Tag: Narcissus

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.

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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
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Daffodil on black

I know it is strange to talk about spring blooms in the dreary days of autumn! I came across this picture in my collection taken earlier this year and thought it would offer a chance for us facing shorter days, cold and rain to cheer up with thoughts of spring!

Daffodil against a dark background. Click to see a larger image.

Technical details:

Nikon D80
Sigma 105mm f/2.8 macro lens
1/3200 f/7.1
External SB-600 speedlight flash used.
post-processed in Adobe LightRoom 4.1

The joys of spring

Dare I say spring might finally be on its way? After a long and bitterly cold winter here in the United Kingdom, and not to mention a few false starts along the way, it looks like spring might finally be here to stay.

A delicate Narcissus flower

Glorious sunshine, blue skies and the signs of growth and rejuvenation. Daffodils colour the landscape in hues of yellows, oranges and white. This narcissus typifies the beauty of spring and belies activity that is obvious in nature. I shot this picture at a high shutter speed with the aperture stopped at f8.0 to keep the background dark. As it was the flower was conveniently highlighted by a lone ray of sunlight through the hedge.

Ladybird beetles show signs of renewed activity. The browns, greys give way to reds, greens and other colours resplendent of spring. And I’ve been out in the spring sunshine, in trying to capture the feeling of joy (and relief) that the days of shivering are a memory of times past and yet to come in the distant future.

A ladybird beetle basking on a oregano leaf.

This picture was shot with the use of a 10mm extension tube with a Sigma 105mm f2.8 macro lens. The image has been cropped very slightly to remove extraneous distractions.

Surely, with so much happening around, spring is surely here to stay? This yellow-orange daffodil was shot in my garden. In order to get this angle, I had to sprawl on the ground (my muddy jeans bear witness!). 1/200 f6.3, 105mm f2.8 Sigma Macro lens.

A yellow-orange daffodil