My 2014 Weekly Photos - Part 2

[Geoff F]

Week 17 - A swarm of bees in my garden

Warm still day on Friday and in the afternoon a swarm of honey bees 'invaded' my garden. They were flying everywhere with a deafening buzz. Eventually they settled on the top rails of a fence.





Tried several settings but found them difficult to photography, with light at the wrong angle, in order to show the size of the swarm but still retain some individual detail.

Used my Canon 70-200 and Tamron 24-70 lenses. Eventually settled for a manual setting to give a fairly high shutter speed (1/500) and used a little bit of high speed flash to fill in the darker areas.

And to finish the story, at least so far; rain and strong winds were forecast so I constructed a makeshift roof over them and contacted a friend who keeps bees. He came round early the next morning, when they were cold and placid, and managed to capture the queen and most of the workers in a basket.

They are now living in the upturned basket, on the ground in my garden, until he can return for them tomorrow. Most of the workers moved with the basket but a few stubbornly clung on to their previous perch and eventually perished in the cold winds and rain.

Those which were prepared to move appear to have settled in well and were out foraging between the showers.

ps. I think the second photo needs a little more of a crop from the bottom to remove one out of focus flying bee. Most of the shots had one or two fliers which were outside of the focus range.

[bnnrcn]

Very interesting shots Geoff, I haven't seen such a thing before

[Brownbear]

Very nice images. The 2nd is my favourite. Beautifully photographed and fascinating as long as they stay in your garden. So many bees would make me nervous.

[Plumcrak]

Geoff, now that is a swarm!! Nice capture. I think I would have to use a longer lens just to make sure I was far enough away

[Donald]

When you look at it full size, the detail is terrific.

[John 2]

Really interesting images and well made Geoff. Given the recent fears over bees in general, I also applaud your effort to preserve the swarm. We would be in dire straights without them.

[Geoff F]

Thanks for the comments.

When bees are swarming, or doing anything else in groups, they have other things in mind and aren't a problem unless you do something to really annoy them.

I did get one slight sting but that was really my fault. On the next morning I was removing the temporary roof which I had constructed to keep them dry, so my friend could get to them. It was wood planks attached with cable ties, and after cutting the ties, working about a foot from the swarm, I noticed a couple of bees on my clothing and foolishly tried to brush them off. Well one fell against my wrist and stung me.

My friend had the full kit for the main job.

Hopefully I will get a pot of honey in due course.

[Geoff F]

Week 18 - Spring in the Woods

Have been trying some bluebell shots, without much success! Same every year, shoot loads and ditch all of them.

They rarely seem to come out as I wanted, whatever I do. Tried to get a definite foreground subject in sharp focus and let the rest gradually fade away but no success. And that includes shooting with different focus points for a merge.

This is the only one that I would call a possible keeper because I concentrated more on getting a mix of textures and tints than on the bluebells which are now more of the background than the intended subject.



7D with Tamron 24-70 lens 1/20 F14 Iso 400; obviously on a tripod. Under the trees and in light shadow.

[IzzieK]

Turns out nice though...I like the subtle mixture of colours and the driftwood (?) complements the surroundings...good job...

[Geoff F]

Thanks for the encouragement, Izzie. In desperation, I was going for a mix of rotting fallen tree amongst new growth.

The previous day's attempts were all ditched; although at the time I thought I was doing some clever stuff.

This is the only other possible shot, which also, looked good through the viewfinder; but to be honest, the background is too complicated. And other angles included different problems, no matter what I tried.



If it had been a real fence I would have gone wider, but barbed wire offers little in the way of attraction to a scene like this.

[John 2]

Nothing wrong with these Geoff. I know what you mean though. Bluebells are one of those subjects you can't resist but are difficult to nail.

[IzzieK]

I like the other one Geoff (#28) better. it has a lot of elements to look at and the most attractive is that the mouth of the beast (rotten fallen tree) is pointing to the fern. Is that a sort of tree fern over there? They all complement the undergrowth and the blue bells.

You know, come to think of it, #30 is a good looking fence if you can incorporate a bit more foreground to it...??? Shoot farther to give it a sort of companion not just the fence. I think the fence as it is nice but not on its own. Is it a once-upon-a-fence? Just asking....

[Cantab]

...

This is the only other possible shot, which also, looked good through the viewfinder; but to be honest, the background is too complicated. And other angles included different problems, no matter what I tried.



If it had been a real fence I would have gone wider, but barbed wire offers little in the way of attraction to a scene like this.

Geoff,
This second image caught my attention, probably because of the contrast between the strong angular lines of the gate and the untamed lines of the bluebells and trees.

[Geoff F]

Yes, Bruce, it was an attempt to match the gate lines with everything else. I tried having the actual gate at different positions but finally decided that closed looked best. Although it is one of those gates which are always closed from one direction; and just enough room to squeeze past when it is in the mid position.

I did consider including some more foreground but there is a messy puddle there, well more like a mix of well churned mud and water. Also some freshly cut small tree stumps which I wanted to exclude.

And also from the same woods a few days later . . .

Week 19 - A Mossy Wall



1/30 F8 Iso 400

It was another volunteer maintenance day and a very overcast day with showers, so I didn't take my best kit; just popped my pocket camera (Fuji X20) into my bag.

Eventually after a mixture of tasks we ended up deep in the damp wood, erecting dormice houses and I thought I would take a quick snap of this old wall. No too bad really, considering it was hand held at such a low shutter speed in poor light, I was surprised by the result.

[IzzieK]

Green ... all greens...this one. I bet it is really wet out there with all those moss. In my backyard where there are moss, it is wet too...looks like you stumbled in a sort of bog here...strikingly different. Hope you did not do any of your contortionist exercise here... The wild fern at the top left lends a good strike for your frame here. The view would have been just a normal mossed wall without it. (Yeah...I've learned to move around the image in lytebox, thanks to Frank M.)

And now that Bruce mentioned his view of the gate, I've looked at it in a different way. Actually, I must admit, different eyes, different way of looking at an image...I am just beginning to like it when you uploaded this one...

Yes, Bruce, it was an attempt to match the gate lines with everything else. I tried having the actual gate at different positions but finally decided that closed looked best. Although it is one of those gates which are always closed from one direction; and just enough room to squeeze past when it is in the mid position.

I did consider including some more foreground but there is a messy puddle there, well more like a mix of well churned mud and water. Also some freshly cut small tree stumps which I wanted to exclude.

And also from the same woods a few days later . . .

Week 19 - A Mossy Wall



1/30 F8 Iso 400

It was another volunteer maintenance day and a very overcast day with showers, so I didn't take my best kit; just popped my pocket camera (Fuji X20) into my bag.

Eventually after a mixture of tasks we ended up deep in the damp wood, erecting dormice houses and I thought I would take a quick snap of this old wall. No too bad really, considering it was hand held at such a low shutter speed in poor light, I was surprised by the result.

[Geoff F]

That site is mostly boggy woodland mud, Izzie, even in summer wellies are required. Are they also called wellingtons in other parts of the world?

And tricky to walk when carrying a heavy backpack of camera gear, to say nothing of kneeling down when shooting flowers or insects.

With that scene, my first thoughts were; a tree on the left needs to be avoided. But there is a lighter coloured stone in the wall which could be included. The fern on top of the wall should be shown, together with that little stream; and the wall gradually fading into the distance.

Then comes exposure of a dark woodland scene, but with some brightness on top of the wall.

[IzzieK]

In Oz they are still called Wellingtons or Wellies for short. Here in the US they are called Mud Boots or Muck Boots or something. I asked my husband a few years ago if I can have a pair of rubber boots by Clarks and he asked "why Clarks?" I said because in Australia they are made by Clarks' Rubber. And he said "Mud Boots!" so there you go. Rubber boots, mud boots...at least it is distinct from Ugg Boots which is now a fashion statement here in winter ... if only these people know that Aussies called them Ugg Boots, short from Ugly Boots...

That site is mostly boggy woodland mud, Izzie, even in summer wellies are required. Are they also called wellingtons in other parts of the world?

I can understand walking in the mud and rain with heavy camera gears...at least with my height, the backpack balances and straighten my back when I am walking...

Well...your thoughts on how the shot should be made certainly works because the fern actually contribute to the balance of the whole scene and the rest of the rest of the wall down the distance tells the story...

Too good to pass up...

And tricky to walk when carrying a heavy backpack of camera gear, to say nothing of kneeling down when shooting flowers or insects.

With that scene, my first thoughts were; a tree on the left needs to be avoided. But there is a lighter coloured stone in the wall which could be included. The fern on top of the wall should be shown, together with that little stream; and the wall gradually fading into the distance.

Then comes exposure of a dark woodland scene, but with some brightness on top of the wall.

[Cantab]

In Canada, or at least in my area, they're often referred to as gum boots. I suppose that's how the "gum" is spelled - never seen it in writing.

Later edit: I asked my wife about this - she grew up on the other side of the Rockies but, like me, knows them as gum boots. But she did say they're referred to as rubber boots in some stores.

[Geoff F]

Yes, Bruce, the term Gum Boots (gum for rubber) was used here in the past. Maybe as a result of the American influence during WW2.

Week 20 - Planting Potatoes

Went out chiefly looking for insects but also took my 70-200 lens in case any landscapes or farming scenes came along. I could see these farmers working in a field ahead of me through gaps in the hedge but couldn't get a good angle with the light. Eventually walked along the side of one field, with a path through it, to where I expected a better scene. Still a bit distant and not quite the perfect light angle though.



7D with Canon 70-200 lens. 1/160 F11 Iso 200.

And a wider shot showing a typical local village in the distance.



Also tried some shots of sheep grazing in a field overlooking a suitable seascape but they didn't come up to expectations. Possibly a poor light angle; or I did something wrong.

But I did like the expression on this sheep's face.

Put that camera down and give me a hand to push this roller out of the way!

[deetheturk]

Nice captures Geoff!