A glorious morning, so I was out in the garden, early doors, looking at stuff - like I do. There were a couple of tiny bees (Andrena sp. ?) nectaring on a yellow flower (Sow Thistle - cheers Derek) and were too good an opportunity to pass up; so both cameras, with macro set-ups, were quickly pressed into service.
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One of the bee sp. feeding on that yellow flower - Sow Thistle |
Once I'd got my image, I carried on playing around with the lenses and found myself looking at flowers, again! This wasn't due to any great increase in my desire to get involved with all things botanical, more a realisation that plants can provide a great subject when attempting to get to grips with the finer art of macro photography - they ain't going anywhere fast. So I ended up playing around with my kit, using these very willing volunteers as my subjects. There's massive room for improvement, but I can't deny the allure that macro photography asserts and the very pleasant distraction my recent flirtation with botanical subjects has provided. However, the bottom line is that I am not overly worried by my technical deficiencies, with the camera gear, and I have absolutely no problem with not being able to identify very common plants (or insects). "What is it?" - "Dunno!"
I'd rather look, and be amazed, than not bother looking at all.
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This is the seed head of that yellow flower above |
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This is that same plant (Sow Thistle) that the bee had been photographed
feeding on - just four hours later and all the flowers are shut (just around mid-day!) |
The bottom picture looks like Sow Thistle to me, especially if it has a milky sap when the stem is broken.
ReplyDeleteCheers for that Derek - I've updated my post with corrections and credits - Dyl
DeleteHi Dyl ... just doing a quick cyber pass ... the yellow flower with the strange seed pod is Herb Bennet and the pink flower Herb Robert. They sound like old 1950's Jazz musicians perhaps?? The Sow Thistle is more than likely Smooth Sow Thistle. The moths have been awful here, lots of DB's aside anyhow ... I gave up on the spring birding once the Euro's kicked off ...
ReplyDeleteTight lines old bean ... Flap MlaphiltOn