Malvern Spring Show (Part1)

I took these at the Malvern Spring Show. I took these uising my Macro lens.

This one is focusing on part of a flower display that used thses sticks. The theme was Red. I really like the geometric patterns that they created. This photo shows the order there but on the right there are some that don't look to be in order and are poking out in a weird way. the sticks start of out ofd focus but you are lead inot the photo by them gradually becoming in focus. I think this is a strong photo with the bright red contrasted against the black background. I took this on my Pentax K-r, on my macro lens at 135mm focal, f/2.4, 1/50 secs with the ISO at 200.

This was another in the theme of Red. I really like the natural shape and texture of the flower next to the man-made texture and colours of the material. The left side of the material is out of focus but you can still see the shape and colour so it doesnt detract from the photo that much. I took this on my Pentax K-r, on my macro lens at 135mm focal, f/2.4, 1/30 secs with the ISO at 200.

I really like the texture in this photo as you can see the skeletal leaves and the gold flowers on the background of sisal. I have slightly broken the rule of three as there are more than three gold flowers but if you look closer the one on the right is a petal from the thrid flower. This would look really nice as a card. I took this on my Pentax K-r, on my macro lens at 135mm focal, f/3.2, 1/125 secs with the ISO at 200.

Again with this one I like the natural next to the man-made material. This time the flower is the main focus is the flower as the material is behind it and out of focus. I like the way the gems have become more out of focus and slightly bigger the further you go back. This leads the eye out of the photo but the curve of the material on the right keeps you from falling out of the photo. I took this on my Pentax K-r, on my macro lens at 135mm focal, f/2.4, 1/100 secs with the ISO at 200.

This one would be suitable for a card, probably a baby girl card as it is a soft picture with the different shades of pink. The green stem of the rose is just out of focus enought not to drag your eye away and the petas are bright enough so they stand out from the background.I took this on my Pentax K-r, on my macro lens at 135mm focal, f/2.8, 1/100 secs with the ISO at 200.

This photo could be used as a wedding card photo. I have lightened it up on photoshop as the original was too dark. I really like the contrast between the single rose and the material it is sitting on and then string of white and gold behind. I like that the neacklace is out of focus as there is too much detail in the neacklace for it to be in focus and not detract from the rose. I took this on my Pentax K-r, on my macro lens at 135mm focal, f/3.5, 1/125 secs with the ISO at 200.

This one was in the section for Perfume. It is meant to look like Vivienne Westwood's perfume symbol. I really like the use of the the one main colour. It doesnt use bright eye catching colours, it uses green and white which work well. I thought this was a fun piece as it reminded me of a sun exploding as there always seems to be a ring that come out before the main explosion. I took this on my Pentax K-r, on my macro lens at 135mm focal, f/3.5, 1/125 secs with the ISO at 200.

This is a close up of one the stems that has been wrapped in a string of beads. I am unsure as to why I like this image. It is quite plain and simple. The focus is on the stem with the beads and everything else is very out of focus. I took this on my Pentax K-r, on my macro lens at 135mm focal, f/2.4, 1/50 secs with the ISO at 200.

This is my favourate photo. It looks like half of the ribs and the flower underneath is the heart. Some of the petals that make up the ribs at the top are wonky whereas the ones at the bottom are evenly spread out and look like ribs. You can just see the green of the stem behind the flower which is good because it links to the leaf you can see on the left side. I took this on my Pentax K-r, on my macro lens at 135mm focal, f/2.5, 1/100 secs with the ISO at 200.

RHS Cardiff

I went to the RHS flower show in Bute Park. These are a couple of my better photos. 

 I think this one works well with the colour contrast. I think the seed pods of one of the flowers behind adds texture and I tried with it in focus as well but it didn't look as good as that meant the background wasn't as soft. I took this on my Pentax K-r, on my macro lens at 135mm focal, f/3.5, 1/100 secs with the ISO at 200.

 I found this on a display for a Fusia society. I thought it looked cute with just the one petal up as if to show the inside petals and stamen. I took this on my Pentax K-r, on my macro lens at 135mm focal, f/3.5, 1/50 secs with the ISO at 200.

This was in a box on the display for organic vegtables. The focus of this photo is the Romanesco Broccoli. I like the contrast betweet the broccoli and the cabbage in colour and texture. However I should have made sure that the entire row of broccoli was in focus as the one in the bottom corners tip is out of focus. I took this on my Pentax K-r, on my macro lens at 135mm focal, f/3.5, 1/100 secs with the ISO at 200.

This is one of my favourates as I love the way the leaf has curled around the bud to protect it. you can see the detailed veins in the petals and the slight tinge of green that will disappear as the flower matures. The focus slips a little at the bottom of the bud. I took this on my Pentax K-r, on my macro lens at 135mm focal, f/5, 1/500 secs with the ISO at 200.

This is a species of grass that is very similar to Bamboo. I have used this image to create a lino print that has worked very well. I think this works well as the subject fills the photo. You can see the mature stems but also at the top right you can see some new growth which is brighter and so drags your eye up to it but in the bottom middle the stem is lighter so that drags your eye back down. I took this on my Pentax K-r, on my macro lens at 135mm focal, f/3.5, 1/50 secs with the ISO at 200.

Carte-De-Visite

I took some photographs of some of the plants in flower in my garden as testers to see how they would look as Carte-De-Visites.

I used a letter press to stamp the latin names onto the cards. Most of them are wonky as it was quite difficult to make sure that the word were in the centre. I think that it looks really good though.

Bamboo

I have decided to include bamboo as well as it fits into my project well.

I created these by placing a bamboo leaf in the enlarger. I then placed another leaf on the paper so that there would be negative space in the shape of the other leaf. I then exposed the paper for 5 seconds and then placed the leaf on for another 6 seconds so that there would be faint markings where the leaf was. I think this has turned out really successful and I am considering using this as the reverse of the Carte-De-Visite.