynaroides). The genus comprises of many species of great diversity and lives up to its name from the greek god Proteus – a god known for taking on many forms.
Photographed at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew.
In January 2013, we were knee-deep in snow. Not this year!
Nikon D7000, with a 105mm/f.2.8 Sigma macro lens with extension tubes. ISO 100, f/18, 1.6 seconds Processed in Adobe Lightroom
Technical Details: Nikon D7000 with 105mm f/2.8 Sigma Macro lens and extension tubes f/18, 3.3 seconds, ISO 100 Processed in Adobe Lightroom
He who wants a rose must respect the thorn – Persian Proverb
Such a simple proverb but with such deep meaning!
Photographed in 2009 at Anglesey Abbey, Cambridgeshire, a property of the National Trust.
Lacking any suitable objects to photograph today, I turned to the Begonia plant on the kitchen sill. These photographs all use long exposures (up to 50 seconds) and no flash, using nothing but ambient kitchen light.
The idea behind these photographs were ostensibly to test out the new shutter release cable I purchased a few days ago. I was also experimenting with the use of cool white LED lights and their effect on the overall white balance of the photographs.
Technical Details: Nikon D7000 with Sigma 105mm f/2.8 macro lens ISO 100 Processed in Adobe Lightroom 5.3 Manfrotto 055XPROB Tripod with Giotto MH5011 head
It is a sign of the mild winter here in Cambridge so far. I photographed this rose in my garden over the weekend (14 December, 2013). It is rather strange to see a bright rose at this time of the year, and therefore merits a blog post of its own!
Three-shot bracketed HDR processed in Photomatix and Adobe Lightroom.
Keeping alive the memories of a glorious summer past, and anticipation of the summer to come in 6 months!
Earlier this summer, I spotted this beautiful banded demoiselle fly (female) perched on a flower bud. And it just so happened that I had my camera with macro lens! Some results are below.
There are, according to this handy website, only two species of demoiselles in the United Kingdom, of which I have now photographed one. The other I have seen on occasion in the west country but never been close enough to take a decent photograph. Demoiselles belong to the same family as the dragonflies but are more closely related to the damselflies.
Technical Details: Nikon D700 with a Sigma f2.8 105mm macro lens ISO 200 with f8.0 aperture priority Nikon D600 speedlight flash Processed in Adobe Lightroom 5.2
What better to post with christmas around the corner but a photograph of the “Christmas Rose” (Genus: Helleborus). Hellebores flower during the coldest months of the year and are not related to the rose.
Reprocessed from a very old photograph (2006)
Juridicious 