Tropical Flora

Here's another couple of shots taken in Raratonga on the Cook Islands. This time we have two lilies - both were in a small pond near the villa we were staying in at the resort. We would walk past them every time we went to a meal or to the pool and I couldn't resist not photographing them - especially, in the second case, after a short spot of rain.

 

Nikon D70, 18-70mm lens

Autumn Morning

We went for a walk in our local park on Saturday morning and saw some of the colours that will be around for the next few weeks.

Last year the trees all seemed to change overnight - almost like they had all been waiting for each other and then started a great race. This year they are taking their time, changing one at a time, which means the colours last for much longer.

The photo below is my favourite from the morning (yeah OK, I mucked around with the dodge and burn tools in Photoshop a bit, but it looks good). This is from the same stand of trees that I shot last November. Last year all the trees were at the same stage, whereas this year you can still see green in the background.

Nikon D200, AF-S 18-200mm VR
1/320sec, f/7.1

Creepy

I was out doing a bit of tidying in the garden the other weekend - just cutting back all this year's growth rather than doing anything amazing with an herbaceous border or installing a shrubbery (OK so that's two links for shrubberies. Sorry. I did look for something amusing on herbaceous borders but am easily distracted).

There is a bramble on the lane behind my garden, which keeps trying to loop its way over the fence and find an extra foothold. As I was battling with it I noticed another plant that seemed to be thriving by winding and tangling itself around the bramble and pretty much everything nearby. The shapes and patterns made by this plant are quite interesting to look at as it really does wriggle around to cling on to whatever its near.

This observation resulted in some more macro shots (I'll try to photograph something full-scale soon, promise).

The plant could be some kind of creeper, hence the title of this post, but I really have no idea.

 

Nikon D200, AF-S 105mm Micro VR
1/160sec, f/9                                                  1/125sec, f/16

Roses

My wife received some roses last week for (nearly) being a bridesmaid at her friend's wedding. I appropriated them for a short time for some photos.

The spiral pattern you get with the opening petals is quite cool to look at, but - even better - they seem to have their own inner light making the centre brighter, which I can't explain. This can be seen especially well in the image below but the photo on the right is my favourite.

Nikon D200, AF-S 105mm Micro VR
1/200sec, f/14, ISO-200

Nikon D200, AF-S 105mm Micro VR
1/80sec, f/16, ISO-200

Lastly, thanks to LivingSword for nominating this blog for the following award.

Monday Mystery Matter - Revealed

Here's the answer to yesterday's little quiz. Congratulations must go to Neil who got the answer spot on (although I'm wondering whether it was actually his wife's suggestion) - the mystery object was indeed the inside of a petal of a lily - an auratum or similar. Below is a photo of the whole flower.

Nikon D200, AF-S 105mm Micro VR
1/60sec, f/18, ISO-360

Monday Mystery Matter

Here's a small quiz for this Monday morning. To the right is a close-up photo of something in my house at the moment - any guesses as to what it is? I'll post the answer in a day or two.

Click on the image to get a larger version, which might help.

Nikon D200, AF-S 105mm Micro VR
1/50sec, f/25, ISO-450

Thought they were weeds

I've had some plants growing in the garden for a couple of years now that I always thought were weeds - mostly because they generally looked a bit messy. I've been pulling them up every time I'm doing a bit of gardening and have seen some.

Recently I haven't done much work in the garden and the 'one that got away' has had a chance to flower. Looks like I have been wrong all this time. I don't know what they are exactly, but here are a couple of shots from yesterday.

 

Nikon 105mm VR Macro
1/60sec, f/16, flash                            1/160sec, f/5, flash

Edit: I have just found out these flowers are Alstroemeria or Peruvian Lilies - thanks to my parents-in-law (who probably planted them for me originally).

Cliff flowers

The last two posts of the cliffs around The Lizard in Cornwall have shown an area that looks pretty bleak.

However, the hostile conditions don't stop things from surviving there. These flowers cover the cliffs here and at other places in Cornwall, including Land's End.

Nikon 18-200mm VR at 130mm, f/6.3, 1/250sec

Eden Project - Flora

You may have wondered from the last two posts why I went all the way to the Eden Project - basically a glorified garden - and, up until now, only posted pictures of the architecture. Truth is I actually found that more interesting.

While I enjoy flowers and plants for their aesthetic qualities, I don't hold much interest for learning their names or for spending too much time growing and nurturing them. I do like a nice tidy looking garden, and have spent some time mucking around in my own, but I would much prefer for it to handle itself.

I didn't completely ignore the flora at Eden though. Here are my favourite shots from the day out - an orange flower (see, no idea what its called and no qualms about that), an Arum Lily (my absolute favourite photo from the day) and a fern leaf.

As usual, click the thumbnails for a larger version of each.

Bluebells

I said yesterday that I went to Ashridge at the weekend to see if there were any bluebells about. The deer were just a lucky coincidence so I guess I better post some photos of the flowers themselves for good measure.

Nikon 105mm VR micro, 1/60sec at f/8

 

Nikon 105mm VR micro
1/400sec at f/5                                     1/180sec at f/4

Deer in bluebells

On Saturday I went to Ashridge to see if there were any bluebells still about - in previous years when I've been there the place is carpeted with them, but I was worried I'd left it a little late.

I needn't have worried at all. I was wondering around the woods, off the paths, climbing trees and lying on the floor to get a few shots, when I spotted another photographer of to my left, about twenty meters away.

Suddenly I saw some movement in front of me: there's a group of about fifteen deer heading straight for the other guy. They see him and stop, wondering what to do, so I sit down on the nearest log to to see if they will come any closer. I think about trying to change lenses, because I'm all set up for close-ups.

Before I have any more time to do anything, the deer decide the second guy is not to be trusted and run straight at me!. They spot me and change angle, but end up running between us - about five meters from me. I snap away a few shots, but haven't had time to think about anything so just have to hope something comes out. Fortunately, one of them does.

Once the deer are a little way away they stop again and have another think before running in a different direction. This allows me to get another few shots of the group.

 

Nikon 105mm VR Micro
1/60sec at f/6.3                                             1/60sec at f/5

Yaks and other wildlife

Time for some Himalayan fauna and flora.

Firstly the yaks. We're seeing lots of these - in fact our group includes three of them, which are carrying our luggage between stops. Below about 3000 meters a cross between yaks and cows (caks?) is used - seen in the picture to the right - as yaks themselves prefer to the thinner air at higher altitudes and don't do well down low. The first photo below shows some proper yaks - longer-haired and larger than the cross.

We're also seeing 'Yak Steak' on the menu at the lodges each night. It's probably buffalo (we're told) but tastes good none-the-less.

There's not a lot of flora around - we're a bit early in the year and had we arrived a few weeks later we might have seen the rhododendron forests in full bloom. However as we start our trek there are already a number of primula coming up and on the way back the ground will be covered.

 

Next up, some birds. First is the Impeyan Pheasant, the national bird of Nepal. We see quite a few of these below 4000 meters. They tend to be seen at ground level, scratching at the dirt, and their colour really catches the eye. Next we see some Himalayan Griffon Vultures circling overhead - there must be something dead nearby.

 

We see plenty of Snow Leopard footprints in the snow in various places along the route, but no sign of the animals themselves. Our guide also claims to have spotted a Musk Deer, but none of the group have eyes quite that sharp.

Fuzzy Blossom

I found this tree in the Botanical Garden in Bath. I have absolutely no idea what type of tree has spring blossom that's fuzzy/furry like this. The whole tree was covered in it though - it looked like a Buzby toy I used to own.

Nikon 18-200 @ 200mm, f8, 1/50, ISO-400

Bath Botanical Gardens - Part 2

More shots from the Botanic Gardens in Royal Victoria Park in Bath, showing that spring is well and truly here, after the false start we had a few weeks ago

 

Nikon 18-200 VR
170mm, f11, 1/30sec, ISO-400                 95mm, f8, 1/60sec, ISO-400

Bath Botanical Gardens - Part 1

Within the Botanical Gardens in the Royal Victoria Park in Bath. Even though its still early in the year and not much is flowering at the moment and most of the beds are just mud, its still good to walk around this area - aside from the friendly squirrels, there are loads of crocuses and other spring flowers, and even some tree blossom already.

Nikon 18-200 @ 18mm, f5.6, 1/60sec

Berry husks

Not entirely sure what happened to all the berries on this tree. I thought birds ate the whole berry, but perhaps they have just taken the juicy middle out and left the skins. Or maybe the cold, snowy weather has something to do with it.

Nikon 60mm, f6.3, 1/1000sec, ISO-800 (by mistake)

Crocus, Crocuses, Croci

On one of the roads in my estate there is a huge number of crocuses (or croci?) that pop up every spring. These were all buried in the snow last week, but they seem to have survived relatively unscathed.

 

Nikon 60mm, f8, 1/800sec                               Nikon 60mm, f9,1/250sec

Spring already?

Guess I missed winter. Me and some Daffodils both. This was taken today.

Its a bit of a rubbish photo, but I was surprised to see these so early in the year. It has been pretty warm for January and I guess its easy to get confused if no-one bought you a calendar for Christmas. Anyone got a tortoise that's out of hibernation yet?

As soon as the cold weather does get round to paying us a visit these flowers are going to wonder what's going on with the world.

Journey to work

I'm normally quite rushed on the way to work in the morning - I leave the house late or dawdle a little on the way so can't stop if I'm going to catch the train on time. Then, by the time I do get to London, I've allowed myself to sleep on the journey and am not really awake enough to pay attention to what's about. When leaving work for the day, at this time of year, there's no light left.

This means that even if I do have my camera with me I don't use it. I carry the camera around to keep me thinking about my surroundings, and often find myself wasting it.

One day this last week I thought I'd see if I could do it different. It was a nice sunny morning and some of the trees were still looking their best, so I got some shots - both on the way from my house to the station and then also a couple between the train and the office.

This picture is from a tree on my way to the train station in Milton Keynes. There's a group of three or four of these and they have this amazing colour and are keeping their leaves well.

Nikon 18-200mm at 50mm, f7.1, 1/15sec

This picture is of some of the trees in Gordon Square in London. This square has been closed for ages while some work is done on the fences and paths, so no-one can actually go in - this was taken from outside on the North side. I was hoping that the work in the square would be finished by now, but progress seems slow. Fortunately I still managed to get this shot with the sun shining through, and showing the colours.

Nikon 18-200mm at 31mm, f7.1, 1/125sec

Photoshopping

Was playing around a bit with one of the images I posted the other day and created a couple of nice versions. First is a straight black and white conversion. Second is my 'the aliens are coming' shot - looks like it came out of the X-Files or any other generic sci-fi film of the last couple of decades.