Thistle?

Well I don't think it's a thistle-but it's thistle like! We were over near Dumfries yesterday and I was experimenting with camera settings and I learned something! Actually, I've learned a lot recently about my camera, and taking photos in general.
Now I thought to get this shallow depth of field I had to use the smallest aperture setting on my lense, which is 3.5. and stand as close to the plant as my autofocus would allow. The result was that the plant looked small and insignificant in the frame, and the background not as blurred as I would have liked. Then I experimented with standing back, zooming in with a larger aperture setting. This was the most successful at f/9.

Don't you just love it when you make progress?

Barcelona

We had a fabulous time in Barcelona-it is a perfect place for a photoshoot, so many interesting nooks and crannies, so over the next week or so I'll upload some of my favourite photos, staring with this one. I used a slow shutter speed because I wanted to try to capture the rain (we had great weather, except on one morning when it rained with a vengance). However, it gave me the opportunity to play around with camera settings, so it wasn't all bad! I love this photo for a number of reasons-the subject, the specks of rain, the graininess, the blue umbrella. Although, now when looking at it I think I should crop out some of the foreground..

Ants

I have a small slab type stone in my garden under which lies an ant colony. When I lift the slab I see these eggs . It's interesting to note the variation in size of the eggs. Anyway, the ants mobilize to protect the eggs as soon as the stone is lifted. Within about 30 seconds they have moved all the eggs down the holes. It is fascinating to watch, as the smallest eggs are the same size as the ants, and the larger eggs are double the ants' size. But they work together and get those precious eggs out of harm's way at great speed. I'm not generally fond of ants, but I leave this colony alone as I've developed a soft spot for them over the years.

Aquilegias

at Cramond Kirk.

Dawyck

Another thistle at dawyck.

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at Dawyck

Thistle

I went to Dawyck Botanical Garden today-
and took some photos of thistles!