Flowers 2014

[sury]

My camera was inadvertently set to HDR bracketing. So I used Luminance HDR to combine them.

[Greg Beetham]

Nice field of Snowdrops Birma all looking very pristine, btw you didn’t happen to take snap of the castle did you?
Those stackers are looking good Sury, very pretty.
Our Hibiscus are starting to recover after a tussle with some Hibiscus beetles that chew the new buds, helped along by some recommended anti Hibiscus beetle spray.
Greg
KM5D KM18-200

PICT2534.jpg (182.88 KiB) Viewed 4198 times

[sury]

Vibrant colors there Greg. That is one of my favorite "flower models".
The variety of colors on the island of Kauai was amazing.

Sury

[Birma]

Lovely Lily there Sury - really zings out of the screen

Your Hibiscus seem to have recovered really well Greg - they are looking in fine shape.

You'll have to forgive the blatant off topic shot here, but I do have a picture of the castle from a couple of years ago (I suppose there are some gorse flowers in beneath the castle walls!). The gardens with the lovely snowdrops are on the other side of the castle from where this picture was taken which is out in the loch.


Skye 2012 - Dunvegan Castle 1 by Birm, on Flickr

Ancestral home to the Macleods for over 800 years. I think it is claimed to be the longest inhabited building by a single family in the UK. The flag indicates that the Macleod himself is in residence.

Nex 5 with SEL 55-210

[sury]

I think I see some flowers there Andy. CEO of our company prior to acquisition is a Macleod.
Thank you for your kind words.

Sury

[Greg Beetham]

Ah thanks for that Birma nice photo, I guess the rather high yearly rainfall in the area would tend to cause more maintenance issues, and you couldn’t claim warranty after the first 500 years either.
Greg

[Birma]

Yeh - I think maintenance is a big issue. There was a rumour that the previous Chief was going to sell the Cuillin mountain range to fund a new roof. I think they just put up the price of sandwiches in the onsite cafe instead .

[aster]

Snow whites, pinks and wild oranges ...and an interesting looking castle in a row!

Gentlemen, you've dialed your lenses into spring, fresh and lovely.... : ) Good start.


Thanks for sharing, Andy, Sury and Greg. : )


Yildiz

[Birma]

Thank you Yildiz . We are starting to see lots of spring flowers about so I need to get out there!

[sury]

Spring is already in the air here. Too bad, we did not have enough rain.

[Birma]

I like the fresh dewy look to the flowers, Sury

I think I know what happened to your missing rain; http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-26367160

[Greg Beetham]

It's amazing how much the weather has changed, a bit scary really.
Greg

[Marcell Nikolausz]

Spring snowflakes are blooming in our forest:






Cheers

Marcell

[Birma]

Very nice Marcell - I really like the unusual angles and lighting.

[Birma]

Some pictures from an early walk in the wood this morning. I was there to try out my latest new lens; the Sony 135 T4.5 STF. I've had a serious case of GAS for this lens ever since I read about it, which only increased when I got the A99 which it almost seems it was made for with the A99s live-view abilities. Still getting the hang of it, but I was quite happy with these two for starters.


2014 Tiddesley - Blossom 1 by Birm, on Flickr
I'm not sure which blossom this is. I was thinking it was Blackthorn (which is looking amazing along the roads side verges at the moment) as I approached the small tree, but I'm pretty sure now it is a fruit tree. Not sure which.


2014 Tiddesley - Primtose 1 by Birm, on Flickr
Primroses (Primula Vulgaris) on the woodland floor. More a test of the tripod and A99's flippy-flappy screen as I had to get really low for this one.

I finally got my sticky mits on the lens yesterday. Initial test shots in the garden last night showed some worrying colour fringing although it wasn't a problem unless you pixel peeped. I couldn't re-create this problem today. I also checked out the Bluebells in the wood today. The plants look vigorous and healthy but will not be flowering for a few weeks yet. I am really looking forward to getting this lens stuck in to some early morning blue bokeh .