Macro photography at the Allotment

in #hive-1949132 years ago


I haven't been up to the park at all this week with my camera (although I've been up there on my bike for a spin). We had a severe heatwave here in the UK on Monday and Tuesday (along with vast swathes of Europe, who are having to deal with some terrible wild fires thanks to the high temperatures). It's something I'll probably want to discuss another time, but I will say that it was pretty scary, as the UK should never hit 40 degrees. Our little house was built in 1880, and it is not designed to stay cool in this sort of hot weather. It was a grim couple of days.

Although I haven't been to the park with my camera, I did have a wander around the allotment with my macro lens. I'm not sure if other countries have allotments, but here in London, they are IMO the holy grail of city living. A little oasis of calm. We put our names down for an allotment when we moved to south west London in 2014. It felt like we would never get to the top of the list, until we received notice in Feb 2020 that we were now eligible for an allotment plot.

Our first plot was tiny, and a little run down. But the beds were in good shape and we were very keen to get cracking. Little did we know that just over a month later, we would be in lockdown. Going to the allotment was still permitted under lockdown rules, as it was considered 'exercise'. I wasn't working and my husband was down to 4 day weeks, and we spent hours on our little allotment plot, planting everything we could think of. After a few months, it was looking amazing, and every day we would head home with armfuls of produce.

The plot, much as we loved it, was very small. We constantly ran out of space. So when we were offered a completely derelict, but much larger plot, we jumped at the opportunity. We took over the new plot in December 2021. Here's a phone snap of how it looked at the time.

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And below, a recent phone photo taken at the beginning of June.

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Quite a transformation. My husband did a LOT of work to get the rubbish cleared from the site. It was so much worse than we imagined. Plastic, carpet, fake grass, metal gates, a front door, piles of rubble and bricks, all buried under the overgrowth. In the end, a skip was required to remove all the junk. However, the hard work paid off. :)



So, on to the photos that I took with my macro lens. I LOVE how this bee is covered in pollen.

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Yellow courgette. We have 2 of these plants, and currently we take home at least 1 courgette every day. :)

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Lots of the plot holders grow lavender and other flowers to help the pollinators. This lavender was growing on the front of a neighbours plot, bordering the shared path. I believe that the butterfly is a large white.

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Nigella flower seed heads

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Artichoke flower

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Dahlia flower.

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More lavender.

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Sunflower flower bud.

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Round Courgette (Tonda Di Piacenza)

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A photo of our gooseberry bush, taken after Tuesday's 40 degrees record breaking temperature. It survived 38 degrees on Monday, was watered first thing on Tuesday morning, but by 8pm Tuesday evening, when we finally ventured out of the house, it had been transformed from a healthy bush, to being badly burned by the heat and the sun.

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I feel so sorry for the farmers, who are having a tremendously difficult time in this dry and hot weather. It must be an absolute nightmare.



This week, I might head to Kew Gardens for more macro photography. Or head into London, or somewhere along the banks of the Thames...



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Website: www.cathgothard.com

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Amazing composition of your photos @cathgothard.

I'm sure, you really tried to bring all the photos here with all your heart and the results are indeed very beautiful and amazing.
Are you a pro?

Really glad that you enjoyed my photographs @justbabybee. Thank you for leaving such a lovely comment.

Photography is just a (very obsessive) hobby. I am not a pro. :)

luar biasa, sangat bagus 👍

Terima kasih! :)

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Thanks for the support @ecency! :)

Macro photos are wonderful. I have fallen in love with the macro lens. I think I should buy a macro lens. The cost went up 😄😄😄

I love macro photography, but it's not something I've personally had much practice at. I bought the lens a few years ago, second hand. Will definitely have to get out more and use it! :)

Very series of pictures!

Thanks so much @life-junky! :)

That was nice shoot mate.
Good job,

Thanks very much @deimage! Glad that you like my post. :)

Your welcome mate.

Wonderful macros, really sharp set of shots love the variety.

Thank you so much @mmckinneyphoto13! Really glad that you like the photos. :)

I always admire macro photos. And I also like to take photos of flowers. That are all beautiful, healthy and fresh. Thanks for sharing @cathgothard 🥰

Thank you so much! Macro photography isn’t something I try very often. Really need to do this more often! :)

You can mention or tag me when you post something like this, macro photography only if you like. I just want to be inspired more. 🥰

Off course, if you like. I don't take many macro photographs, but I'm sure this wont be the last post. :)

Yes, yes, I surely love that. And thank you in advance. 🥰😍

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Nature is such a beauty isn't it?! 😍

Mother Nature is the best artist! :)

soo true! ❤️🐝🌼

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