lily

 Here are four views of a water lily. They are all the same flowerbut the first monochrome shot is from a different angle, the other three images are different treatments of the same original shot. I have cropped them differently and adjusted the exposure and white balance.

Initially I had really liked the final image, then I thought I liked the second of the three variations however on reflection I think I much prefer the first of the three images with the whole flower in shot as it has better balance and I love the colours.

I think the monochrome image is really effective but for a subject like this I think colour definitely wins out.

Pretty Flamingo

 Today I am following up yesterday's flaming excellent abstract with some more conventional shots of the flamingos at the zoo.

I have seen flamingos flying in the south of France but never had an opportunity to photograph them in the wild. So to get some shots I had to see them in the zoo. They are currently in the breeding season, in fact several birds could be seen sitting on eggs ( I wont say on nests because they actually create a mound of earth with a rim around the top and lay their egg on top). In previous years the zoo  staff have removed the eggs and replaced them with wooden replica eggs to avoid the risk of predation while the actual eggs are placed in incubators where they could hatch safely. However this year for the first time, since the flock is housed in a new and spectacular aviary, the eggs have been left with the parent birds and will be allowed to hatch naturally. Perhaps I will go back in a few weeks to see the new chicks, that would be quite something.

The colours of the birds' plumage at the moment is quite stunning, so vibrant and eye catching.

You Choose

 In my last post the colours were limited to mostly shades of blue so today I have decided to go with something much brighter and more vibrant but also to provide some balance I have used exactly the same image and edited it in black and white.

This is a street scene from the island of Burano in the Venetian lagoon. Like the main city the island is crisscrossed with little canals but by contrast there are more open spaces and the whole island has a brighter aspect with the tiny houses and shops painted in vibrant colours. It feels like a lively and welcoming place and for a photographer there is so much to see and to capture.

This was shot fairly early in the day, before the cafés and restaurants started filling up and before the main crowds of visitors arrived for the day. 

Most of the pictures I have from my visit on this occasion are full of colour and with more people too and in my opinion they look better in full colour (that is not to say I won't give some the black and white treatment) but for the picture above I think it works a little better in black and white. perhaps it is the angle from which it is taken, the buildings are not the main feature and so the row of tables and the people walking away in the background don't need the full colour, in fact the bright buildings are a bit of a distraction.

What do you think? If you have a view it would be good to hear your thoughts on this. And if you like this please look at some of my previous posts or make sure to come back to see what I post next time.

Scenes from Vrango

 At the moment I am putting together a portfolio for stock photo sites in the hope that over the course of the year ahead I will increase the income from my photography. Whether I do or not remains to be seen but it will help me to focus on quality (I might have said this already in a recent post, I can't recall, I have been asleep since then) and improving as a photographer. As I have not been out much to get new pictures I am revisiting my older files and I am pleasantly surprised by many of the images I have put together over the years. I am also really pleased with the memories that come flooding back too. So most of the pictures I will share for a while at least will be from the archives.

These pictures were shot in Sweden in the summer of 2018. As I am writing this I am listening to the album Treeless Plain by Australian band The Triffids and the song playing right now is "Hell of a Summer" (click on the song title to listen for yourself).

I was on a road trip around Europe with my youngest son and we fulfilled an ambition to visit Sweden. We drove up from Copenhagen in Denmark across the Oresund Bridge which was a fantastic experience and then up to Gothenburg which was possibly the highlight of the trip (although there were several highlights to be honest) and while there we took a trip to Vrango, one of the islands in the archipelago close by. It was a really hot day and we had great fun walking around the island and enjoying the sun and the brightly coloured buildings that were all around the village and the harbour.

I have shared a mixture of colour and black and white images and while I like all of these photos and I would often prefer the black and white images today I much prefer the colour pictures because they are far mor evocative of the overall atmosphere on the island which although it was a quiet refuge from the busy city was still vibrant and uplifting.

Kings Dock, Port of Liverpool

 There is a nice contrast in these images of the historic architecture of the Albert Dock Warehouses (now the Merseyside Maritime Museum) and the modern architecture of the newer developments on the Strand showing how investment in Liverpool over recent years has helped improve the city centre and make it an attractive place to live, work or visit.

Even on a cold day this is a popular place for families to visit and explore Liverpool's rich history, to reflect on the positives and negatives and also to enjoy the sights and sounds of the waterfront.

The Dell

 I am sticking with a watery theme for today with this shot looking  upstream towards the waterfall at Bodnant  Gardens. I was stood on the bridge looking down at the falls for the abstract pictures I shared a few days ago. 

I knew as I walked along by the stream that I wanted to get this shot and I had to position my tripod on some stepping stones mid-stream to get it using another long exposure and my variable ND filter. I have also tweaked some of the colours in lightroom to add vibrancy to the overall image and I am very pleased with the results.

Blue Anemone

 

I think this is possibly my favourite image from my walk around the garden at Dunham Massey, the light is perfect and the colours are so vibrant, I love the lustre of the deep blue petals which beautifully frame the flowers' golden heart.

The flower is Anemonoides apennina, Apennine Anemone or blue anemone. Nearby there were many other anemones but their colour was a little muted compared to this one so when choosing a photo to share today there was no competition. I hope you like it as much as I do.

Sweet Songbirds

 At this time of year with the buds emerging on trees and bushes it is still fairly easy to spot birds as they find a perch and sing out to mark their territory or try to attract a mate. That being said you do still need to be patient because they don't always stay still for long and it can be difficult to actually locate where a particular song is coming from. It can be really frustrating when you finally spot the bird and then it flies off to a new vantage point and you have to start again.

The greenfinch in the first of these shots was a case in point. I could hear him singing for ages before I spotted him and just when I did he flew off, luckily I was able to follow him and got close enough to fire off a few frames. I know that I probably don't see the full beauty of his vibrant plumage but I do appreciate what I see and being able to enjoy his song.

The bird in the next two images is a Dunnock. It is an easily overlooked bird given that it has fairly drab colouring but it has a really beautiful song which more than makes up for its lack of colour. It is still quite a handsome bird although in the second shot with it looking straight at the camera it does look a little fierce.

Pontoon

Here are a few more shots of the marine lake after dark, these were long exposures to smooth out the ripples in the surface of the lake. It also brought out the detail in the sky and reflections that otherwise would have been missed.

Poppy

The  other day my neighbour called to say that the poppies in her front garden were fully opened so i nipped round to get a few shots.

They are really beautiful specimens with vibrant colours and light delicate petals.

As well as the poppy there was a lone dandelion seed head and lit from behind by the evening sun I think it looks stunning.

Native Beauty

canon 100mm 1: 2.8 ISO 200 f/3.5 1/320sec

canon 100mm 1: 2.8 ISO 200 f/3.5 1/320

canon 100mm 1:2.8 ISO 200 f/5.0 1/200sec

Here are a few more shots from Ness Botanic Gardens. As I said yesterday there wasn't a great deal of colour in the beds but there was plenty to find if you looked around. Yesterdays Crocuses were scattered beneath the trees on the lawns near the visitors centre where the grass was cut fairly short.

These beautiful Primroses were lower down in the gardens and in slightly longer grass a little way off the path. They could have easily been missed so I am glad that I spotted them because they are real gems in the garden.

They are native plants and fairly widespread and they are a welcome sign that spring is well on the way. I love the delicate pale yellow heart shaped petals with the vibrant centre and the crinkly green leaves.  

Temptation

This picture, in black and white has a mysterious quality and does little to suggest the temptation mentioned in the title of today's post.

However when restored to its proper colour you can see...

... the bold yellow, so often a warning sign is used to great effect to attract and lure insects to its rich supply of pollen.

I love the contrast between these two images and I love the vibrancy of the yellow in the second image, it is my favourite colour after all.

...always rings twice

Yes I know I posted pictures of these butterflies yesterday but I love the contrast of the striking red against the black and flashes of vibrant white. I am also mesmerised by the eyes with the hexagonal pattern. Another thing I really like about this one is the pattern of white dots along the trailing edges of its wings that continues along the sides of its body and the back of its head, such a great design.

It's a real stunner.

Come back tomorrow for some different varieties, I know you won't be disappointed.

The Postman...

This beautiful butterfly is called a postman butterfly, I wonder why, I'm sure its not going to be delivering my mail anytime soon.  It is quite stunning though. 

Just like yesterday's specimen this little beauty has really fancy eyes.

Furled and Unfurled Flags

I love these beautiful Irises, such strong colours and fragile petals. I also really love the way the flower emerges from the slim pencil shaped bud with its inky blue tip slowly becoming exposed as it rises upwards.

It's Bluebell Time

I really really love Bluebells. I have some very happy memories of walking in Bluebell woods in Kent with my parents many years ago and I love to see a massive spread when the flowers are in their prime. 

When I was at Ness Gardens recently there were only odd patches of them so I couldn't get a nice shot of a big spread so if that's what you like as well then have a look at this link which is a great picture of bluebells near Preston (and if you like that picture have a look at some of the other pictures of flowers by the same photographer, they're really very good).

For these shots I got right down to ground level and risked getting stung by the emerging nettles but it was worth the risk because I think they're great shots.