Posted in Photo of the Day, tagged blossom, flora, flowers, Japan, nature, park, petals, spring, Tokyo, trees on April 25, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
“Spring Blossom” : Tokyo 19th March 2012
It was too early for the quintessentially Japanese cherry blossoms to have put in an appearance, but still these other varieties (sadly unidentified due to my poor knowledge of flora) made up for it with their beautifully contrasting tones.
You see – it’s not all cold architectural lines with me – I can still turn my lens to living objects on occasion 
You can see a larger version of this image here.
Posted in Photo of the Day, tagged buildings, decay, foliage, green, ivy, nature, plants, purple on March 20, 2012 | 1 Comment »
“Lost in Ivy” : Porto, 9th September 2011
I’ve never seen anything quite like this. We’re all familiar with quaint little cottages draped in ivy, but this is taking it too far.
Somehow, several whole buildings had fallen apart and been totally covered by what I’m assuming to be ivy (perhaps any botanists out there can correct me on that score?).
Perhaps – and this is really frightening – it was the ivy itself which caused the destruction, in a slow but beautiful strangulation.
All hail the awesome power of nature!
See a larger version of this glorious photo by clicking here.
Posted in Photo of the Day, tagged insect, macro, nature, photography, rainbow, spider, sun, sunset, web on February 8, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
“Sunset Spider’s Web” : Hiroshima, 21st July 2010
This is one of those great photo opportunities that appears out of nowhere when you’re least expecting it.
I wasn’t in any exotic location, and I wasn’t doing anything exciting, I was merely bringing in the laundry from the yard when I noticed how the sinking sun was producing beautiful rainbow colours in the spider’s web.
I rushed in, unceremoniously dumped the washing in a heap on the floor, grabbed the Nikon and charged out again, lest the moment be lost.
Not only do we have the spider here, we also have what appears to be a grisly corpse, which looks to me like another arachnid. Could it be that this was one of those famous occasions when the female kills the male after mating?
Have a look at a larger version of this image by clicking here.
Posted in Photo of the Day, tagged "close-up", bug, fauna, insect, Japan, macro, mantis, nature on January 30, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
“Old Mantis” : Hiroshima, 10th November 2010
I was walking around my garden with my (then) new 60mm macro lens, looking for critters to get close to, but November isn’t such a great time for finding bugs.
However, Japan is still fairly mild this late in the year, and so some insect life lingers on much later than it would in Europe.
Luckily I found this ageing mantis clinging stubbornly to the side of my house.
I love these crusty old things – they’re quite an oddity for me, since they don’t exist in my native country, and the first time I saw one I was considerably freaked out. However, I soon grew to like these incongruous stick-like beasts and always make a point of rescuing any I find in peril.
It’s a good job I like them, really, since my 60mm lens requires that I get only a few centimetres away from my subject for full 1:1 reproduction.
You can find a larger, and even creepier, version of this photo here.
Posted in Photo of the Day, tagged bird, crow, fauna, nature, perch, photo, photography, telegraph pole, wire on January 25, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
“Urban Crow” : Hiroshima, Japan, 28th December 2011
The crow is a much-maligned bird in many societies, and Japan is no exception, but I have always admired them for their incredible intelligence, ingenuity and sheer audacity.
Crows are one of only a handful of animals that can fashion tools for specific purposes: this puts them on the same level as chimpanzees and dolphins.
I remember once seeing a crow descend on an adjacent apartment’s balcony, put its head on one side, consider the options, then steal a wire coat hanger and fly off with it in its beak.
Respect the crows, people.
Check out the larger version of this photo here.
Posted in Photo of the Day, tagged berries, flora, fruit, Hiroshima, Japan, nature, tree, urban on January 23, 2012 | 2 Comments »
“Japanese Winter Berries” : Hiroshima, Japan, 31st December 2011
I’m not much good at identifying flora, so I couldn’t tell you what these strange-looking berries are, nor why they should be growing mid-winter, but they made for a good composition hanging in front of a building which seems to depict pink cherry blossoms (which I can identify) before a blue sky, the archetypal symbol of Japanese spring.
Incidentally, I can also identify the last two characters of the Japanese inscription, which read ‘English.’
A larger version of this photo can be found here.
Posted in Photo of the Day, tagged "close-up", "soft focus", dreamy, flora, flower, nature, petal on November 16, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
“Soft Red Flowers” : Strasbourg, France, 31st August 2011
Flora and fauna are something I rarely delve into as a main subject, as is attested by the rather slim ‘Nature‘ folder in my gallery.
However, always willing to try and learn something new, I tried to see what I could do with these samples I encountered in France.
Get up close, fill the frame, select a wide aperture so as to blur the background and thus make the subject stand out – I did all the textbook things, but still it didn’t look so great since the lens (an optically compromised super zoom) just couldn’t render it sharply enough. Or, since we should never blame our tools, I probably did something wrong to reduce the sharpness of the image.
While processing the photo, I found that the addition of some filters to enhance the tone and mood of the piece worked well, and a deliberate softening (in direct opposition to what I’d originally hoped for) really made it come to life artistically speaking.
So, I learned from this that the much sought-after clarity isn’t always necessary to make an image work.
Check out a larger version of this photo here…
Posted in Photo of the Day, tagged church, colour, flowers, France, nature, Strasbourg, summer on November 13, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
“The Colour of Summer” : Strasbourg, 31st August 2011
We can’t all live in beautiful cities, but it would be nice if more local authorities took the trouble to spruce things up the way they do in Strasbourg, where most of the bridges are lined with flower beds brimming with vibrant, colourful and well-tended flowers…
A bigger version of this photo can be seen here.
Posted in Photo of the Day, tagged branches, creepy, Ferrara, Italy, monochrome, nature, perspective, photography, trees, tunnel on November 8, 2011 | 8 Comments »
“Scary Trees” : Ferrara, Italy, 25th March 2011
I must admit I didn’t much like Ferrara, an historic town in Italy’s northern Emilia-Romagna region.
It certainly had its fair share of architectural wonders, but all the museums I wanted to visit seemed to all be closing just as I arrived, and the city was awash with so many cyclists I was forever dodging them.
In the end my discovery of the ancient city walls and the beautiful walks atop them (which stretched for kilometres) more than made up for the annoyances of the town. And no bloody cyclists!
This line of trees (sorry, I couldn’t tell you what variety they are) was magnificent, the upper branches and twigs so thick they looked like a solid mass. I took several shots of them but found later, much to my horror, that the best ones were blurry. Never mind, this one ain’t too shabby, eh?
The monochrome gives them something of a threatening air, I think – almost as if they are coming to life, menacingly curving round to form a dark tunnel over the pathway. Must have been quite creepy at night…
See the bigger version here.
Posted in Photo of the Day, tagged blossom, flowers, Italy, Mantua, nature, photography, spring on October 31, 2011 | 2 Comments »
“Italian Spring” : Mantua, 11th March 2011
I’m almost too embarrassed to post these. Not because I think they’re substandard, it’s just that pictures of flowering blossoms seem such a cliché.
Too explain: when I’m travelling, I’m really doing two things simultaneously with my camera: making a record of my trip, and trying to create art.
The former is just for me, is not intended for publication, and it doesn’t need to meet any particular artistic standards or be original. The latter, destined for wider consumption, must be in some way a unique view.
So, if I’m strolling along in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, I’m going to be taking the standard shots of the Eiffel Tower like everyone else, but I’m also going to be looking for some unique aspect to home in on, to satisfy my artistic impulses.
However, sometimes the lines get blurred.
Last spring I visited the Lombardian town of Mantua in northern Italy, and unfortunately I chose the day on which all the town’s attractions were shut. Luckily, though, a helpful lady at the tourist office (thankfully open), suggested I take a long walk along the extensive lakeside promenades that surround a large portion of the town.
This was an excellent idea, as it was exceptionally peaceful, relaxing and beautiful, and I was particularly overwhelmed by the sight of these white blossoms against the delicate blue of the spring afternoon. Of course I wanted to photograph them, and of course, it’s difficult to do so in a unique way.
So, what am I trying to say? There’s nothing original about these shots, but there’s no denying the stunning beauty of the nature they portray, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Right?
