Miner Bee Bug hunt may 3 rd 2016

A trip to Whixall Moss in Shropshire today , its warm and sunny but with quite a lot of clouds which will help with macro shooting.  i am hoping to shoot the miner bees that feed on the dandylion flowers on the canal bank. they are only active when the air temperature is quite warm , when cloud covers the sun they cool down and cant fly which makes them easier to photograph.

A couple of hoverfly shots taken with mpe-65 on 5dsr while walking towards the far end where i know is the best miner bee area.

  Not a clue on id of this one, Empid fly by looks of the head/thorax. a very small one, less than 10mm.

                                                                         A shield bug 

                    At the canal and there are plenty of dandylion flowers , now just need a bit of sun .

Yay!   loads of miners are feeding , as the sun goes behind a cloud this miner obliges and sits on my finger :)      loads of pollen grains on it.

     This is the best section , loads of flowers in the sun with sandy soil that these solitary bees nest in.

There are a few Nomada bee species also ,  took a while to get this 7 frame focus stack.  holding the flower stem between my fingers of left hand while resting the lens on the hand keeps it steady to do an accurate series of frames to focus stack.   which when combined gives a much greater depth of field than 1 single frame can produce.

                                                          a crop from above image.

                                               Another species of miner bee .  

                                      6 frames focus stacked at f7  mpe-65 on 5dsr

                               What a great morning shooting these tiny Bees it has been .

Perch Rock Sunsets April 2016

Gere are a few images taken over a couple of weeks at New Brightons Perch Rock and nearby groynes. 


                                                      20 seconds   f14    big stopper

                                             B&W conversion using  silver fx plug in.

                 Wonderfull sunset , but faded away by the time i moved to below the lighthouse.
                           
                                                 120mm   f 6.3        iso 200  handheld

 

1/15 th f14 

                                      I used my 100-400 mm lens handheld for this one.

                                                         45 Seconds   f13    little stopper

                                                              15 Seconds  f14   little stopper

 

 280 Seconds  f13    Big stopper

Amazing Cloud Colour at Perch Rock

 Arriving at Perch Rock in time for sunset i have noticed a big rain storm out towards the windfarm.
using my 400mm lens to fill the frame with the clouds...............

 The cloud has lifted slightly showing the setting suns colour below the falling rain , this could be a cracking shoot and there are no other togs here!

 All breaking up now ,  the small bits of cloud are coming this way    , could be interesting in the next 10-15 mins .

 

Amazing how its all cleared and broken up ,Here is a long ish exposure taken with 100 -400 mm with Lee little stopper .

All those clouds are heading right for the lighthouse   Yay!

       WOW!     amazing cloud colour now as its illuminated buy the setting sun , it wont last long.
                                          I have shot at 0.5 second to freeze the water spray.

 A little less colour now as i shoot 25 second long exposures to give nice cloud and water smoothing.

and that was the last of any colour , brilliant while it lasted :)

Snowdons Blue Pools february 2016

Way back in February i took a trip up Snowdon to photograph the Blue pools on the Watkin Path, with a small amount of snow still on the mountain tops and a sunny blue sky day it was looking a good day out.

       I nice easy walk following the waterfall path and eventually i have reached the "Blue Pools" 

 The water clarity is amazing!      the above image was shot with a Little stopper to smooth the water  but i prefer the fast shutter speed of the next image.  shows all the sparkle and life in the water.

                                              Just above the first pool is this waterfall

                                                 Much prefer this composition :)

                                                 Closer view of the falls  2 second exposure

 Having walked up the waterfall path and now on the flat valley floor with Snowdon ahead over to the right just out of the frame.   Love the slate sheep fence.

                                                                        A Bridge to Far

                                                                         Slate mountain!

                          Back down at the Blue Pools , with different light now.

                                                            all shot with 5dsr & 17 - 40 L

Amoudi Bay , Oia Sunset july 3 rd 2016

On our last evening on Santorini , we are going to take the bus to Oia again and go down to Amoudi bay .   It is a steep climb down 230 ish steps i believe or on a donkey!

                 Leaving the pool we are going to the bus station for the 20 minute journey to Oia.

   We are in Oia now, at the top of the steps near the ruined castle which go down to Amoudi bay

                               Down we go, the sun will be setting in about 40-50 minutes.

                 Looking up at the windmill i photographed from the castle the other evening.

                            Amoudi Bay , with its four very expensive restaurant's on the water front.

We have taken the left hand path around the harbour , think this will give the best view of the sunset.

                   But , just to make sure , a quick walk around to the opposite side to take a look.

                              The red cliffs are starting to light up with the low setting sun.

                                                Back to the previous location..................

                  Loads of boats have now arrived to watch the sun setting into the Aegean sea .

                                             Yes!   that is a dog on a surf board with a man   :)

                                                                Our last Santorini sunset :(

Looking up at Oia , with the white buildings turning pink by the low sun  , 5 frame panorama shot with 100-400mm lens.

                                                    Now to walk back up the 200+ steps!!!!!

Think will take a quick look at the view point on the castle as there is still some nice colour in the sky now the sun has set.

                                                                             Lights on.
                                                 Beautiful last evening on our honeymoon

                                         My last sunset image of the Windmills at Oia

Back to where we started,  the pool .............................

                                                       Tommorow we go home :(