Hedgehog in the garden

Well I say in the garden, he was actually near the back door step! I let the dog out and wondered why she was hesitating. I went to get her and came across this big pig!
First time I've ever been able to get a good hedgepig shot!
Click to enlarge

Wood Avens

Also known as Herb Bennet, this is a wild flower in the Rose family  that seems to like my garden! Its a sprawling low growing plant with these tiny yellow flowers that are less than the size of a penny. These are follwed by seedheads that are like burrs that catch on your socks as you walk through the grass.
Click to enlarge:

Approaching Fairyland

This is a very close up shot of a Dandelion clock, taken in the garden earlier on a cold dull day. I set the widest aperture to give an extra soft look.
10D +100mm macro lens at f3.5
Click to enlarge;

My daughter, the photographer

This is 6 year old Katie taking my photo with her new camera, a Canon A470.
She has developed an interest in photography and has had a cheap digi for a while with which she took great photos of trees and flowers, but we thought it was time she got something better.

A Bee's head up close

 I found this dead bee in the bath and set out to photograph it. (I took other photos at much lower magnification - theyre RAW files and need processing.)
I then set the camera to jpeg Large and stepped up the magnification by reversing a Pentax 50mm f1.7 onto my 100mm macro lens to got a head shot which was fabulous to see on the preview screen!
I'm so glad I kept that Pentax lens!!
10D + 100mm macro +50 reversed, mag approx 2X (2:1)
Lit by wind up LED light
Focusiing was difficult and I tried to get most of the important features in focus but I had to be quick because the wind up light fades quickly. 
Click to enlarge

Down amongst the Dandelions

Pretty much a guessed shot in my garden earlier. Not strictly macro but I was pretty close to those Dandelion clocks!

I just held the Panasonic FZ7 down low so it would be looking upwards through the dandelions and fired off a shot.

1/400 at f5.6
ISO 80
Click to Enlarge:

Yellow doesnt want to play today!

This is a line of kiddies paint pots,leftovers from a paint project of my daughter's. They were due to be thrown out but I gave them a new life.
I liked how the yellow pot's lid was still down-it appealed to me somehow!
Taken with the Canon 50mm lens-I've found that the 50mm really comes into its own in such still life settings!
Click to enlarge

 

Salutations from the Cactus World!

This is a 1:1 shot of new stems on my Schlumbergera 'Christmas Cactus'. Each stem is a mere half inch long!
10D + 100mm macro lens at 1:1
Lit using a wind up LED torch (long exposure) 
Click to enlarge

Smells as good as it looks!

A close up of Lilac (Syringa) on a dull windy day. Flowers just starting to open.

Veronica!

Also known as Speedwell, this is a very common low growing plant with very small blue flowers. Each flower is about half inch across-the bud there is about the size of a match head. It is currently carpeting lawns everywhere and it seems a shame to cut it!

Fly

Found this little one on our kitchen window yesterday, and managed to get really close with the macro lens for a handheld shot.
I've just discovered this is a species of Empis, and  a female at that, thanks to Paul on diptera.info!

A sign of Spring!

I thought of the guys on the BBC Wildlife Forum when I saw these new Oak leaves emerging! I had to wait for the sun to come back out-it has been doing a disappearing act all day!

Moss!

A close up of the  moss found in a pot in my garden-I was reminded of the film Avatar!
10D + 100mm macro lens

3 tiny parasols!

I came across these in a farmer's field while out on a walk with the kids recently and had to get on my knees to capture it!.
Taken with the canon 10D + the 19-35 zoom

Pine cone-mono

A close up of a cone from a Scots Pine (I think), taken with the macro lens and converted to mono with a slight warm tone.

Reaching for the Light

This is a close up of one of my house plants (a Peperomia), handheld with my Canon 10D + 100mm macro lens.