A Sharp Frost

Some closeups from yesterday's sharp frost starting with some prickly characters. The bright red Hazel female flowers stood out especially well in the misty grey conditions; the yellow male catkins contrasted with the deep red alder male catkins. The female Alder flowers are in 'bloom' much later when the catkins open.

Shallow Depth of Field

These images were taken using a 8 diopter filter on the front of a 80mm plus 2X tube. Mainly I was aiming for shallow depth of field so used the lens wide open. The images of the Alstroemeria were taken at F2.8, F11 and F22.

Using Macro Wide-angle in the Churchyard

On last sunny Sunday, I used a 12mm Zeiss with a 4X close-up filter to photograph the mosses on the church walls, snowdops and gravestones. A characteristic of the lens is that it is very sharp and renders colours very brightly. The circular image of lichens has an extra 2.5Xcloseup filter in addition to the 4X giving a strong vignette. 

Reflections in Flooded Fields

The floods are going down in Toft but there are still several lakes in the large meadow by Bourn Brook. There was a thin coating of ice yesterday morning which gave some very impressionist reflections.

Close Up on Lichens Reveals Purple Springtail

I spent a couple of sunny hours photographing lichens in our churchyard using close-up filter and focus stacking. I was surprised to see a purple trail across one finished stack and found it was caused by a minute purple organism that had walked across the frame during exposure. Unfortunately with 1/15 second exposure it isn't totally sharp.  I later identifed this as Vertagopus arboreus about 2mm long and a member of the Collembola, or Springtails, one of the largest groups of insect-like organisms found in the soil. A close relative of silverfish, these arthropods include over 6000 separate species world-wide. They are no longer considered insects but remain arthropods for classification purposes.

Toft Flooded (Again!!)

For the third time this winter, Toft was closed to access from Bourn yesterday. This time the flood was deeper and more extensive so a Police car was needed to block the inevitable people who would attempt the road. It does mean a long drive round to bypass this.The side roads and fields are carrying a lot of water also.