Now that I have noticed these moss spore capsules, I can’t seem to stop snapping them. Once again, getting really close courtesy of my 100mm macro lens with Raynox 250 attached.
Fairy lanterns
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Category Archives: nature
Bee fly returns
I love this time for year for many things, including the crab apple blossom that attracts a rather nice little seasonal character, bombylius major, the bee-fly. I am perhaps slightly ridiculously fond of this little furry fly. I did a post about it this time last year and you can see more images of it there. These are three new ones, snapped in my garden this afternoon.
There’s just something about its little round, furry body, and the way it hovers… well, I am a ‘bug lady’ after all.
Come on admit it, it is cute.
More mossy explorations
Moss spore capsules
Last month I celebrated a brief sunny interlude by exploring the abundant crop of moss growing where my lawn used to be. Well, we have had some more sun this week so here are some more mossy explorations.
A bug’s eye view
I was particularly taken with these colourful spore capsules. I was used to seeing the spiky sort before but this was the first time I had noticed these alien-looking alternatives.
All about colour
I used my macro lens with Raynox DCR-250 attached to get very close indeed to these tiny plants. Here, the colourful background is my out of focus recycled garden trug.
Can you spot the explorer?
The above shot isn’t very special but I included it because there is a tiny explorer getting in on the act. Apparently, recent studies have shown that springtails play an important part in moss fertilisation by carrying scent from plant to plant. Who knew?
Misty moss
The difficulty with using such extreme magnifications is that depth of field is wafer thin. I decided to make the most of the difficulty in this last image, for a more minimal, suggestive take.
If you missed my earlier moss extravaganza, see here.
Hardy spider
Hello there!
This tiny spider has been hanging out in my olive tree for weeks now, happily oblivious to freezing temperatures and snow. It is a colourful and rather acrobatic addition to my garden.
And, for my next trick…
“Imperio!”
Moody jerked his wand, and the spider rose onto two of its hind legs and went into what was unmistakably a tap dance.
Everyone was laughing — everyone except Moody.
“Think it’s funny, do you?” he growled. “You’d like it, would you, if I did it to you?”
The laughter died away almost instantly.
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Exploring moss
Today we had sun! I celebrated by photographing backlit moss with my Raynox DCR250 macro conversion lens attached to my 100mm macro lens to get really close.
Moss really is surprisingly beautiful and interesting when you get close to it.
Like a forest of tiny trees casting long shadows in the afternoon sun.
A single strand of gossamer was caught in the moss.
And I found the tiniest of baby snails on one of the stems. The only way to see it was on the screen at native resolution.
I haven’t been blogging much recently. I need to concentrate on my degree for the next few months and there just doesn’t seem to be enough time to blog and keep up with everyone else’s blogs, and take images, process them, study, be a mum and wife, keep house, etc etc. So I am going to blog once a week for a little while now and hopefully do better at reading the blogs I follow.
‘A rolling stone gathers no moss, but it gains a certain polish.’ Oliver Herford
All Hail The Dawn!
A waking fly greets the new day.
“A day is a miniature eternity.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Believe every day that has dawned is your last.” – Horace
Snow seeds
The snow had begun in the gloaming,
And busily all the night
Had been heaping field and highway
With a silence deep and white.Every pine and fir and hemlock
Wore ermine too dear for an earl,
And the poorest twig on the elm-tree
Was ridged inch deep with pearl.-James Russell Lowell, ‘The First Snow-Fall’
Small White
I would dearly love to photograph butterflies in flight but this is no easy task. Their flight path is ridiculously erratic and their wings flap right over their heads making focus on the eyes almost impossible.
It’s teasing me
I tried to capture this one for a long time one day last summer. I can almost imagine it’s looking at me thinking: shall I, shan’t I?
Seriously dodgy, but it’s a start
This is the best shot I got that day. Yes, it’s not terribly good, but at least you can tell it’s a butterfly 😉 I will try again this year. Although I have planted for insects, my garden sees very few butterflies, but a wildflower park has recently been planted not too far away and it will hopefully be open to the public for the first time this spring. Come on Spring, hurry up!
Dartmoor at dusk
Sunset over Dartmoor National Park
Yesterday, I shared an image I took on New Year’s Day at Dartmoor National Park. Despite having lived in this country for most of my life, I am ashamed to say this was my first visit to the Park. I will be back!
Haytor, Dartmoor
We hiked to two of the many rocky outcrops, known as ‘tors’, Haytor and Hound Tor, the latter thought to be the inspiration for Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes adventure, The Hound of the Baskervilles.
Hound Tor, Dartmoor
I left my trusty Canon 5Diii at home and took instead the Sony NEX-7 I was testing. A compact system camera packing a whopping 24 megapixel sensor, it is a fraction of the size and weight of my DSLR and made a far less demanding hiking companion. But there are compromises, both in terms of ease of use and image quality. Although you cannot see at this size, these images, all taken at ISO 400 are far noisier than my DSLR would have taken. More tomorrow.
The tenth day of Christmas; oh, to heck with it!
Dartmoor on New Year’s Day
Well, I suppose I could come up with some tenuous link between today’s post and Christmas, if I tried really hard. But, instead, I thought I’d share this shot taken in Dartmoor National Park on New Year’s Day. This is for you, Gunta. 😉
While we were away, I rented a new camera, the Sony NEX-7 from the good folk at hireacamera.com. I need a lightweight alternative to my big brick for hiking but I want to try before I buy. Over the next few days I will be sharing some of the images I took and my impressions of this high-end compact system camera.
Focused Moments 