Farewell Greenwich Mean Time, see you in six months! The clocks went forward at the weekend – hoo-flippin-ray! Even if the clocks hadn’t been moved forwards though, there’s an abundance of signs all around that spring is finally here.
Some of these signs are white…
Some of these signs are yellow (ok, so i may have cheated a little bit here, but there are lots of daffs out right now, non)?…
Some of these signs are blue…
But mostly, these signs are pink…
Clearing the garden ready for the impending winter I rescued this very exotic looking lilly which I have no recollection of ever planting. Goodness knows how it’s managed to survive the frosts we’ve been having, it looked a bit droopy so I brought it into the warmth.
I’ve loved growing flowers for picking this year and I definitely think I will grow more next year. Bang for buck it makes more financial sense than growing vegetables – plus it means you can have vases of much more intersting blooms than you’d be able to buy in the supermarket or even the florist.
This is where I can show off one of the few proper flower names I know; echinops. I have no idea why that particular one has lodged itself in the tiny bit of my brain that actually remembers the proper name for things, but it has.
I am especially fond of spiky, globular flowers – I may have to plant some of these for next years garden.
Canon 5D MKII + 17-40mm f/4L lens
Canon 5D MKII + 50mm f/2.5 Compact Macro lens
This is the lovely orchid I got for my birthday a couple of months ago – it has now gone te way of all houseplants in my care and is a petal-free stem looking very forlorn. Here it is in happier days…
There’s a little corner of my garden where the sun always shines…
Polaroid SX-70 + 600 film + ND filter on film pack
The ever inspiring (and lovely) Susannah has had a super brainwave and I think we should all join in.
Intriged? It’s ‘The August Break 2010′. This doesn’t mean there won’t be anything to see here, in fact there will be lots – a photo every day (hopefully)!
The idea is that we all deserve a break from thinking of words to write over the summer, just add a photo as often as you like through the month and we’ll see how all our Augusts look. No rules, none at all, so any sort of camera (I have a cool new camera app on my phone to try out), words or no words, 5 times a day or just once a fortnight – you’re the boss!
Read all about it and add yourself to the blogroll over on Susannah’s blog.
There’s also a flickr group.
Canon 5D MKII + 85mm f/1.8 lens
I know it’s not August yet but here’s my photo for today. No words. (Apart from these ones). Are you going to play along too?
I finished work yesterday and took a diversion on my necessary journey into town to visit the rose gardens in the park.
Canon 5D MkII + 85mm f/1.8 lens + some ‘photoshopping’
Wow, is all I can say. It’s the perfect time to visit – there are hundresds of roses, all in bloom and looking and smelling heavenly. No wonder humans are intoxicated with rose-smelling things – I want to buy some rose perfume now, the smell makes me happy.
It’s also the perfect place to experiment with your cameras although you need to be careful you don’t go too mad using up all that precious, precious Polaroid film.
Polaroid SX-70 + 600 film + ND filter
I have a freaky looking lens called a ‘Lensbaby 3G‘ which you squeeze and angle to take your shots and it blurs and focuses in all sorts of unexpected ways. I found it really hard to use with my old camera, and I am thinking this may have been down to it having a cropped sensor because it’s about 100 times easier and more effective on the new, full-framed superstar camera.
Canon 5D MkII + Lensbaby 3G
I’m not sure what this shrubby thing is but it looks lovely against the blue, blue sky…
Talking of blue, I know what this is – forget-me-nots have to be the best named flower, ever (after The Stinking Corpse Lily, of course)…
Here’s my polaroid of yesterday’s wisteria – i wasn’t sure it would pick up the colours very well as the individial petals are really quite small, but it’s done a great job emulating the silvery-lilac tones (thanks to lots of delicious sunshine, i would say)…
Polaroid SX-70 + 600 film + ND filter on film