Reversal

A blood red Sun falls from the sky silhouetting an old oak and a distant pylon.

Originally consigned to the scrap pile because of the power lines, but I've just about managed to convince myself it adds interest - a contrast of mankinds thirst for energy and it's love of nature. Nice colours anyway! In fact the Sun was far redder in reality, but hard to re-create that without making the image look too false.

ISO100, 400mm, 1/100s, f/6.3

Colour adjustment, saturation, graduated levels

More bugs

Two more lunch-break challenge bugs, a tortoiseshell butterfly against to perfectly blue sky and another humble 7 spot ladybird on the same tree, but taken with the 105mm macro lens. The direct sunlight may be harsh, but it definitely pops the colours out!

Above - ISO100, 400mm, 1/1250s, f/5.6, -2/3ev - cropped (branch on left side of frame)

In hindsight I should have upped the aperture and sacrificed some of that shutter speed for depth of field, but that's why I keep practicing. Also a shame that this was taken between two foreground branches, so I couldn't expand the space around the butterfly to the left .. it's still a little cramped to me, but nice colours and detail anyway!

ISO100, 105mm, 1/320s, f/8, -2/3ev

I think with the change in weather due for the rest of the week, my lunch-break challenges might become quite a bit more challenging.. but we'll see.

Lunchbreak Challenge

With spring well and truly blazing I seem to have become addicted to bringing my camera in every day at the moment. Yesterday was another lunchtime wander close to work and it was beautiful weather, a warm Sun, cool breeze and an explosion of insects and butterflies battling for territories and the first blooms.

Two shots I deemed blog worthy, both taken with the big zoom. Top is a Bombyliidae or bee-fly mid flight.. and yes it was quite a tricky shot to bag!

ISO100, 350mm, 1/500s, f/5.6, -2/3ev - straight from camera

The second photo is my first - and no doubt, not the last - butterfly photo of the year. A Tortoiseshell sipping the amber nectar in the Sun. Simple, but always stunning.

ISO100, 400mm, 1/640s, f/5.6, -2/3ev - cropped

Lost

A once loved bear, who looks like they've been off on an adventure, now sits waiting for their owner to pass by again. Nice textures for black and white too!

ISO100, 190mm, 1/250s, f/5.6, -1/3ev

Desaturated, levels, curves, dodge & burn, cropped

Lunchbreak challenge..

Another day, another challenge. Lots of ladybirds around at the moment and a scattering of early flowers combined to good effect and with a nice simple background too. Light is a little flat, but try as I might I failed to control either the subject or the clouds.

ISO1600, 105mm, 1/100s, f/8, -1/3ev

Noise reduction, cropped, curves

Two other shots taken recently of ladybirds.. just to turn it into a mini-montage...

Three 7 spot ladybirds having a meeting.

Primed for take-off. Not technically great, but shows the transparency of the wings nicely.

Lunchbreak Challenge

Another lunch break challenge to find some spring flowers. I had my eye on some stunning crocuses the last couple of days, but today they had lost some of their vividness, so I had to wander elsewhere to find this blossom instead.

ISO160, 105mm, 1/160s, f/3.5, -1ev, straight from camera

Lunchbreak challenge

Been bringing the camera into work the last few days. Wandering out at lunch is pretty limited by range and time, but it's nice to get outside while spring is creeping in. Saw a Red Kite circling above today which is quite rare for this area still, but this was the best shot of a pair of crows in a freshly ploughed field. Nice simple composition and crows always have good character I think.

ISO100, 400mm, 1/500s, f/5.6. Straight from camera.

Cut and dye..

A rare appearance of a MWT portrait shot today, to celebrate the radical transformation of Paula's hair being about 50cm shorter and 99% redder! Taken using low natural light and diffused flash bounced off the ceiling.

ISO1600 (to add texture), 16mm, 1/50s, f/4, -1 2/3ev, -2ev flash exposure compensation

Desaturated, colour balance (green tint), levels, dodge/burn

I couldn't help but take this shot of hair dye and a rusty razor we had hanging around from decorating. I like it a lot.

ISO1600, 105mm, 1/200s, f/8

noise reduction, colour balance (correction), sharpened, cloned out a couple of specks of dust