The Author – Bart Busschots
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Jan
17
Photo of the Week 100 – Ivy-leaved Toadflax
Filed Under Photography on January 17, 2010 | 2 Comments
Since I’ve been very young I’ve been fascinated by these wonderful little flowers (Ivy-leaved Toadflax, or Cymbalaria muralis in Latin). They can grow in the tiniest cracks on walls, are wonderfully intricate yet very small, and are very vibrantly coloured. These flowers now grow wild around Ireland, but they are not native, they were introduced into Gardens and escaped from there into the wild.
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 55-200mm
- Exposure: 1/500 sec
- Focal Length: 200mm
- Focal Ratio: f/8
- ISO: 800
- Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
- Exposure Bias: -0.7ev
Oct
26
Photo of the Week 88 – A Common Spotted Orchid
Filed Under Photography on October 26, 2009 | 2 Comments
A few weeks ago I chose my favourite butterfly shot of the year, this week I’m choosing my favourite wild flower shot of the year. This was a really hard choice because I really got to grips with my Nikkor 55-200mm zoom lens this year, so there were a lot of decent flower shots to choose from. However, in the end, this shot won, in no small part because of how pretty a flower it is! I just love wild Orchids, and always have. When you stumble across one you feel like you’ve found a little treasure! In this case the Orchid is a Common Spotted-orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii). I’m not sure the name really suits the flower, ‘common’ implies abundant to me, and that doesn’t seem to tally with reality.
I managed to find a marshy field with quite a few of these beauties near Leixlip Louisa Bridge train station, and after much searching I found one that was blemish-free and standing out on its own enough to get a nice soft un-cluttered bokeh. The light was also pretty much perfect as I shot it in the early evening.
What I really love about this shot is that I had almost noting to do in post – it came out of the camera almost exactly like this! I Just did a few very minor tweaks in Aperture to get the crop just as I wanted it, and to pop the colour and the contrast just a little bit.
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 55-200mm
- Exposure: 1/640 sec
- Focal Length: 200mm
- Focal Ratio: f/11
- ISO: 400
- Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
- Exposure Bias: -0.3ev
Aug
5
Photo of the Week 76 – A Painted Lady
Filed Under Photography on August 5, 2009 | 1 Comment
Last week’s photo of the week was the result of serendipity – this weeks is the inverse, it’s the result of planning and dogged determination.
I was, and indeed still am, working on a long-term project to photography all 28 species of butterfly that live in Ireland (you can follow my progress here). I’d been keeping an eye on the different species I saw flying around each time I came outside – and the day before I’d seen that there were Painted Ladies on the wing – a species I was missing!
The time was right, the weather was right, so I chose a spot (the Junior Gardens on the St. Patrick’s College campus in Maynooth), grabbed my gear, and set out on my mission to capture a Painted Lady. I was in a great mood, full of anticipation, but I wasn’t expecting a quick result. Butterflies never do what you tell them, and rarely do what you’d like!
I waited. Then I waited some more. Then a little more. Finally, out of the corner of my eye I spotted one! A Painted Lady. But it didn’t sit still. It flew from flower to flower never landing long enough to even get a focus lock. Then it flew over the wall and out of sight. On the one hand it was a relief to see that my quarry was indeed around, and that I’d chosen my spot correctly. On the other hand, it was a frustrating near-miss. But I continued to wait. Slowly and watchfully walking around around and around the garden.
Eventually another Painted Lady came into the garden. This one was a little more co-operative, landing on flowers and feeding – but not in a very photogenic way. I shot about 25 shots of this guy, but none were good enough to make it here. I waited some more. Another one, this one was feeding on fabulous pink Daisies, and what’s more the Daisies were tall enough to throw the other plants near them totally out of focus when I got in close with the 55-200mm. The setting was perfect, vibrant colours and a lovely bokeh. BUT, my winged friend insisted on landing on low-down flowers, hence always being half-obsgtructed by one or more taller flower heads. I didn’t get the perfect shot, but I could now see it in my head. It was a Painted Lady on one of these pink Daisies with that fabulous green bokeh. all I had to do now was wait.
I stopped making my rounds of the garden and stood watch over my perfect setting. It took another half an hour, but in the end, I was rewarded with the shot you see here. In all I spent two hours trying to get this shot. I think it was time well spent! (don’t worry, I wasn’t bored, I had my iPhone with me and was listening to Photo Focus – doing as the jingle instructs – making pictures, not just taking pictures!)
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 55-200mm
- Exposure: 1/1600 sec
- Focal Length: 200mm
- Focal Ratio: f/8
- ISO: 400
- Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
- Exposure Bias: -0.7EV
Jul
12
Photo of the Week 73 – Holly in Bloom
Filed Under Photography on July 12, 2009 | 1 Comment
It’s been a long time since I’ve posted one of my flower shots, so this week I’m sharing my favourite flower pick of the year so far. We all know how lovely red Holly berries (Ilex aquifolium) are around Christmas time, but very few people ever notice the delicate white flowers from which those berries come. This shot shows a closeup look at a Holly branch in bloom. This tree is growing in the Junior Gardens on the St. Patrick’s College campus (AKA NUI Maynooth South Campus) in Maynooth, Ireland.
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 55-200mm
- Exposure: 1/1600 sec
- Focal Length: 130mm
- Focal Ratio: f/8
- ISO: 400
- Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
- Exposure Bias: -0.7EV
Apr
26
Photo of the Week 62 – A Host of Golden Daffodils
Filed Under Photography on April 26, 2009 | 1 Comment
I just love Daffodils, and each time I see a clump of them together the words of Wordswoth’s famous poem always spring to mind. As beautiful as a “host” of Daffodils is to look at, I’ve found it really difficult to capture that beauty well with my camera. After much experimentation, I finally got a shot I’m happy with by using a combination of a shallow depth of field, and a very low camera position. This way one Daffodil could be picked out from the crowd, while allowing the rest to form a lovely yellow and green bokeh. The reason for getting down low is to allow the one chosen Daffodil to be raised above the others in the frame, making it stand out even more than a shallow depth of field alone would allow.
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Sigma EX 30mm F1.4
- Exposure: 1/2500 sec
- Focal Length: 30mm
- Focal Ratio: F2.8
- ISO: 200
- Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
Mar
22
Photo of the Week 57 – Hoverfly on Brambles
Filed Under Photography on March 22, 2009 | 2 Comments
This is one of many shots that I’ve taken while mountain biking along the towpath of the Royal Canal in and around Maynooth. This particular shot was taken between Pike’s Bridge and Deey Bridge (just outside the Intel plant in Leixlip). On this section the towpath is not paved in any way, there isn’t even a gravel path, it’s just a grassy trail. There’s a lot more nature to be seen along these un-developed stretches of the towpath, so I enjoy cycling here the most, even if that does mean getting muddy sometimes.
I’m not really sure exactly what insect this is, but I’m assuming it’s some species of Wasp (if anyone does know please post a comment). The flowers however I can identify, they’re Bramble/Blackberry (Rubus fruticosus agg.) blossoms.
Update: Tom Gleeson has identified the insect as a particular species of Hoverfly – Helophilus pendulus, thanks Tom!
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 55-200mm
- Exposure: 1/160 sec
- Focal Length: 200mm
- Focal Ratio: F20
- ISO: 200
- Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
- Exposure Bias: -0.67
Mar
17
Photo of the Week 56 – Green-Veined White on Lavender
Filed Under Photography on March 17, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Without a doubt the most common butterflies in Ireland are the so-called “Cabbage Whites”. These break down into a few related species, but they are all very similar. Just because there are a lot of them around though, doesn’t mean they’re not beautiful little insects. This particular shot is of a Green-Veined White (Pieris napi), and what I love about it is the colours around the butterfly. Being mostly white, there isn’t much colour in the actual butterfly, but with the butterfly feeding on a vividly colourful Lavender flower, and with lots of lush green in the background, the shot is still full of colour.
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 55-200mm
- Exposure: 1/1000 sec
- Focal Length: 200mm
- Focal Ratio: F5.6
- ISO: 800
- Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
Oct
27
Photo of the Week 36
Filed Under Photography on October 27, 2008 | Leave a Comment
I really have no idea why but since I was a young kid this tiny little flower fascinated me. It just seemed too pretty to be genuinely natural and I always thought they mush have just escaped from someone’s garden or something. However, the Common Dog-violet (Viola Riviniana) is a native Irish wild flower. These things are very small, and only really stand a chance in areas where grass won’t over-whelm them. As such they tend to very well in hedgerows and woods. I love this shot because it shows up both the wonderful colour and subtle details of these diminutive beauties.
For those of you interested in such things, here are the technical details of this shot:
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 18-55mm (D40 kit lens)
- Exposure: 1/320 sec
- Focal Length: 55mm
- Focal Ratio: F5.6
- ISO: 400
- Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
Aug
31
Photo of the Week 28 – Hawthorn Blossoms
Filed Under Photography on August 31, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Each year in May Irish hedgerows get painted white by Hawthorn blossoms. Each flower is tiny, but a few million of them soon add up! This is a close-up shot of a small bunch of blossoms near the start of the season.
For those of you interested in such things here are some of the technical details of this shot:
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 55-200mm
- Exposure: 1/1250 sec
- Focal Length: 200mm
- Focal Ratio: F8
- ISO: 400
- Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
- Exposure Compensation: -0.33
[tags]Maynooth, Kildare, Ireland, Hawthorn, flower, blossom, white, photography[/tags]
Aug
17
Photo of the Week 26 – Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly
Filed Under Photography on August 17, 2008 | 1 Comment
Just because something is common, doesn’t mean it isn’t beautiful. After the Cabbage White the Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) is probably our most common butterfly, but I also think it’s one of our most beautiful. You can’t miss the lovely reds, but look closer and you’ll also see wonderful bright blue spots along the edges of the wings. These guys are strongly attracted to a lot of garden flowers so keep an eye out for them in your back yards! I snapped this one while it was feeding on some Thyme that was flowering.
For those of you interested in such things here are some of the technical details of this shot:
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 18-55mm (D40 kit lens)
- Exposure: 1/160 sec
- Focal Length: 55mm
- Focal Ratio: F8
- ISO: 200
- Camera Mode: Auto
- Exposure Compensation: 0.0
[tags]butterfly, Small Tortoiseshell, Aglais urticae, Cavan, Ireland, photography[/tags]