Framedlight

As well as trying to get some nice pictures of flowers and bees I thought I might go for some intentional camera movement and multiple exposure effects. The multiple exposure pictures normally contained 3-5 exposures and were done either with my 105mm macro lens plus a 20mm extension tube, or my 24-70mm lens with an eight stop filter on it. Here are the results, some work better than others.

I spent a very enjoyable Wednesday morning wandering in the Botanical Gardens with members of the Cambridge Camera Club. The gardens were looking at their best and were a pure joy. We spent some time in the greenhouses until they became busy and then went outside for some refreshment and a look at the beds full of plants especially for insects. The weather was not as bright as we had hoped for but there were still plenty of bees and hoverflies to be seen and snapped. I used my Nikon 105mm macro lens for all the photographs, usually with a 20mm extension tube as well. Here is my first selection from the morning starting with a few insects. And here are some of a few of the plants in the greenhouses. I am afraid I have no idea what most of these are!

After I had dropped Alan and Rene off in Rothesay for their trip on the Waverley and done a little shopping for the evening meal, I found my day of photography had been whittled down to half a day. I went back to Kilchattan and drove to the end of the road, where the buses turn round, and parked up. From here there is a footpath which wends round the coast to a small lighthouse at Rubh'an Eun or 'bird headland', looking across a 100m deep channel to Little Cumbrae. The weather was pretty dull and by the end of the afternoon it had started to drizzle. The walk started through a little piece of woodland and then hugged the shore across bogland where Hettie got mired a couple of times. I was amazed at the number of orchids and other wild flowers putting on a fine display for me. I had to skirt a broken path at the base of Hawk's Nib, a low sandstone cliff and finally came round a rocky shoreline to see the lighthouse. By the time I had got there I realised I would have ...

Alan had booked two tickets for a day trip on the Waverley, as it was something he had done when he was a kid and he thought his Mum would enjoy it. All three of us could not go as we had Hettie the dog with us, so I elected to stay behind (thinking I would get in nearly a day's photography). It was supposed to be a stormy day but the sea was mill pond flat and there was no rain until late in the afternoon. I went down to the quay in Rothesay to see them off, and took a few pictures and a couple of videos, particularly so I could record the sound of the paddles which is magical. You can see Alan and Rene crossing the gangplank and then in their positions on the boat. The ship was built around 70 years ago  and is the last ocean going working paddle steamer in existence; you can go below decks and see the engine working, a nostalgic experience of brass and oil.