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In my last post I was extolling the virtues of Spring, so after a long bike ride yesterday where I stumbled accross some late bluebells, I went back with my camera and macro lens to get some nice close ups.

Macro photography is not my normal discipline as I’m normally busy doing wedding photography, portrait photography or corporate headshots, but this proved to be a very relaxed alternative. Parked safely up on a country lane with virtually no traffic, radio 4 on in the back ground and plenty of time, I got down to some nature shots…

Using my sigma macro lens (my only non- Nikon lens) I got down on the floor and in amongst the vegetation to get the optimum angles. This did bring some strange looks from the occassional cyclist passing by, but sometimes you have to get a bit dirty and you definitely have to get in some strange positions to get that best shot. In fact, this reminds me of the best tip I ever heard regarding photography and that is: “The best bit of equipment you can have in your photographic armour is your feet – so use them!” With the advent of modern cameras and zoom lenses, it becomes common for people just to stand in one place and zoom in and out to frame the shot as they want. There’s so much more to it than that! By moving around to get the optimum background and framing opportunities, you can change an average shot into a great shot! So give it a go 🙂

I hope you enjoy the shots in the slideshow. I was even lucky enough to get a couple of wildlife shots in there as well, with a very active ant on the new baby ferns and also a fly on the white flowers giving a very nice contrast. There’s also some nice horse chestnut blossom thrown in as well as I can’t resisit high contrast/saturated shots – it’s a throw back to the good old days of Fuji Velvia 50 😉

Be inspired, have some time out and enjoy what’s around you….

Dave Parker LMPA