Spring is coming

I took this macro of a daffodil back in 2009 and its getting to that time again.

Inside an icon of Spring!

My partner Helen brought some daffs home for young Katie and I thought, ooh, photo ops! And so..... I thought I'd get a close look at those inner parts, and so I reverse mounted a 50mm lens onto the macro lens to get me to 2X (ish). In this shot the petals were touching the rear lens mount of the 50, so that set my close limit! Canon 10D Vivitar/Cosina 100mm macro lens Pentax SMC 50mm f1.7 reversed

A household abstract!

Just saw this one day while laying down and looking up!

Canon 10D + Vivitar 19-35mm at 35mm

A little Ray of Sunshine...

...on a cloudy (and very windy!) day.
Had to get down really low and point the camera up-a dirty knee shot!

Click to enlarge

Canon EOS 10D
Vivitar Series '1' 19-35mm zoom
Polarizer filter

First flower to open on a Pelargonium which I created by crossing two others.
Canon 10D + 50mm lens

Ants!!

Spotted these atop a branch on an apple tree in my garden and got in close with the macro lens, camera on the monopod.

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;

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

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!

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.