Christmas is over.....

...and we all seem to have/have had colds.  I currently have a very sore throat but it doesn't seem to stop me eating chocolate or drinking wine !

The snow has all but gone now, we have had a big thaw and everywhere is slushy and wet.  So I am glad I got out when I did to take the snowy, frosty photos.

My 365 project is almost complete now too - only 1 more day to go. It has taken a lot of discipline to make sure I take a photo each day, and some of the photos are a bit....erm.... random!  But at least I have (nearly) completed the project.  I do hope I remember to take tomorrow's photo !

Today, for the project, I photographed a tulip from a bunch I have in the house at the moment.  I have said before that flower photography is my favourite type of photography to do, and I did enjoy myself for half an hour or so today while shooting it. 

This is one of my favourites.  I started off using a black card for the background, but there wasn't really enough light to shoot hand-held using natural light, even though I was shooting in the morning.  So, rather than get the tripod out or bump the ISO up really high, I used a lighter coloured background card, which I had forgotten I had, to bounce some of the window light back.  It also fitted in beautifully with trying to shoot flowers against a similar coloured background, as I have mentioned before. 

Hope you all had a lovely, relaxing and peaceful Christmas time - see you in the New Year

Sx

Well.......

.....it's been lovely and cold, but I don't think the majority of the country would agree with the "lovely" in that sentence.  Much of the country has suffered lots of disruption because of the snow and ice - it's not got above freezing here for days - but I am lucky that I've not had to travel too far, so apart from having to put an extra jumper on, it's not been too bad for us.

I have been out in the snow, taking pictures like I said I would.  I have already posted some, and I have a few more to put on here.

This one I took this morning.  Again it is a view across the fields next to our house, but the barn is off to the left out of shot.  I love how the frost has coated the trees.

This shows how gorgeously blue the sky was this morning.  The sun is bringing out the white of the frost, but hasn't had the strength to melt any of it.

Another frosty leaf.

This icicle is one of many hanging from the bars of my garden gate. 

This cobweb is hanging on the corner of my son's shed.  The frost makes it look like lace - you wouldn't think a delicate cobweb would be able to hold so much frost without breaking.....

So I have been out and taken some shots I am fairly pleased with.  I did have some lovely fingerless gloves which kept my hands nice and toasty while I was out shooting, but I have managed to lose one.  Hopefully Santa may bring me a new pair.

Keep warm

Sx

And.....

.....one from the weekend.

We went for a weekend away to Malvern, to visit Worcester where we used to live.  On the Sunday, we walked up the Worcestershire Beacon and this was the view on the way there.  The early morning mist was trapped in the valley, with only the higher ground showing.  The view is from Malvern looking towards Pershore.

Sx

It's still very cold.....

....but that is actually how I like it ! 

Yesterday, for my 365 project photo, I went out into the garden with my macro lens on my camera, to look for more detailed photos of the frost and ice.

These two pictures are very similar, but I like the clump of ice crystals on the right of the second photo.

In this photo I particularly like how the frost picks out the vein detail in the leaf.

At this time of year, and with all the frost, the photos have an almost mono feel about them.

The thaw is, apparently, on its way - no doubt we'll have more snow soon.  Probably before the ice on the driveway has melted !

Sx