click photo to enlargeToday, despite the weather forecasters' predictions the day was sunny, bright and warm. Coming after one of the coldest periods in recent years, with its accompanying days of dark grey skies, it was a welcome change. Sitting on my bench in the garden I could almost imagine it was the end of March rather than late February.
So, motivated by the clarity, colour and brightness of everything I cast around for something colourful to photograph. The winter-flowering heather was showing fine white and purple hues, but the sun and shadows falling on it didn't help the composition. The clumps of snowdrops under the trees by the stream looked cheerful, but white and green wasn't showy enough for me. Nor were the odd yellow pansies that had survived the frost and snow. A passing tortoiseshell butterfly that also thought it was later in the year, and had awakened from it torpor, wouldn't settle long enough for me to get a decent shot, though I did photograph a small group of ladybirds huddled together on a conifer. However, as I passed the front porch I noticed, through the frosted glass, blue, yellow and red. I went inside and found a daffodil, geraniums and a primula in flower. The latter's blue/purple petals and its white-fringed yellow "eye" offered the vivid and vivacious colours that I craved, and so I took this close-up image. No doubt there will be further dull, dank weather, frosts, and maybe the odd light fall of snow, but today I'm not thinking about that, I've got my eye on spring.
photograph & text (c) T. Boughen
Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 35mm macro (70mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f11
Shutter Speed: 1 second
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: -1.0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On
