Baby Bunnies

 Taken at Paxton Pits.  All together now...aww!

Cow-parsley, multiple exposure images

Photographing the cow-parsley, that blooms on the bank behind my house, has become an annual ritual.  Of course, if the subject doesn't change the approach to shooting it should.  This year I decided to try in-camera multiple exposure images.  I wanted to get something impressionistic and painterly, rather than totally abstract.  

One of the annoying things about the Olympus Om-D E-M1 is that its multiple exposure mode only allows two images to be combined.  It is possible to select that double image as the first image in a second double shot, and build up from there.  But, honestly, who can be bothered?  Instead it was back to the trusty old Canon 7D.  This has a lot more options regarding both the number of images that can be combined and the blending method.  The drawback of the 7D is the lack of electronic viewfinder, meaning I couldn't see the overlay of the previous shot(s).  I tried using the rear screen to compose, but the light was too strong to see properly, so in the end I just trusted to luck.

Each of these images is an 8-shot in-camera multiple exposure, combined in additive mode.  I made very slight movements between shots, whilst trying to focus on a single point.  I found that the least amount of movement gave me the look I was after. 

Isabella Plantation

Last weekend I was in London for my birthday.  The weather was not kind and most of my photographic plans were abandoned.  However, for a couple of hours on Saturday evening the sun broke through.  I headed to the Isabella Plantation, an enclosed woodland garden in Richmond Park.  The plantation is filled with Rhododendrons and Camellias, many of which were at their best.  The light was lovely, but I only had a short time available to me.  There was certainly no time to bother with a tripod and there was just enough breeze to make image stacking a waste of time.  So all the images are hand-held single shots at fairly wide aperture. 

Cambridge Evening Outing

Last Wednesday I joined a few other CCC members for an evening outing in Cambridge.  May continued to offer it's mixed bag of weather.  Mainly leaden skies, with some occasions breaks of good light, and only one brief shower.  The Wisteria on the wall of Sydney-Sussex was at its best, but sadly the light wasn't.  On the Backs, there was a mixture of dandelions and bluebells, that made for a different shot of Kings.  I also liked this view of one the King's lampposts, it had a rather Narnia-like quality.  We finished the night with Clive posing in fedora and trench-coat outside Trinity.

 

 

Gamsey Wood

In recent years, all of my bluebell shots have either come from Waresley Wood or Brampton Wood.  This year a colleague told me about Gamsey Wood, near Ramsey. Like Waresley or Brampton, this is a BCN Wildlife Trust wood, but a rarely visited one.  Probably because it is tucked away behind a farm, with no obvious parking  I was there all of a Sunday morning and didn't see another person.  The wood itself is small, with one main looping path.  There was a good showing of bluebells, without too much clutter getting in the way, but it lacks the variety of other spring flowers that can found in some of the local woods.  

I tried a few focus stacked close-ups.  Although not perfect, I am quite pleased with the single bell.  I didn't notice the spider on the second bluebell until I was reviewing the images at home.

Therfield Heath

I usually only go to Therfield Heath for the Pasque Flowers.  This time I decided to take my infrared camera for a stroll there, on a sunny day, to see what I could find.  It turned out the answer was not much.

Primroses

 More minimal depth of field close-ups.  This time primroses. All taken hand-held on a sunny and slightly breezy day.