Hello everyone. It has been very cold here, winter has arrived. The image I am sharing on another sad and unthinkable day for London and the UK, is one I took a few weeks ago. I saw this dragonfly at sunrise which was still in it’s cold slumber from the night before and was fascinated by the glass like beads of dew on the wings and the magnification in the drops on it’s eye. Enjoy.
click in for a larger view
Hello everyone! This is an image of a ‘windflower’ or Japanese anenome – the bloom is tired, the light is soft and so it gave a feeling of the last dance of an evening. Autumn is here which for me means that it’s harvest time at work…we start picking this coming Monday and so for the next 10 days or so I will see tonnes and tonnes (literally) of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes. An exciting but exhausting time so probably my last post for a few weeks. See you the other side! 😀
Click for a larger view
I’ve been enjoying catching up and seeing everyone’s posts though I don’t have as much time to comment as often as I would like at the moment 🙂
This small dragonfly is one of the treasure trove of summer insects I found in the fog at sunrise the other week. The delicate wings reminded me of stained glass by the way it was backlit in the swirling fog.
It’s been a hot start to February here whilst some of you are freezing before the seasons start to turn! One morning this week saw very heavy fog as the overnight temperature got really quite cool (6C) before another hot day. At sunrise I was delighted to find many insects waiting for the warmth of the sun to get dry and moving – this tiny butterfly (wingspan of 2 cm) is called a common grass blue. I hope you enjoy, click in for a larger image. 🙂
Even after 13 years of Christmas in the southern hemisphere, I still miss the cold and dark of a British Christmas. Today we went to Musk, near Daylesford for what has become our annual tradition to buy our Christmas tree from the same Christmas tree farm. In total opposite to the UK, the day was sunny, with blue skies and I was in a t-shirt…just the thing for an image in near infrared 🙂
Taken on converted Nikon D90 in near IR. Click for better view
I live near Mount Macedon where there are a lot of houses with beautiful gardens (most are more like parks, being acres in size) that were planted in the late 19th Century, landscaped with beautiful northern hemisphere trees and plants. They are often open to the public in spring and autumn. Last month I visited one and saw this huge and wonderful old Beech tree, its crown in full autumn glory 🙂
Click in for the best view
It is now officially winter down here in Oz and this last week was cold, dark and foggy (maximums of 6 C which for us is cold!). I like the fog and the silhouettes it creates – these are evergreen Eucalyptus trees. This is my submission for MM 2-14 hosted by the ever hard working Leanne Cole on Wednesdays – do have a look for a wonderful variety of monochrome images.
Click on the image for the best view
This is the second in my mini series of autumn fungi from the pine plantation floor. This one most people will know as a ‘fly agaric’ or Amanita muscaria. The image from yesterday is, I believe, a more mature example. As I’m sure for many, this to me conjures up childhood imaginings from fairy tale books. Taken in late afternoon light 🙂
As always, click in for a bigger view.
Hello again everyone! Once more, apologies for not responding to comments (I appreciate them!) or liking posts, but at least I’m managing to post for Monochrome Madness, the first week of year two, hosted by the ever hard working Leanne Cole. I took this nearly a month ago in a landscape shaped by a distant history of volcanoes…the grass is bleached white, it is barren and dry with granite outcrops. On this day, there were massive clouds moving very quickly causing huge shadow and light contrasts If you click in, there are cows on the left crest in what I think of as a folded or undulating landscape 🙂
Click in twice for detail
This is an image that I am chasing – it isn’t there yet, but it is a start, a line of thought one might say 🙂 It is taken in a huge pine plantation which I need to explore more…the original inspiration came from an image by world renowned photographer Jim Brandenburg.
Robyn from Captivate Me included me in the B&W Challenge where you post 5 consecutive B&W images and nominate a person to take up the challenge with each post, so this is my Day 4 of 5. In turn, today I am nominating Ben from Aperture64. I must stress, this is NOT a have to participate challenge but something that might be fun, but only if you have the time and/or inclination and feel comfortable with it.
Taken in near IR on a modified Nikon D90.
