All the world was there

... at Westonbirt arboretum this morning! And no wonder, it was a golden morning, dancing with sunshine after heavy rains. The site, which is managed by the Forestry commission, is a popular spot with families as well as photographers, and the membership scheme offers good value for money for frequent visitors, as well as queue jumping privileges on busy days!

I've blipped here before many times this year and last, though we had not been back since August. Today, I didn't have a clear photographic objective ( when did I ever?) but thought we might end up at the Acer (Japanese maple) glade, and, sure enough we did. It is the star of the autumn leaves show, and attracts thousands of visitors, all of whom were there today! So while I was hanging about as Steve waited for the crowds to clear to get his shot, I tried a few droplet macros. This is the first one and the one I was best pleased with, as things kept moving and people kept popping into shot! It is hard to get a macro shot with bokeh using a compact camera. Everything tends to be more or less in focus.

Skipping backwards a bit, it was delightful to come back from the cinema/opera last night to find a bunch of heart warming comments on my marguerite and droplets blip, so this is a continuation of the theme. I have to admit I had no aims at all when I started blipping, indeed I started on the spur of the moment with a bowl of porridge and a rose! But as we were watching Gardener's World the other night, I remembered trying to take macro shots of a rose, rosa mundi, almost twenty years ago at a National Trust property with whatever film camera I had then, which certainly couldn't handle it! Yes, I am drawn to experiments with macro, though often have too little time for the concentration involved.

Until 2008, I was extremely short sighted, with a high degree of astigmatism too. I wore contact lenses/glasses, but really could not see much except very close up. I wasn't considered partially sighted, but would not have dared to set foot outside my house without glasses or lenses. Since this situation was my norm from the age of about 12 to 44, I wonder how much it affected my world-view? I had laser surgery in 2008, shortly after a clinic opened in Cheltenham, and although it wasn't quite plain sailing afterwards, and my eyesight is not as razor sharp now as it was in '08, it was a good choice for me.

Enough of this introspection now! If you view the droplet in large, you will see a world within it.