Ain't it just like the night...

...to play tricks when you're trying to be so quiet...what an up and down week...enjoyable and frustrating shoots...great and not so good weather...pictures I like...and some I am disappointed with...all in all a typical week in the life of a working photographer... I have been working on my lighting rig for macro and general wildlife shots for most of the week as I described last time...the second half of the Lepp bracket arrived on Thursday...

Before that happened I have enjoyed shooting the new growth for the new season...during a family day out to Ickworth House...

gorgeous ancient oak tree...they have so much style these old trees...they must have seen so much...

not sure what the blue flower is...possibly blue snowdrop- whatever it is a non native but striking none the less...

Box in flower...a ubiquitous species for hedges and thickets...great to see in flower...

Butcher's broom...spiky...you got to love those berries though...

solitary daffodil...makes a refreshing change from the overdose of yellow trumpets in huge bunches or fields that are prevalent at this time of year...

and of course...spring wouldn't be spring without primroses...

a single nettle seedling shoots up from a moss-covered log...

just waiting for the harvest at Christmas...mistletoe on a mature lime tree...of course you could cut out the middle man and stand under it during the festive season hoping to get lucky...!

foxglove...showing the same amount of adaptability as the nettle earlier..growing out of a fallen tree...

A few shoots during the week yielded these...

tree buds...

cherry blossom...

cow parsley...

white sweet violet...

frog's spawn...

germander speedwell...

great crested grebe - my favourite image of the week... this is the female of a pair I watch on my local patch...they aren't always so confiding but on this morning the light was spot on and they stayed close for a while...

great horsetail...looking like it did millions of years ago...primeval...

wolf spider hunting on our sun-drenched wall...(not long before it became rain-drenched...)

sweet violet...blue form...

sweat bee...

white dead-nettle...

The latter half of the week was spent suffering from a cold...as was Quinn so child care took the place of shooting time...however, the other half of my DIY Lepp bracket arrived - so if you look at last weeks blog you will see the make shift macro set up - this week it looks like this...

So what we have here is a Nikon D2X + Tokina 100mm f2.8 AT-X Pro macro lens; coupled with 2 Nikon SK7 flash brackets holding a Nikon SB700 speedlight and a Nikon SB600 speedlight - both controlled by the IR unit mounted on the cameras hot-shoe. The output of the individual flash guns can be set from this unit allowing for different lighting effects...

The results are pleasing...with much more even light...

...and the biggest advantage is that with all that light so close to the subject I can shoot at small apertures and therefore increase the depth of field...making the pictures sharper...

I have continued to submit to Dreamstime where my portfolio has just gone over 1000 images...lets grow from there...and of course Facebook continues to be updated everyday as does Flickr - keep your eyes on those pages should you wish to see day to day images...

Some very distressing news on Friday has left me numb - I hope the rest of you have a good week however...

TTFN

It's getting dark all of a sudden...

An eclipse, the equinox and a super moon...it's all kicking off this weekend...in days of old we would think many things about such an alignment...the influence of the Gods...the influence on the coming spring and the harvest beyond...I wonder how the year will pan out after such an auspicious start...

Photographically it has been a good and a frustrating week...As I have said before I have started to use my old ring flash and have been pleased with the results...however, the problem with using 20 year old amateur gear is that it just can't the daily pounding a working pro gives it...and in the short time I have used it...it has failed me...and for a short while I was back to square one...So what did I do? I began to play with one of my three speedlights (flashguns), a DIY Lepp bracket and a IR remote unit...the result?

And what do the results of this set up look like?

domestic apple tree leaf bud...

common dog violet...pale form...

lichen...this one I am especially pleased with...

What else have I been shooting? The first signs of spring...

Arum italicum - Italian lord's-and-ladies

blackthorn blossom...

hawthorn leaf bud...

horse chestnut leaf bud (known as "sticky buds"

lichen community on a wall...

poplar leaf bud...

dog rose plus rain drop...

white hellebore...

However, most of the week has been dull and overcast with a chilly easterly breeze,,,not so good for wildlife photography...

...and with the weather not so clement I was lucky enough to have an indoor shoot booked...a group of local schools singing their little hearts out...

I love this conversion...to me it has a 1950's feel...

...this one has a 1960's look I think...

All in all it was a thoroughly enjoyable shoot - the organisers were excellent as ever and the children really put their hearts into the singing...

And so finally to a new project of mine...inspired by the Box of Pin-ups by Bailey in the 1960's I have been looking at monochrome conversions of floral portraits...it is early days as yet but I quite like some I have done already...

As you can see - some of the images are familiar...

Here... I tend to post everyday so feel free to have a look and if you want to give me a like...you can also keep up with me here as well, if Facebook isn't your thing... In addition, if you feel the need to buy any images you could do worse than look here...my Dreamstime portfolio.

Hope you all have a good week...see you next time...

TTFN

I got a bird that whistles...

...I got a bird that sings...and it has been a busy week - shooting almost everyday; processing, downloading, insurance shoots...spring arriving...insects on the wing...yep...for wildlife photographers the year has begun...As for results...it has been a mixed week - I have taken some images of which I'm proud and some that have disappointed when viewed on the big screen...but that is how it goes...I have had many images accepted by Dreamstime and some I thought would be commercial have been rejected (occasionally it appears to be hit and miss whether or not images get accepted or not)...Two trips to Wicken Fen and several visits to the local Country Park and river have yielded...

Arum lily leaves...

cow parsley leaves...

groundsel...

leaf litter textures and hues...

meadow pipit...

reedbed reflections...

wind pump vanes against the sky..


Whilst looking round my garden I came across the following...

7-spot ladybird emerging from hibernation...

field speedwell...

grape hyacinth...

hairy bitter-cress...

pink hellebore...

But my favourite images of the week were from a close encounter with a pair of whooper swans (tundra swans if you are in the USA) - confiding (if a little aggressive)...

who would have thought that a swan had that in their mouth...

Quite often I am asked about transporting gear or "what do you carry your camera in" type of thing; so this weeks gear spot is about my favourite method of carrying gear whilst in the filed. Although I go through phases, when out and about locally for a few hours I tend to use a belt system with cases or pouches...

I favour the Lowe Pro Street & Field system - all my bags bar one are by Lowe Pro  - I have always trusted them for build quality, design and functionality. Here you can see the deluxe waist belt with various lens pouches and a flash pouch. The ones used depend on what I am photographing...this morning I will have pouches to hold my 20-35mm f2.8; 80-200mm f2.8; 300mm f4 and a small pouch housing my ring flash. I carry my camera in hand or mounted on a tripod. The system rests on the hips so most of the weight is taken by my legs but I do use an additional shoulder strap for stability. This system allows me to have both hands free at all times; I can lie down or squat down to capture something without the gear slipping or making me over balance...If you shoot a lot of outdoor images I would recommend looking at a belt system...there are others - Think Tank make a good one as well...As for other bags...the others will be featured in a future blog!!!

Now, since experimenting with my ring flash I have managed the following images...I particularly like the hour glass...

ink bottle...

wine glass...


...arum lily leaf - also using the ring flash...

and great crested grebe - nice gently shot but taken into the light doesn't show the bird off at its best... I prefer the one I took on Friday morning...

And that about wraps it up for another week...loving the fact that Spring is arriving and finally things are growing again...As ever I will be regularly updating my Facebook page... and my Flickr site... so if you want to keep checking there throughout the week...please feel free to share this post with friends and family alike...

Hope to see you all next week...

TTFN