Macro photography and summer gardens

Yes winter is still here.... it's cold, white, and because of a constant cloud cover, very uninteresting for taking pictures.  I thought maybe I would revisit some of the images taken during the year, and I found this cache of old photos from the summer.  I was testing an old Pentax macro lens with the Sony NEX-7, and focus peaking.  I was planning on testing it out how well it would perform in a macro situation.  I was quite impressed how well that worked.  Here are some images from that day.  Enjoy!

Summer in my garden.. Part 2

As I have mentioned in my previous post: Summer in my garden.. Part 1, in this series I will be sharing with you macros that were taken right in my backyard all summer long.  In this instalment I would like to show you a series of pictures of a particular blooming plant that belongs to Argyranthemum.  This one has the most amazing colour and I am sure I must have taken hundreds of shots of it. But judge for yourself how pretty it is:

It's so gorgeous that not only people are drawn to it ;D

I can literally spend hours photographing this gorgeously coloured beauty!

I am going to miss it when winter comes... I am glad I have created a large library of images with this pretty thing, for it is going to brighten a many of the gloomy winter days..

Kasia

Fall Colours - Devonian Gardens

Devonian Botanic Garden is a stunning property made up of manicured gardens, mixed woodland vegetation and an extensive nature trail system.  During this fall we managed to visit this beautiful place before they close for the winter.  Yes most of the flowers were gone, but the trees, and shrubs provided a very picturesque place.  I was a little disappointed that the butterfly showhouse was devoid of any butterflies, but then again this is late fall.  So our trip to the gardens focused mainly on just walking the many trails, and snapping family photos.  First I'll start with showcasing some of the flora still around in the gardens.  Enjoy.

Sidetrack

I think we are really sick of this ugly winter. Last sunday the whole family decided to go to one of our favorite winter retreats. It is called The Muttart Conservatory. It consists of 4 fairly large, pyramid shaped glass houses. Each one is dedicated to a different climate, namely desert, temperate, and tropical. The fourth pyramid is mainly for show. It was a great time to be able to sit on a bench and watch the kids go nuts in the tropical paradise. Didn't take long for them to tire out. Here are some shots from the trip.