CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

A macro shot of a dandelion clock at the John Muir Country Park near Dunbar.   It was taken on the Fujifilm X-T2 and 35mm f1.4 Fujinon lens fitted with a 16mm extender to allow closer focusing on the subject.

Spring has sprung but I have been so busy with the day job that the opportunities to photograph the flowers and trees, especially the close up details, at this time of year have passed me by of late. Yesterday evening the sunlight was streaming through the trees at the back of our house and casting long shadows with pools of light.  I spotted some dandelion clocks backlit my the strong sunlight so I fitted the 90mm f2 lens and the 16mm extension tube to the X-Pro2 and headed out quickly to get some close up shots of the delicate heads.  I also saw some Bullrushes while I was waiting for the Flying Scotsman to appear yesterday morning that were also backlit by the strong morning sunlight.  Using the XF50-140mm f2.8 on the X-Pro2 I took a series of shots and the one above was my favourite as it was taken just before the sun disappeared behind a large cloud. Next time you are out and about with the camera look for some opportunities to take some detail shots ...

Bright sunshine, a strong breeze and a dandelion clock.  Trying to capture the moment the seed heads are caught by the wind is not as easy as it sounds.   Holding the dandelion in my left hand and positioning it in the frame while operating the camera with my right hand was a bit hot and miss, even shooting a 8 frames per second.  It certainly took a long time to get the result I wanted. However perseverance paid off eventually and these two frames made the effort worth while. All images taken on a Fujifilm X-T1 with a 56mm f1.2 lens ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY VISITING THE ADVERTISERS ON THIS PAGE By clicking on the adverts you are helping support this blog - thank you. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ALL IMAGES ARE THE PROPERTY OF MACL...

While out and about in the Vale of Belvoir we spotted this field near Barkestone that was full of Dandelion Clocks so we stopped to get a few images before the wind destroyed the scene. Composition was difficult with such a mass of white so with the 105mm f2.8 on the camera I set the tripod very low to get a shot across the field. With a wide aperture I was able to isolate one clock head while throwing the rest out of focus in the background. I used the same technique with the 17-35 lens, a wide aperture to throw the background out of focus but this time I was able to include the sky to give a different perspective to the scene. The final shot was taken on the Nikon 50mm f1.4 at the widest aperture and I singled out one clock head with just a green background. All images taken on the Nikon D800 with a 105mm f2.8G (top), 17-35mm f2.8 (middle) and 50mm f1.4D (bottom). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------...