BLAME THE STARLINGS.

Blame the starlings for this post,firstly the starlings have deserted the garden and my project with them has been put on hold,secondly I visited Blackpool to photograph the starlings going to roost on the North Pier the starlings never appeared and the sun disappeared behind the grey cloud so no sunset shots either.I decided to stay and photograph the Blackpool Illuminations,this project was totally alien to me experimenting with a wide angle lens,different F stops and shutter speeds I thoroughly enjoyed myself even if alot of the images were rubbish.I posted a few of my better efforts below.

LOCAL BUTTERFLIES.

I thought I would post a few images of local butterflies to brighten up a dull wet and windy October day.The first two images are of a small copper,No 3 is an orange tip,4&5 are comma butterflies while 6 is a peacock,7 is a small tortoiseshell while the last but not least is a speckled wood.I hope the photographs brighten up your day.

LEARNING CURVE.

I`ve recently bought a s/h canon flash gun and have been practising with it in the garden trying to capture images of starlings in flight.The starlings are very unpredictable visiting the garden and the weather has been very unpredictable as well.I`ve not had the two together yet but I will keep trying and hopefully everthing will come together (watch this space) I`ve posted my efforts below in very dull grey sky conditions.

HASLAM PARK FUNGI.

My first serious attempt at photograpning fungi,don`t know the names of thes,HELP PLEASE.I`ve alot to learn about photographing fungi and more research is required to show the fungi to it`s full potential in the natural habitat

GARDEN SPIDERS.

Over the last couple of days I`ve been trying to capture images of the garden spiders around cottam.The first image was taken in next doors garden,image two I`ve called breakfast dinner and tea,number three I like as the light catches the web as the spider wraps the prey up with it ,4 and 5 are shown with early morning dew.

GRAYLING BUTTERFLIES AT FAIRHAVEN.

Over the last couple of years I`ve been trying to photograph grayling butterflies,chasing them up and down the sand dunes at Fairhaven but when they landed on the paths their wings were always closed and they looked such a dull butterfly camouflaged into the sand.That all changed this year when I found the butterfly feeding on sea holly,what a butterfly and a privilege to photograph.Upto nine butterflies were feeding on the same plant with lots of interaction and I was treated to a true spectacle of the graylings lifestyle.I`ve posted a series of images showing some of the action and was very pleased to capture images of its wings open showing the true beauty of the butterfly.

COMMON DARTERS AT COTTAM.

Over the last couple of weeks I`ve been trying to photograph common darter dragonflies at Cottam,there`s been about 40-50  of these dragonflies on the wing and I`ve  been trying different methods of attack to capture images,chasing,sitting down and waiting or selecting a nice perch and hoping.Concentrating on getting better composition and clear background I`ve been very selective of the kind of image I wanted.All the images I`ve posted are taken with a canon 100mm macro with no is hand held,on occasions with stealth I could get very close to the dragonflies and have posted a few of my efforts below.