click photo to enlargeIn my garden the winter-flowering heather is showing its purples and whites in vigorous clumps among the dwarf conifers on the rockery. On the trellis yellow spots of winter jasmine still shine like stars against their dark backdrop. And a few clumps of yellow, purple and pink primulas glow from their protected spots below shrubs and trees. All these flowers have been offering spots of colours for quite a while now, snow permitting.
However, since Valentine's Day, and coinciding with the increasing temperatures and easing wind, other flowers have started to show signs of life. Drifts of white snowdrops are blooming in profusion in the flower beds and on the bank of the stream. Dull purple and bright white hellebores are showing well under the willow, and nearby the blue and yellow of the lungwort (pulmonaria) is starting to be visible. A couple of yellow tete-a-tete narcissi have opened, and under the crab apple tree the daffodils are in full bud, and visibly growing taller each day.
So, with bright colours starting to re-appear in the garden I put my macro lens on my camera and went out to see what I could photograph. And promptly went back in! Though the day was overcast it was bright, and whilst the temperature was lower than on recent days, it wasn't unpleasant. What drove me back into the house was the wind. It has been quite gentle for the past fortnight, but today it was quite a bit stronger, gusty and disturbing every plant at which I pointed my camera. So, feeling thwarted, I took some "Lakeland" water colour crayons out of the cupboard, a pack that I bought a while ago and haven't yet used, and got my "colour fix" by arranging and photographing some of those!
photograph & text (c) T. Boughen
Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 35mm macro (70mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/10 seconds
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: -0.7 EV
Image Stabilisation: On
