First of all I would like to talk about photographing crocus, snowdrops or any small flower which only stands about 3 inches high. I have puzzled as to which is the best way to do it, either standing. but then you just get a view from above or crouched down which is difficult when you have hips and knees like mine!
From above, standing.
So easy from above.
There is a third possibility which is to lie down, except that lately we have had such a heavy dew or fog in the morning so the grass is very wet and anyway, if I got down, then I would be stuck there like a beached whale, no, that wouldn’t be any good for me. I wanted a way to photograph my new crocus that would make me feel as though I was right in amongst them, a worm’s eye view.
I finally figured it out!
If I went across the back lawn, through the arch into the woodland, down the slope, across the little bridge, turn right round a bed of snowdrop, down into the ditch; the back border and the lawn were now at eye level. With my long lens I could photograph the crocus while standing up, staying nice and dry, but feel that I was right in amongst them!
Frogspawn was easier to photograph.
Just the other day I noticed that we had some frogspawn in the pond and the next day there was twice as much. We have been having unseasonally warm weather here in the UK recently so I’m not sure when the frogs arrived, but I’m so pleased to see that they have been busy. I just hope that we don’t suddenly have a deep freeze as the top layer will be killed. Last year with our “Beast from the East” all our frogspawn got frozen which meant no tadpoles, which was such a shame.
The birds, the bees, the flowers, the frogs and now the butterflies ( I saw a yellow one the other day, was it a Clouded Yellow or a Brimstone, I don’t know, it was too quick for me) think spring has arrived. I keep reminding myself that it is still February!
Lovely photos Pauline! We have sunshine and unusually mild temperatures too, but I fear it will not be the end of winter yet!
Thanks Cathy, glad you liked them. Our lovely weather is coming to an end in a few days, I think the flowers will prefer it.
You were very inventive Pauline in figuring out how to get the worm’s eye view! We also have unseasonally warm weather. I hope you don’t get frost again, it is sad when the frogs’ eggs die. I really hope the warm weather here doesn’t encourage the frogs to lay their eggs yet. We will almost certainly have below zero before the winter is over.
It solved the problem for the crocus Denise but didn’t solve it for my snowdrops!From the forecast tonight we only have a couple more nice days to come, then it will be back to winter.
Clever, small flowers are always best photographed from a low angle; it also emphasises the numbers as otherwise they can appear more sparse. Your solution is perfect.
Thanks Christina, but I will have to come up with something else for my snowdrops next year!
Nice work finding a way to photograph your crocus without getting wet. Hooray for early spring. Although our snow is mostly gone, the weather is clear and colder than normal for this time of year. Let’s hope that your warm temperatures continue and that we get out of our winter freeze soon.
It took a bit of working out Peter, but i got there in the end! We have been warned that our warm weather is coming to an end and will soon be back to normal February temperatures. Hope your snow srays away.
Your first and last pictures didn’t show up on my laptop, Pauline, which is a shame. That third picture is gorgeous though and is a reminder for me when I take photos. Thank you. Exciting to see frog spawn – we have frogs and toads in our garden but I don’t know where they have hatched from – can’t be far away I guess…
Sorry about the photos Cathy, I can assure you they are here at this end, maybe if you tried again, they might appear? We have a toad too but don’t often see him/her and so far I’ve never seen any toad spawn unfortunately.
Your persistence certainly paid off Pauline. Great photos of your crocuses! It would be pleasing if the weather did cool down slightly but not too much. Last year we waited an age for spring but this year it seems that it is an indecent rush to arrive well ahead of time.
Any wild snowdrops in the sunshine have gone over very quickly Anna, I think they will appreciate the cooler weather that is on the way. Having sorted how to photograph my crocus, I now have to sort out how I can get down to snowdrop level!
Oh, how I get how difficult it is to get down and back up again, thankfully I can manage these days since I sorted my hip out. Lovely photo, it does look like you are in the midst of the crocus. I must check our pond for frogspawn, when we home home from holiday last year it was horrific seeing all the dead frogs….let’s keep our fingers crossed that the weather stays good.xxx
I still haven’t worked out how to photograph my snowdrops though Dina! I’m glad the temperatures are getting back to more normal levels, but I hope we don’t have a repeat of last year, that was dreadful.
Haha. I was just thinking that my garden needs a raised bed so I can see the snowdrops without doing too much damage to my knees, or spending too much time crouched over! By the end of the season things are closer to eye level, so that’s a different story, but now my crouching and knee bending are all a little out of shape. It’s been a long, lazy winter!
Enjoy your spring weather.
It comes to us all Frank when we get to a certain age unfortunately! I might have sorted the crocus out but the snowdrops still remain as a problem, maybe I’ll have them sorted by next year. Storm Freya is rapidly approaching from the west, I hope it doesn’t do too much damage.