I explore the world around me, photograph and write about it
The Dicentra Spectabilis or “Bleeding Heart” is a truly stunning flower and since planting it in our garden as a tiny sapling about three years ago, it has presented us with a resplendent display of delicate pink flowers, year in, year out. Read more
All of the plants you see in the photos above with the exception of the primroses, that are “native” were planted by myself in the back garden. They are doing well and the garden is springing to life. Shame some weeds are too, as last year we thought a never ending battle with them. So hoping we can nip them in the bud early this year, if you can pardon the pun! Read more
Ranunculus belong to the Buttercup family (Ranunculaceae) and is the cultured cousin of the Marsh Marigold.
You have already seen the previous macro image of the same plant. This image believe it or not is of exactly the same plant but lower down it’s stem. Opted for a very wide aperture here to limit the depth of field as much as possible whilst retaining detail in the near foreground. I used a Plamp, reflector, tripod and my Tamron 90mm macro lens attached to the Nikon.
Ok wrong time of year for these flowers but that’s because I am writing a series of blog posts about the images that are now available for purchase under the Buy Prints page. I want to tell you a little bit about the images and the processes behind them. I start off with a macro shot, simply because I am a big macro lover, it has I’ve been told by various people become a speciality of mine and I guess they are right. I love to take my time over these shots and some images can take as much as an hour to get right. The United Kingdom is a great place for macro work because overcast weather is ideal for it and well, lets face it, we get that in plentiful abundance don’t we?
The Hyacinth you see in this photo had just popped up in our garden, a wildflower and I noted that this year they were very prolific around our area, growing around the edges of our local parks.
I used a combination of tools for this shot that included a tripod, a plamp and a reflector. Plamp? A great product from tripod makers Wimberley. Have a hunt around online for them, I found mine at Warehouse Express and it has been an indispensible tool. They can be used to hold reflectors in place or to hold stems of plants steady when there is a slight breeze. They cost just under £30 and are worth getting.
I love shooting fairly wide open, so that only an element of the subject is in focus and the rest is artfully blurred out to produce a wash of colours. Certain colours go well together such as blues, purples and greens. A shallow depth of field can also be used to conceal stuff you don’t want the viewer to see which can be very effective indeed.
I always manually focus as this gives you maximum control. Take your time, tweak the focus, step away from the viewfinder, take a breath, go back – Happy? Yes, go for it or if you are not happy, take your time and take a shot you will be proud of.
Later on in this “macroworld” series (see the tags over on the right), I shall reveal a few more things about why I love this branch of photography so much…
We are are now offering a great new range of Giclee prints that will be built up over the coming weeks and will be given their own page eventually. This week the above image entitled Red Hot Poker (you may have seen it here before) has been chosen as the first image to be offered in Giclee print form… Read more