It's really the end of a pussywillow, with lots of post-processing. I actually prepared 3 different versions, not sure why I picked this one... Taken today near Iona Beach.
I think I'm starting to get the hang of the new processing technique, because this one is closer to the goal than any other, and I got there much more quickly.
I know that this isn't the most eye-catching of subjects. Mostly it was just playing around with the macro lens trying to find something that wasn't blowing all over in the wind. But when I processed it, I kept seeing the long articulated claws of the creatures from
Alien/Aliens/etc., which is kinda weird I suppose.
Oh, a note about yesterday's picture that I didn't have time for last night...
It's worth pointing out that the image was pretty much at the limit of my gear, something perhaps not readily apparent given the web-resolution. The tree was probably 400 meters away, and the horseback riders at least double that. You could just barely see them with the naked eye, due to the distance and the atmospheric distortion off the beach/water. I'm actually surprised that they came out as clearly as they did.
On Wednesday, taking advantage of the last day of my mini holiday, I decided to take advantage of the unexpected sunshine and drop by QE Park to check out the flowers. There were, of course, very few blooming flowers just yet - it is officially still winter after all.
Crocuses, however, don't care that it's still winter. And apparently, neither do some types of bees. I found this guy, apparently drunk on pollen, or perhaps just taking a nap, inside the bloom. At first I thought it was dead, as it wasn't moving at all (bonus for me - much easier to photograph!) but after poking it once or twice it started to react to my approaching finger, which I figured meant it was time to leave it alone.
[Yes, I know it's only been a couple of pictures since the last purple & white crocus shot, but this one was has a bee and was taken from about 8 inches, rather than 4 feet.]
Sorry about the long time since my last post. It's partly that I haven't shot very much lately, but what I have shot has mostly been tests & experiments (not suiteable for posting) as I get used to some new equipment.
I still don't have the hang of it yet, but figured I better post something before I loose what few regular visitors I have. Today was pretty close to a spring day, even though it's a while till spring. I got my butt out for a couple of hours, had a good walk, and found these crocuses which seem to think spring's coming sooner rather than later, and I'm all for that!
I spent entirely too much time today trying to modify the header for this blog - it shouldn't have been that difficult. I do like the result though. It is, of course, a bit of the last picture that I posted, with some minor editing. Not quite what I'd originally had in mind, but I don't think that will work (related to the problems I experienced), so this is what you get. Better than the standard blogger header at least.
As I haven't shot anything new all week, and didn't make it out today, I thought I'd do some more archive raiding for images that got missed the first time around. This one is from back in June, and I'm really not sure why it didn't get posted other than maybe I'd posted too many flower pictures already. But, since we're into the darkest days of winter (solstice in less than two weeks), I suppose we could all use a little pick-me-up - at least those of us in the northern hemisphere.
And in spite of more rain in the forcast for tomorrow I'm going to
try and get out and shoot something new.
