Posted on July 2, 2024
The last photo I took in June with my smartphone was this image of two flowering Fuchsias.
Because this is my entry for Bushboy’s Last On The Card challenge, and is therefore completely unedited, it comes complete with a hanging flower basket, part of the door to what used to be a piggery and an out-of-focus football. Oh, not forgetting the drainpipe…
But them’s the rules and if nothing else it’s a lesson to think more carefully in future about what you’re going to photograph as the end of the month draws nigh.
The flowers are a nice shade of pink though.

Category: Flowers Tagged: #LastOnTheCard, Flowers, Fuchsia, Last Photo
Posted on May 21, 2024
As usual, I have no idea what these flowers are called, but they’re certainly delicate.

Lens-Artists Challenge #300: Delicate
Category: Flowers Tagged: Delicate, Flowers, Lens-Artists, Pink
Posted on April 21, 2024
I am generally terrible at recognising flowers. I know a rose when I see one, and I can spot a daffodil a mile off. Apart from those common examples I am more often than not on rather shaky ground.
However, I do know what a fuchsia looks like. This specimen was, quite literally, bought off the back of a van last Sunday morning in our local village and almost immediately installed in a hanging basket by Madame.
The only way of getting a decent shot of it in situ was to use the front camera on my iPhone from underneath. I must say I was pleasantly surprised by this result. Bonus point if you spotted the snail.
Obviously there’s been some editing going on. Cropping, of course, plus lightening of the image, which was very dark due to having to have the phone pointing at the sky. I also tweaked the texture and clarity, all in Lightroom.

Category: Flowers Tagged: #cellpicsunday, Cellpic Sunday, Flowers, Fuchsia
Posted on December 1, 2023
Posted on November 19, 2023
This week’s host. jazziBee, is bang on the money when he writes about shifting perspective making all the difference when it comes to producing images that would otherwise be no more than ordinary snapshots.
Looking Up
Yes, we are back in Albi for this one (what can I tell you: it’s very photogenic and I had just got a new smartphone). This is a view of the cathedral looking up, giving some idea of how imposing the massive edifice is. I used the front camera for this and just held it right up against the wall, pointing upwards.

Looking Down
This is not Albi, but rural Oxfordshire and more specifically my son’s back garden. I used Lightroom to eliminate the distractions of the ground cover in order to make the flowers themselves (no idea what they are, but that’s quite usual) stand out.

Lens-Artists Challenge: Looking Up, Looking Down
Category: Composition, Flowers Tagged: Albi, Albi cathedral, Architecture, Flowers, Lens-Artists, Looking Down, Looking Up
Posted on November 1, 2023
Posted on September 7, 2023
Posted on September 2, 2023
This is the road that runs through the Cotswold village of Hook Norton, not far from where our son and his family live.
And that’s our grand-daughter smelling the roses outside that spectacularly floribund house.

Posted on August 8, 2023
Madame in particular is very fond of peonies. We have three dotted about our terrace, but this year not a single one has bloomed. Now it’s too late, as the leaves are progressively turning from green to a contrasting brown.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Contrast
Category: Flowers Tagged: Cee's Fun Foto Challenge, Contrast, Contrasting colours, Flowers, Peony
Posted on July 13, 2023
The magenta shades of this pot of Sweet Williams really popped.
