Garston Wood – Flowers and Bee
Today I visited the RSPB’s Garston Wood again to check out how the flowers were showing. It was a typical early April afternoon with some bright sunshine alternating with dark grey clouds. The later giving a nice overcast low contrast light which I find is good for taking woodland flower close ups.
I took with me two camera’s today, my normal Canon 50D, and also my Infrared Converted (Enhanced Colour filter) Canon 20D. I was hoping that in bright light some IR flower shots would be possible, but at the end of the day it turned out only one macro shot was taken on it. Although I did shoot a few landscape shots with it. The shot I took was of a bee resting on a leaf. I also managed to take this bee on the 50D in normal colour. The shots below show the bee from the normal camera, one IR shot converted first to Black & White, and then lastly the same IR shot with the “Blue Skies” effect done in Photoshop. I hope you like the different effects. This essentially reverses the blue and red colour channels, there’s several tutorials on the web if you google for the term. Both shots were taken at F11 at 1x magnification on the Canon MPE-65mm lens.
Canon EOS 50D (65mm, f/11, 1/250 sec, ISO400)Bee. Taken on Canon 50D with Canon MPE-65mm Macro Lens. 1x Magnification. F11 1/250 ISO400. Flash.
Canon EOS 20D (65mm, f/11, 1/250 sec, ISO400)Bee Infrared – Black & White conversion in photoshop. Taken on Canon IR-Enhanced Converted 20D with Canon MPE-65mm Macro Lens. 1x Magnification. F11 1/250 ISO400. Flash
Canon EOS 20D (65mm, f/11, 1/250 sec, ISO400)Bee Infrared – “Blue Skies” conversion in photoshop. Taken on Canon IR-Enhanced Converted 20D with Canon MPE-65mm Macro Lens. 1x Magnification. F11 1/250 ISO400. Flash
I found some Common Toothworts in good condition at the start of the trail and shot these as close ups on my Canon 17-40mm lens. Whilst not really macro shots, I count close ups as part of macro photography (or should that be the other way round ?).
Canon EOS 50D (27mm, f/11, 1/15 sec, ISO400)Common Toothwort – Lathraea squamaria. Taken on Canon 50D with Canon 17-40mm USM L Lens. F11 ISO400 1/15 Natural Light, Tripod.
Nearby a couple of primroses stood out to me in the stump of a small tree. I liked the way they blended with the moss on the trunk.
Canon EOS 50D (100mm, f/4.5, 1/250 sec, ISO400)Primroses on Tree. Primula vulgaris. Taken on Canon 50D with Canon 100mm F2.8 USM Macro Lens. F4.5 ISO400 1/250 Natural Light, Tripod.
The wood was full of Wood Anemones, and this gave the opportunity to find some in pristine condition. I often like to shoot flowers close up, with others behind them slightly out of focus. I did this with the next shot.
Canon EOS 50D (100mm, f/5, 1/500 sec, ISO400)Wood Anemone – Anemone nemorosa. Taken on Canon 50D with Canon 100mm F2.8 USM Macro Lens. F5 ISO400 1/500 Natural Light, Tripod.
Also with there being an abundance of them, it’s sometimes nice to use a wide angle lens to get a closeup shot of a group of them. For this I use my 17-40mm L lens, as it can focus quite closely. The next couple of shots were taken with this to capture more of the flower and it’s habitat.
Canon EOS 50D (35mm, f/11, 1/60 sec, ISO400)Wood Anemone -Anemone nemorosa. Taken on Canon 50D with Canon 17-40mm USM L Lens. F11 ISO400 1/60 Natural Light, Tripod.
Canon EOS 50D (33mm, f/5.6, 1/250 sec, ISO400)Wood Anemone -Anemone nemorosa. Taken on Canon 50D with Canon 17-40mm USM L Lens. F5.6 ISO400 1/250 Natural Light, Tripod.
The last flower I took on the way back to the car was a single dog violet on my Canon 100mm lens. This one was in a cluster of them, but by using a wide aperture enabled me to make it stand out against the background.
Canon EOS 50D (100mm, f/3.2, 1/80 sec, ISO400)Common Dog Violet – Viola riviniana. Taken on Canon 50D with Canon 100mm F2.8 USM Macro Lens. F3.2 ISO400 1/30 Natural Light, Tripod.
Map of Location
RSPB Nature Reserve.
