Woody Wednesday (Wednesday 16th June 2021)

The day began with the plumber fixing the pipes under the sink, during which time Refna arrived to cut swathes of excess foliage from around the Woodland Garden despite the muggy heat, but we did have a tea break in the cool shade of the smoke tree, and I deployed emergency rainwater to the soil to save the gasping plants.

Refna had been inspired by hearing about the marmalade and white tom I'd called Tiptree, and had made online enquiries. It turns out he officially belongs to a lady in Curzon Park, the estate that lies behind my home, who told her that he has a reputation as a bit of a rogue, disappearing for weeks and months at a time. He had never been neutered for that very reason and hadn't been seen recently for weeks. She was pleased to see from my picture that he was still OK. His real name is Oscar. I haven't seen him again since, but will keep an eye out.

Some time ago I undertook an architectural project which required a tilt and shift lens, and bought such a 24mm manual lens to that end. It was tricky to use and the shots I got were prone to flare (probably the light conditions and not the fault of the lens), so I put it aside when the task in hand was completed. However, when I tested it recently, using it purely as a prime lens, I was amazed to find that it focused right down to 0.2 m, almost touching the subject, despite not being sold as a macro lens.

I spent some time during the morning getting as close as I could to various objects, including this bee having a rest on an ornamental cobble in a bird bowl. The image looked good on the camera screen but I was delighted to find how sharp it was when I saw it on the PC monitor, as it opens up new, unexpected photographical potential. I also used it on the darkened berries of an iris foetidissima that has self-seeded on a raised border in the front yard (in Extras).

Day 27 - Decayed Irises  #1  #2

Saturday 19.6.2021 (1932 hr)

Blip #3458 (#3208 + 250 archived blips taken 27.8.1960-18.3.2010)
Consecutive Blip #016
Blips/Extras In 2021 #114/266 + #071/100 Extras
Day #4101 (900 gaps from 26.3.2010)
LOTD #2600 (#2441 + 159 in archived blips)

Old Forge series
Woodland Garden
Macro series

Taken with Pentax K-1 Mark II and Samyang 3.5T-S 24mm ED AS tilt and shift prime manual lens

In The Woodland Garden, 16 June 2021 (Flickr album of 19 photos)

The Woodland Garden (June 2021) (Flickr album)(Work in progress)

Lozarhythm Of The Day:
Geraldine Fibbers - Marmalade (1995)
Featuring Carla Bozulich's vocals this is from Lost Somewhere Between The Earth And My Home.