Ladybirds and colour

click photo to enlarge

If this blog and my photographic records are anything to go by it seems I notice ladybirds only out of season: that is to say, at times other than summer. When I was processing today's photograph I was wondering why this might be. It occurred to me that it could be because in summer the bright red/orange of these beetles doesn't stand out against the kaleidoscope of colour that flowers are offering, whereas in spring, autumn and winter the odd bright spot provided by the even odder ladybird foolish enough to brave the cool or cold weather sticks out like the proverbial sore thumb.

I photographed today's specimen in a churchyard as I walked down the stone path to the south porch. The parishioners had planted a variety of annuals and shrubs to line the route. The blue-green of a clump of euphorbia was working well with the dark orange of some fading tagetes and I composed a shot that included these near complementary colours placing the shrub in focus in the foreground and the blurred flowers in the background. As I hunted for a suitable composition I spotted the ladybird and included it for the sharp point of deep colour that it added to the shot.

photograph and ext (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 105mm
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/125
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation:  -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Looking for colour 3

click photo to enlarge

It's that time of year again, the time when, after months of darkness, cold and overcast skies, the days start to lengthen, the first signs of spring appear, and I get the urge to produce photographs that are bright and colourful. But the fact is, the colour still isn't there in great abundance, though it is now starting to appear.

On my circuit of the garden I found wych hazel (yellow) in full flower, small branches full of blooms (purple) on the Daphne mezereum, the heathers in flower (white and purple), the odd primula struggling into bloom (red, yellow), some pansies (purple) and the winter jasmine doing its best (yellow). Oh, and the snowdrops were also opening (white). If that sounds like a profusion of colour it isn't because most of these are small plants, producing small blooms in small numbers.

During my perambulation I took a few shots of the flowers but my attention was diverted from them by the subject of today's photograph. My eye was drawn to the brilliant orange/red of this solitary ladybird sitting on the leaf of a sage plant. I've seen quite a few of these insects recently, slow moving, apparently aimless, looking like they've woken from a deep slumber. This one was no different from the others except it was completely immobile. The attraction from a photographic point of view was the deep point of colour against the grey/blue/green of the sage and the brown of the earth and fallen leaves.

Why the title "Looking for colour 3"? Because in 2009, towards the end of February, I blogged on the same theme, using the same title, over two posts. See here and here.

photograph and text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 100mm
F No: f6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/80
ISO: 1600
Exposure Compensation: 0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On