Bugs and forest flowers

This morning I took the opportunity to go down to the Rivelin Valley before the rain comes.
Overcast weather as it is today usually fits excellent to photograph flowers and insects because it gives a more even light.
So it was that I occupied myself for couple of  hours. Now it's nice in the forests with all the small flowers anywhere in the Rivelin Valley.
I photographed with macro lens and Nikon 3Ds with iso 1000 because it's so dark down there and hand held.

Sometimes you're lucky

Yesterday it rained and blew all day so I was not so eager to go out and take pictures.
But I like to take pictures of wet birds and animals, because they can look so fun out with wet fur or plumage.
So yesterday I was fortunate because a jay landed on the only branch of the tree outside my window which is without leaves and right in front of the window 6m away.
So it was perfect, I can be indoors and shoot soaked birds, the only problem is that I have to shoot through a window with double glass and rain drops on it, but it went pretty well, I think.
Jay is really one of my favorite birds, I've always liked their colorful feathers that glow blue, and because they are not easy to get close too, it becomes a little more sport then to get good pictures of them :))
I also had the good fortune to shoot a wet Carrion Crow in the same place, it must be something magical about that branch :)
Now I'll  get out in the rain and trying to take pictures of ducklings which I saw yesterday down in the Rivelin Valley.

By the way if you are interested in Pilgrim Falcons, here is a link to the Pilgrim falcons in Sheffield. The chicks were hatched yesterday so it might be fun to follow them.
http://efm.dept.shef.ac.uk/peregrine/

Bank holiday Monday

On Monday (bank holiday here in UK) me and my wife went off for a 18km hike that began in Logde Moor and then towards Redmires Reservoirs and then a side trip to Stanage Edge and back.
The weather was fantastic, 17C and a lovely warm sun, and it seemed almost the whole of Sheffield was at Stanage Edge. I have never seen so many climbers there, like yesterday.

During the walk, we managed to see a bit more unusual birds as Dotterel, but I had only the wide angle lens on so there was no pictures taken. Another unusual bird, Ring Ouzel, I was looking for didn't make an appearance as there were so many climbers on their nesting place. There are signs saying you should avoid climbing at some spots, but people do not seem to care :((
The poor fellows are probably very stressed, but this amount of people is very very unusual.

Anyhow, I have swapped my old 10-24mm wide angle lens that I could only use on D90 (crop camera) to a 16-35mm f4 suitable for a the 3Ds (full frame), and I'm incredibly happy with it.
Have only had time to try it twice but compared to the last one this is So much better. This might be also due to a change to Nikon 3Ds which is a professional camera and can handle different lighting better.
So now I've completely switched over to full-frame and can avoid carrying two cameras with me.
Here you have some photos from Stanage Edge..

Trying to take off but a strong wind make him

to fly in to the stonewall, he was not injured :))

Early morning at Redmires

Couple of days ago, I was away up to Redmires reservoars an early morning.
I had read on the Sheffield bird study group that the cuckoo had been heard there and since I've been waiting for it to appear, I neeeded to go there.
Why early morning then, well, it is most active then and it's easier to get close to it because it searches for food on the ground.
So if you are lucky then you can try to plan how it will fly around the area to seek food and wait for it in one place, but unfortunately,  this morning it didn't seek for food :(
I guess it's because it can not hide among the small trees up on moorland because there are no leaves on the trees yet.
So it's probably a little timid still, it is only the male in place so far, but the female will probably get there aany day..
So I had to go and shoot some other stuff instead, it was full activity in the fields and forests.
Pheasent's were arguing with each other, rabbits running around, and the birds was singing. It's really great to be out early in the morning when everything wakes up.

Red grouse enjoying the morning sun

Lapwings playing

Karate Pheasant

Little wild rabbit

Meadow pipit

Anemone nemorosa

Yesterday I was off to a place where I  have seen anemones, I wanted to shoot them before they disappear, which certainly happens within a week.
The strange thing is that I have never seen the blue or yellow variant of it  here in england, while in Sweden we have them both.
And wood anemones contained here is quite hard to find in bigger forests which is a bit strange, now I compare with sweden and there you can find them much easier in forests. But maybe it is the the slightly higher altitude compared with Stockholm that makes them not thrive in forests here.

I went down to the Anemone place later in the afternoon to take pictures of anemones in the evening light, hard daylight is rarely a good idea to take pictures of flowers.
I spent a few hours to the anemones before the nice evening light disappeared behind the mountains.
I photographed only with macro lens and my old Nikon D90 because a get a little longer focal length with that combination, (crop factor) which I think is great when you're shooting smaller flowers.

Daffodil

I have not been out for photography for a while, but there are still some pics from the Botanical Garden that I want to show you. This time it's a bit different varieties of daffodils. I have been photographing them at slightly different times during the day and with different lenses.
It's rather nice springs here in Sheffield, as you can find daffodils and a lot of other flowers everywhere.

Squirrel

I have not only photographed flowers when I have been down to the Botanical Gardens.
I also have tried to shoot squirrels with a macro lens, which turned out to not be the easiest thing to do.
The short depth of field that you get from a macro lens makes it very difficult to focus on the right place on the moving squirrels.
You do not have time to check in the viewfinder, so it's best just to shoot and hope some pictures will be good.
What is the right place to focus on then, I think, and many other photographers that the eyes should ideally be in focus.
But it can be fun to experiment a bit, too, as with the macro lens you can try to take pictures of details on the animals if u are lucky to get close to them. :))
So here are some pictures of the experiment.

Check out the teeth

This one is taken with the Wide angle lens

Magnolia

Here are some more pictures from the Botanical Garden, this time of the beautiful Magnolia.
There are three different varieties there,  some are trees with small flowers and then there are two trees with big white and purple flowers.
But it is only those with large flowers that have bloomed out well so far.
I have always liked the magnolia trees big beautiful flowers, there is something special about them maybe because they are quite unusual.
I used  different lenses to shoot the Magnolia, and also photographed various times of day.
Hope u like them.

Rhododendron

Lately I have been few times down to the Botanical Garden, as the spring is approaching new flowers are coming up daily, and some of them have surprisingly short life span that if I'm not there for two day I risk to miss them completly.
So for few weeks ahead you will have to put up with photos of flowers and plants :))

Just couple of days ago I discovered an amazing and huge rhododendron, about 6m high there. I did't even know that they could get so high, it was more like a tree. I was actually most surprised that I have not seen it before, it being so high and all the bright flowers on it.
It is incredibly beautiful with all its flowers and smells heavenly. The pics below are showing it from slightly different angles and with some different lenses.
As usual with flowers, I find it difficult to adjust the composition but here are a selection of photos from the tour.
Camera equipment: Nikon 3Ds and nikon 50mm f 1.8, tamron macro 90mm f2.8 lenses.