Spring in Full Swing

Ground Ivy, glechoma hederacea.

All the Spring flowers are out now, and its time to try again at flowers that I have photographed in the past, but never in my view, got right.  One of these is ground ivy, glechoma hederacea.  This is a very common flower, but seems to be very rarely noticed.  The flower itself has a fascinating structure, giving you the strong feeling that 'there must be a picture in here somewhere.

Hairy bittercress, cardamine hirsuta.

One of my aspirations is to produce photographs that have the attributes of paintings, watercolours in particular.  The opportunity arises only rarely, since it usually involves photographing a subject through another subject.  I got the chance here with hairy bittercress, although it did, of course, add to the difficulties of getting the camera into the right position.  

Red Deadnettle

Flower bud of red deadnettle,  lamium purpureum.

Flower of Red Deadnettle, Lamium purpureum

Back to high magnification, and my most challenging wildflower.  Red deadnettle occurs all over the place, and is no doubt regarded as a common weed.  But the tiny, individual flowers are very interesting - shaped like a pitcher, with detailed markings on the entrance, presumably to guide incoming flying insects.  The flowers would also seem to be very beautiful, having many of the attributes of exotic orchids.  The challenge lies in the fact that for all the interest and beauty of the flowers, I have yet to take a satisfactory photo.  The images here include one taken of a bud - a tiny globe of ruby red.  Images here are taken at a magnification of about 3X.  

Other Signs of Spring

Wild plum, prunus insititia

Wild plum, (prunus insititia)

Of course there are many different sorts of blossom out now, and they're usually much easier to photograph.  You can just wander around and take shots.  Hard work can resume in due course.  Here is some wild plum in flower (Prunus insitia)

Spring at Last

Hairy Bittercress, cardamine hirsuta

Hairy Bittercress, cardamine hirsuta

Well, it really is Spring now - the bittercress flowers are fully open, and the light is a lot better, even when the sun isn't out.   Lining-up a shot is still difficult;  the surface of the moss-garden is so uneven that I can't really say that I am composing pictures -  I am simply fighting to find somewhere secure to wedge the lens support into, and then seeing what images can be produced;  but I think things are getting better.      

Back to Natural Light

Hairy Bittercress, cardamine hirsuta, in natural light.

Hairy Bittercress, cardamine hirsuta, in natural light.

Hairy bittercress is a shade-loving plant, just like the mosses it grows amongst.  So I have now decided that it should be photographed in the shade, that is in natural light.  Overall the light was better than it was at the beginning of this series, so the conditions were not quite so demanding, and I could concentrate on trying to capture the true nature of the flowers.

Hairy Bittercress as a Subject

Hairy bittercress, cardamine hirsuta

Hairy bittercress, cardamine hirsuta

Last weekend I took some photos at high magnification of hairy bittercress, cardamine hirsuta, which were more or less satisfactory, except for the fact that they were set against a dark background.  This accentuated the white flowers, but rendered the image 'low-key'.  I was hoping that there would be enough sun this week-end to cast light into the recesses of the moss garden and alleviate such problems; no such luck.  So I have created a light background by stuffing some garden fleece into the cavity behind the flowers.  Some results are shown.  As images they are not bad, although the leaves of the plant itself are very dark, which again has the effect of reducing the key.  But I am reluctant to stray too far from 'natural photography', and I don't want to get into the habit of carting white sheets around the countryside, even though this is still using natural light.  I am going to have to find a more acceptable way of illuminating subjects.      

New Attractions in the Moss Garden

Hairy Bittercress, cardamine hirsuta

Hairy Bittercress, cardamine hirsuta, emerging into the Spring sunlight. 

Hairy Bittercress, cardamine hirsuta

Well, its Spring now and the flowers are coming out, competing for attention with the mosses in the garden.  The first to appear was hairy bittercress, cardamine hirsuta, which displays a cluster of small, pure white flowers.  It appears to favour the shady cavities in the moss garden, so we are again going to need high magnification, and we will still be short of light.  So accurate focussing will still be a problem, as there is still no prospect of using a tripod, and shutter speeds will be slow.  In response I am trying out my Mark II miniature camera support.  It appears to offer an improvement, but I have still to achieve the sharpness that I think is necessary.