Gerbera

This flower is from a Gerbera plant on my window sill. I photographed it with the blind pulled down behind to give a plain background.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/1.8, 1/400s, 35mm, tripod and cable release.

Wilting gerbera

One of my favourite things to photograph - a wilting flower. I'd cut this stem from a plant on my window sill and was about to throw it away when I noticed how lovely the curling petals were, particularly when viewed from beneath.

I reduced clarity and vibrance in Lightroom to give the image a softer feel.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 400, f/5, 1/40s, 35mm, hand held.

Red peony bud covered in raindrops

I took this photo in my garden just after a heavy rain shower about a week ago. There were also lots of flowers in full bloom which, due to their size, ended up weighed down to the ground by raindrops. I cut all the flowers and put them in vases inside, just leaving the new buds behind.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 400, f/11, 1/80s, 90mm, hand held.

Little flower in woodland

A little purple flower standing out against a backdrop of green leaves beneath the trees at Hardcastle Crags.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/3.5, 1/400s, -1 step exp bias, 90mm, hand held.

Pink and yellow mesembryanthemum flower

I photographed this lovely flower in my garden in July 2014.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/3.5, 1/500s, 90mm, hand held.

Dandelion clock (5)

Another view of a dandelion clock, photographed in my garden in May 2014. I like the shallow depth of field in this shot and converting it to monochrome further simplifies it.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/4.5, 1/250s, 90mm, hand held.

Little blue and yellow flower.

I only bought this plant recently, but I lost the name-card that came with it, so have no idea what variety it is (I'm guessing some kind of daisy??). There are lots of little flowers on long stems above a thick, green mound of leaves - it's a lovely, cheerful plant!

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/4.5, 1/1000s, 90mm, hand held.

Poppy plant in the sunshine.

I took this yesterday in my mum's garden. The big red flowers were begging to be photographed, but on closer inspection I realised how lovely the 'hairy' leaves and buds were too. I decided to get some shots using the flowers as a blurred back and foreground and focusing instead on the foliage.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/4, 1/640s, 35mm, hand held.

Yellow rose in low light.

This rose was one of the flowers my husband gave me for Valentine's day this year. It was a bit past its best when I photographed it, so I decided to give it a low key, soft focus effect.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/6.3, 1/2s, 90mm, tripod, natural light & a reflector.

Pink carnation.

I got a lovely mixed bunch of flowers from my husband last week for Valentine's Day and decided to photograph some of them individually today. I think carnations are underrated, due to their abundance in supermarkets and garages - they're actually a lovely flower as, hopefully, this photo shows.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/11, 0.8s, 90mm Tamron macro lens, tripod, natural light & reflector.

Summer fields and flowers in the Newlands valley, Keswick

This is the lovely, colourful view across the valley, taken from the path beside Newlands Beck. It was the first day of our holiday in August last year and we were very surprised and happy with the good weather, considering it had been raining for weeks beforehand.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/11, 1/250s, 18mm, hand held.

Purple and white mesembryanthemum flower

I took this photo of a mesembryanthemum (one of my favourite flowers) in my garden in July 2014.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/3.5, 1/800s, 90mm, hand held.

Leaves and stems of a Sedum plant surrounded by pink flowers.

I took this one in September last year. Most of my images were of the pretty, intricate flowers and the insects that landed on them. I also really like the shape and form of the leaves and stems of Sedum plants though, so decided to do some shots with them as the main focus.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/9, 1/200s, 90mm, hand held.

Little flowers growing in a gap in Malham's limestone pavement

I took this in August whilst walking from Malham Cove to the Tarn. There are lots of different plants growing out of little holes in the rock - really lovely and very impressive how they manage to flourish somewhere so exposed.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 800, f/11, 1/125s, 44mm, hand held.

Flowering thistle on the path beside Malham Tarn

Another one from my walk around Malham Tarn (which is just off the photo to the right) in August this year. I liked the splash of purple in amongst the greens and white limestone. It was a dark, cloudy evening so I had to use a high ISO as I hadn't taken my tripod (although looking at the settings I used, I could have reduced ISO somewhat and brought shutter speed down instead).

Camera/lens settings: ISO 1600, f/11, 1/250s, 24mm.

Water droplet on orange gerbera (2)

Another shot from the macro session I did at home in February this year, using my favourite flower - a gerbera.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/11, 1/60s, 90mm, tripod & LED ring light.

Red admiral butterfly on pink Sedum flowers (3)

Here's another one from the series I took about a year ago in my garden. I chose this one out of many others because I really like the underside of butterfly wings. This picture showcases the colours in both sides of the wings - the fact that the head is out of focus also helps to draw your eye to the wings.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/4.5, 1/1000s, 90mm, hand held.

Dandelion clock (4)

Another one from my garden tonight - taken in May last year. This was part of a group of dandelion clocks - I wanted to use a shallow depth of field to isolate one of them. I cropped the photo down to change the orientation to portrait and reduce the number of flower heads in view. Converting to black and white also helped to draw your eye to the main flower head.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/4, 1/320s, 90mm, hand held.

Sunlit raindrops on a blade of grass

I took this one in April last year on the lawn in our garden (a last opportunity before we replaced it with artificial grass). I really like how each little raindrop has its own shadow. I also love the little part-open daisy - another thing I miss about having a real lawn (although I don't miss the mud, bare patches and mowing!!).

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/4, 1/500s, 90mm, hand held.

Upside-down chrysanthemum

A different view of a white chrysanthemum today - showing off the detail beneath its petals, for a change. I took this one in January this year at home. Taking the colour away and replacing it with a slight split tone for the shadows helped focus the eye more on the texture at the base of the flower head.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/3.5, 1/100s, 90mm, ring light, tripod.