Cambridgeshire – Page 9

Narcissus jonquil – Fragrant Beauty

Narcissus jonquil and Narciuss tazetta are two daffodil cultivars endowed with flowers that have a heady perfume. These members of the Amaryllis lily family are probably hybrids of Japanese daffodils. Each flower in the pictures below is about 1.8cm in diameter, but their heady fragrance can be felt metres away.

Any picture can be clicked upon to see a larger version.

Technical Details:

Nikon D700 with Speedlight SB-600 external flash
Sigma 105mm f/2.8 lens
Post-Processed in Adobe LightRoom 4.3 and NIK Color Efex Pro 4

Narcissus (islandthreads.wordpress.com)
Daffodils (lookinginward.net)
narcissus (dontconfusethenarrator.wordpress.com)

On a farm in Cambridgeshire

I chanced upon this piece of farming equipment on a farm in Cambridgeshire last week while on a walk. The paint has peeled away and the equipment is rusty, but I’m sure this is still in use today. If I were to hazard a guess, this is probably used on a tractor to turn the soil, but not being a farmer, this is at best just a guess.

And what about the farm, a panoramic shot with the iPhone below.

All pictures from the iPhone 4S. Processed in NIK snapseed software on the phone. Click on any picture for a larger version.

Spring – Snowdrop

“Nor will I then thy modest grace forget,
Chaste Snow-drop, venturous harbinger of Spring,
And pensive monitor of fleeting years!”

William Wordsworth (To a Snow-drop)

Snowdrops traditionally herald the beginning of the end of winter. Delicate white flowers peeking out from a modest plant that is often overlooked when the other plants wake up from their winter slumber.

Snowdrops in February (hilarypnw.wordpress.com)
Plant Appreciation #011 Snowdrops (wearecultivate.wordpress.com)
Snowdrops (charleymckelvy.wordpress.com)
in Celebration of Snowdrops (purelyphotography.wordpress.com)

Spring – Daffodils!!

This looks likely to be the most christmas-like Easter here in England this year. Snowfall this week and more expected over the Easter weekend make it hard to believe that spring is actually here. These daffodils from my garden are proof that, whilst we may not think of spring, the plants have certainly made up their minds.

_DSC2232 — External SB600 flash from left of picture. 1/250 f/3.3 ISO200

_DSC2240 — External flash from underneath. 1/250, f/14, ISO200

_DSC2239-Edit — Closer still. External SB600 flash under-lit. 1/160, f/14, ISO200. Sharpened with NIK Software.

All these pictures taken outside at dusk. The black background in the photographs are a result of using an external flash combined with a high aperture setting. Final black corrections in Adobe LightRoom applied to create a fully dark background.

A Leaf

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower – Albert Camus

Cambridge in HDR – Punting

The quayside is a popular boarding place for a spot of punting on the Cam. On the day this picture was taken, the sun suddenly came up from behind bathing the place in brilliant sunshine. 3 shot HDR.

Cambridge in HDR – The Round Church

The Round Church in Cambridge is probably one of the oldest surviving buildings in the city.

_DSC1994_HDR — Cambridge Round Church (12th century AD)

Dating from 1130AD, this is (according to the website) one of only 4 circular churches in England. It is now maintained by Christian Heritage. Not the easiest building to take a picture of, sitting as this is on a busy crossroad in the city. A lovely little church, well worth the visit for sheer character and history. Please click-through on the picture for a larger version.

Trinity College, Cambridge in HDR (juridicious.com)
Sundial – Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge (juridicious.com)

Memories of a past summer – Sow-Thistle

Memories of an English Summer – Roses

Nothing probably epitomizes an english summer more than roses. Roses in all shades, hues and fragrances dot the myriad gardens around Britain. Here are a couple from my garden from 2012.

Memories of a Summer – Azalea (juridicious.com)

Playing with HDR

I’m new to HDR photography, having only seen some fantastic examples of what is possible from sites such as http://www.stuckincustoms.com/. Of course, none of these examples get anywhere close to the brilliance and professional look of really good HDR photography.

All pictures shot with a Nikon D7000 auto-bracketed 3 exposures -1, 0, +1 and then processed together in HDRefex Pro. Minor adjustments to exposure and grain with the help of a few existing presets in the software. The original middle exposure is below the HDR version for each photograph.