Damselfly

This is a shot of a common blue Damselfly, taken at Fingringhoe Wick wildlife centre.  There we so many flying around it was hard to focus on them.  This one was on his own for a little while.

The only thing I am dissapointed with is that I jut missed the end of the tail, but I am still happy with the sharpness of the shot.

House Boat

The shot is from West Mersea, normally I dont take a 2nd look at some of these boats, but this evening they looked really interesting against the sky.  I took this with my 40D and my Canon 90-300mm lens.  I don't think the lens is a good one, and I am thinking of replacing it, but still undersided which lens to buy.  It is coming up to my 40th birthday, so I think I should treat myself.

Thanks for looking.

Chinese Lanterns

Happy New Year!

I thought I would get my light tent out today and have a play around. With my tent it came with a number of coloured back drops.  I thought that the black one would show the subject off the best.

The reflective surface was obtained by using a piece of polished black granite.  I used my flash gun remotely for the lighting.

Hope you like it.

Mersea Sunset

Sunset over Mersea Island.  Went for a really nice walk this afternoon.  Was a great December day, nice a fresh with glorious sun.  Waited for the sun to set over these boats.  Not a breath of wind either.

Waterdrip

Taken with my Sigma 105mm EX DG macro lens.  Shows a waterdrip, which in itself is acting as a lens and it focusing the seed head behind it.

Remember Remember

We went down to the beach this evening to watch the fireworks.  Some people have got lots of money to spend on them.  So it was a great free show for us.  This is the best fireworks picture I have ever taken!!

This is a shot of Haddon Hall in Derbyshire, it's just a few minutes outside the village of Bakewell (nice puddings there).  The hall has been used in a few films.  It is a very interesting place to visit.

Cyclamen

Last year we created a Woodland garden underneath one of our trees. The area doesn't get much nature sunlight during the autumn and winter months, which is perfect for the Cyclamen to grow in.

Tried to isolate a single flower.

Alamy

Well I have just submitted my first 4 images to Alamy, just waiting for them to be accepted now. I know that there are several million images on there for sale, but hey you never know........I might have the exact one that someone is looking for.

I'll let you know if anything happens.

Unknown Caterpillar

Well this is the first shot with my new camera, just recently got a Canon 40D. Very impressive camera, I feel like a pro now.
Not sure what this caterpillar is, but there are lots of them eating our salad crops. It is unbeliveable how fast these little critters eat, so I expect that there will not be much left for us to eat.
If anyone know what this is, please drop me a comment.
Hope you enjoy looking.

Gatekeeper

This butterfly is called a Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus). Wingspan Male: 37 - 43mm Female: 42 - 48mm.

Took a while for this one to settle, but managed to fire off a couple of good shots. Was lucky enough to be able to drop the ISO down to 200, and the light was good.

Hope you like it.

Heavy Bee

This made me laugh watching this Bee trying too land and feed from this flower.  He was just too heavy and kept sitting on his backend.  You can even see his legs sticking out of the side.

Hope you like it.

Photoshop

Yes, you guess it, another shot with my Sigma 105mm EX DG macro lens. I processed this one in Photoshop CS3, but used some other filters to see what results it brought out.

Filters that I used were "Alien Skin, Exposure" and "Nik Software Sharperner Pro". The Exposure filter give you a chance to apply film filters, on this shot I used Velvia film filter, this give the shot a warmer tone and highlights the colours more. The Sharperner pro filter is pretty good, I think it's better than the "Smart Sharpen" in CS3. Anyway I hope you enjoy the shot.

Dragonfly Macro

I have been watching this Dragonfly fly around the garden for a couple of days.  Finally it needed a rest, so grabbed my camera and fired off a few shots.  I really like this one as it shows lots of details.  Incredible creatures.

Pieris rapae

The Small White (Pieris rapae) is a small to mid-sized butterfly species of the Yellows-and-Whites family Pieridae. It is also commonly known as the Small Cabbage White. The names "Cabbage Butterfly" and "Cabbage White" can also refer to the Large White.

Back to work.....

Well back to work for the week, and not much chance of getting photographs. The British summer is back with the usual rainy showers. Lets hope the weekend will favor the photographer.

I am rather enjoying my new Macro Lens and try to use it when I can.

I was thinking of doing the OU course in photography, but since talking to a few people who have been on the course, I don't think it will benefit me much. Have looked around at other course, I have seen the OCA photography courses. They seem to be more my level, but they cost around £580. So, I need to think hard, I really need to make sure that I would go the course. It last between 9 and 12 months.

I do however, have a book on photography, with about 28 projects in it. So I am tempted to work my way through those projects, and see how I get on. I think then I will know if I could do a course.

Saturday Morning Macro shot

This is a Speckled Bush Cricket - who I think has eaten my Basil plant.  I took a few shots, and moved him on!  Hope you like the shot.

British Wildlife Centre

A couple of years ago, we went to the BWC with some very good friends, who are also very much into photography. The BWC is such a good place to see the wildlife that Britain has to offer. I think the only things that I didn't like, was the large birds of prey, that we kept in a smallish area. I think that birds should have LOTS of space to stretch their wings. Hope you like the shots.



This is a lovely little Polecat! Had to wait around for this little chat to appear......I think he was sleeping.












Showing my ignorance here. Not sure what kind of frog this is, but he seemed very photogenic.










Perhaps one of the stars of the BWC. He knows how to work the crowd!!

Macro

My latest lens is a Sigma 105mm EX DG, it is a Macro lens, and I have wanted one of these for ages. It really make you look at the world in a different way. Looking at the insect world in particularly amazing. It is a very frustrating part pf photography too, the little insect don't tend to sit still for that long!! Hope you like some of my shots.

Not sure what this little moth is called. But it posed for me perfectly.

This is a Hover fly. It was resting a leaf under a tree, I used a flash gun to get the shot.

This was my first Macro shot with my Sigma lens, I was very chuffed how it came out. Sorry I don't know the ID of the fly.

Landscapes - Australia

I have been to Australia on two occassions. I love the country, it is so diverse in it's culture and geography. My last trip out (2007), we ventured to Tasmania. It loved it!! Great people and fantasic beaches and culture. I really liked Hobart - great place to stay (although I think it rained most of the time).


Here are some shots of Tassie.


This is Wineglass Bay - apparently it's one of the top 10 beaches in the world. Two ways of getting there, either by boat, or scrambling. Well, we are not richer enough to have a boat. But, it was fun getting to the beach.







This is a shot of The Hazards, to get to Wineglass Bay, you have to go walk over these!!












This is a shot of Coles Bay, basically looking in the opposite direction to the picture above.