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Monday 10 June 2013

The Flowers Of Summer ~ Colby Gardens

After such a long cold wet winter and a very late, short-lived Spring..........Summer finally appears to be upon us!! The past three weeks have seen warm sunny days here in Wales, without so much as a drop of the wet stuff falling out of the clouds. Yayyy!!
One of the first places I visit when summer arrives is Colby Woodland & Gardens. 
Meadow

Colby is set in a steep narrow valley. The centre, flat part is open meadow, just great for a picnic, while up the sides of the valley (on both sides) are beautiful woodland, with many paths both easy and difficult, depending of your walking preference.
Woodland Walk

Colby Lodge itself is still privately owned, but the woodlands and most of the gardens are run by the National Trust. My favourite part is the Walled Garden, where the majority of the summer flowers can be found.
Iris 1

The good thing about the Walled Garden is that it's quite sheltered from any wind, so taking macros is quite easy there.
Emerging 2

The sheer variety of flowers in the relatively small area of the Walled Garden is amazing, there's lots of colour wherever you look.
Small Wonder 3

There are old favourites, such as this small member of the Geranium family:
Veinity 1

There are the slightly more unusual (well, this one is, to me).......these flowers look like they are sticking their tongues out. LOL.
Tongues Out 1

And of course, there are always a plentiful supply of insects around, helping themselves to the flower's offerings.
Visitor 1

I took quite a lot of photos on this trip, so I'll put the rest of them is this Flickr Slideshow. Enjoy!!!

20 comments:

  1. Lovely place, Mitch, and a great collection of shots. I can see why you go there. I particularly like the iris. Long may this summer continue (no one's mentioned barbecues yet . . .).

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    1. Thanks Neil :-)) I'm very lucky in that both Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire have many old houses and castles with beautiful ornamental gardens, so plenty to keep me occupied during the summer months!!

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  2. Mitch, this is really a beautiful slideshow you share with us. I am glad you finally have some sunny days. I don't know most of their names, but I rally like those white flowers. And my God! When I will be able to take macro shot like you do!?

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    1. Thanks Sophie :-)) The funny thing is, just after I posted this, the rain returned!! LOL. I am still learning the names of all the different plants and flowers, but there are still a lot more I don't know than ones I do !! Good macros are a combination of a good lens, lots of practice....and lots of patience!!

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  3. What a wonderful festival of shots through your macro lenses! I can imagine how many hours you spent over there and how much fun you had... The shots seen in large size as I did, are really amazing both in detail and in variety... Thanks so very much for sharing this absolutely fabulous photos!

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    1. Thanks Belita :-)) I could spend all day at places such as this, but generally I stay until I have used up all the power in my three camera batteries!! And when taking macros, that can use the power up quicker than I'd like!!

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  4. oh how lovely, I see why you could stay all day...me too
    some very fine shots with beautiful detail

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  5. Great photos Mitch ~ I went straight to Flickr to view them. There are some spectacular images there. It must have taken quite some time to photograph them all. I hope your knees are in good condition ...

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    1. Thanks Charlie :-)) Glad you enjoyed them. I spent several hours taking those shots, for a lot of the time either crouched down or on my knees. As you can imagine, after a photo session like that, my knees can get quite stiff and painful. But as long as they let me get back up again, I'll continue to shoot!!

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  6. They are really great Mitch and I can imagine the back breaking knee bending work you have put into them. Unlike me you can still stand up after doing the work. The details are wonderful. I have just seen a mega spider in its web spun in a leaf sitting on an enormous egg sack. Am still working out how to do that one without disturbing the spider. I just read your comments on my blog over at my place.

    I am still thinking about a macro lens for my nikon Nikon AF-S Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED VR, but at the moment am torn between the lens and a new digi camera. My lumix is now approaching about 10 years if not more and I have my eye on a Canon G15. I like taking pictures of the moment and the DSLR is too big for my pocket or handbag. Oh the decisions of a photographess.

    Keep snapping your photos give me inspiration.

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    1. Thanks Pat :-)) Yes, it's a lot of effort on the back and knees, but it's worth it to get the results I do. I hope you manage to get some good shots of the mamma spider and her egg-sack!! I'd like to see them if you do. I'd photographed spiders many times, but never had the luck to see any with the egg-sack or with all the young spiderlets breaking out (I remember your shot of that, it was fantastic!!).

      If you're looking to buy a new camera, can I suggest a bridge-camera? They are more sophisticated that a 'Point & Shoot', but less bulky and more manoeverable than a DSLR. There are many good ones on the market, including the new generation 'Ultra-Zoom' cameras. Mine is in that category (an Olympus SP800UZ). They usually have a very good combo lens system that can take great wide-angle scenic shots and also great macros. Most of the major manufacturers have ultra-zoom bridge cameras on the market now.

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    2. I already have a Bridge Camera but Since i have my dslr i do Not use it so much. Thanks for the Suggestion but I am looking for a smaller Camera to Take with me when i am Out in town

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    3. I've just had a read of a couple of reviews of the G15. Nice camera, certainly small and light, so maybe what you're looking for. Not enough zoom for my liking, but certainly a pretty good macro range.

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  7. These are beautiful photos. Some of the flowers are different form the ones I use to see here in Portugal. My Lumix can´t do macros like these but anyway I don´t have enough art.

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    1. Hi Maria!! Thank you for visiting and looking at my photos :-))

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  8. so glad you brought the camera along-so gorgeous-up close enjoyed all the photos thanks

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    1. Thanks Kathy :-)) I'd never visit a place like this without my camera!!! LOL.

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  9. Wonderful shots, Mitch
    I´m inspired

    Greetings
    Tina

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