Even in Winter, things can be colourful and beautiful!

I invested in a Seestar S50 because I used to love astrophotography but just couldn’t get the hang of it. I think this is absolutely incredible, I can’t believe I managed to take this shot! And yeah I guess it does most of the legwork for you, but wow. 10/10 from me and can’t wait to see what else I can do with it.

The power of AI never ceases to amaze me. You’d think I’d be over it by now but I’m really not haha.

So for this one, I wanted to sort out the composition. It was a windy day, so the branch was swaying so trying to get a proper composition was a bit of a nightmare.

If you’re familiar with the generative fill feature in Photoshop Beta, you’ll know how mind blowing it is. All I did was expand the canvas, draw a marquee and then I asked Photoshop to generative some more of the photo. And it did, you can’t even see the seams. I then used the remove tool to get rid of some stray leaves, and then I used curves for some adjustments.

It took me about 10 minutes to sort this photo out. I could have done it manually but it would have taken me three times as long.

AI is going to put us all out of a job.

Well this is exciting!

I couldn’t let it lie, so I headed over to the field after work. The weather had cleared up, the sun had come out and it was actually quite warm. I was secretly hoping for just one skipper so I could take a photo and put it to bed for the year. However, there were loads! Not the most I’ve ever seen, but still a fair few. I must have spent about an hour just sat in the grass. They were quite subdued as it wasn’t properly sunny - there was a little bit of haze. I even managed to hold a few in my hands and have a good look. They’re honestly my favourite creatures in the world. They are so beautiful, but cute at the same time! I’ll update my full Skipper post shortly!

#photography #skippers #butterfly #butterflies #macro #macrophotography #butterflyphotography #naturephotography

Just a little one from a hunt for Skippers over on Chadwick Dams. If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know I take photos of Skippers in the same place every year. I’ve been doing it for 13 years! Unfortunately I may have missed the window for this year. I’m really sad about it, but the weather has been atrocious. I went down on this particular evening as the sun came out for the first time in a while, but it felt cold, like a September’s evening rather than a July one. There were no signs of life, except for a few bees here and there. I’m going to keep an eye on the weather, but it looks as though the sunshine has disappeared again for another few weeks.

#photography #savebutterflies #photographer #skippers #skipperbutterflies #nature #macro #summer #july #sunshine

I was hoping to get out and about more this year. I invested in a new camera last year, mainly to capture better quality images of my son, but also to spur myself into taking more photos. My photography is nature, usually flowers and insects. But seeing as the UK is enjoying a lovely rainy summer this year, with short bursts of sunshine, it’s hard to get out. Especially with a 20 month old in tow! Leaving the house is a military operation these days and sometimes it’s easier just to play inside. My mental health is suffering at the moment and I’m sure it’s because I’m not spending enough time in nature, amongst other things. I rely on good weather too much, I admit, but like I say, it’s hard with a toddler when all he wants to do is face plant into the nearest puddle. And don’t get me wrong, he gets ample time to do that. He is never far from needing a bath on a daily basis! What I guess I’m trying to say is that I really need to get back to doing what I love. It means making compromises, but that’s life.

Hello! It’s been a while. I’m going to try and get back into posting on here from now on. My goal is twice a week, and we can go from there. So stick around, if you want!