Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Raynox 250

As you can see, I sure haven't mastered the definite skill of taking SHARP super macros, LOL! However, I rather liked this abstract photo anyway, with the different shades of yellow and orange, so thought I would still post it. Just rest assured, it's not your eyes (or mine), LOL! I think this was a very small Straw Flower. Here, we all need a dose of vivid, warm colour, on yet another dull, gloomy day : ) Temperature is 9C, so it's not really cold, but I'm someone who needs the sun. Tomorrow, a forecast for a high of 2C, with snow. We can't say that it's too early for snow now, but we can say that it's much earlier than we would like.

Another attempt at macro using my little Raynox 250. I still have to figure out the best way to take a sharp image, LOL, such as trying again to find somewhere that sells the size of GorillaPod (tripod) that my camera needs. I have a few small, dead Sunflowers in my kitchen and I happened to notice a teeny sparkle from some specks of moisture - barely visible to my eye - in the centre of one. I'm still in awe at the incredible beauty of something so tiny, that one would not normally even notice.

This is a macro of the very centre (stamens, anther, can't remember what is what, lol?) of an Easter Cactus flower (Hatiora gaertneri), taken in my kitchen. I haven't checked today's temperature yet - not sure I really want to, lol, after our -36C (-33F) windchill temperature of yesterday! All I know is, I need colour - warm colour : ) And many of you do, too, no doubt. So, keep warm, everyone! "An Easter cactus is a unique, jointed cactus plant that blooms with brilliantly colored flowers once a year in the Easter season. It is a type of succulent cactus known as an epiphyte, which has adapted for survival in the jungle. The Easter cactus is indigenous to Brazil, and is commonly grown as a houseplant in cultivation." www.wisegeek.com/what-is-an-easter-cactus.htm It's back to saving more of my endless photos today. Having had to deal with three different computer problems the last 2-3 weeks, it has scared me enough to make me start on the long, monotonous chore of backing up photos to my external hard drive. I do it one small folder at a time, lol, which no doubt will have a few of you shaking your head.

Managed to "blow out" the white in this photo : ) I so rarely see the pink Pussytoes - usually I see one of the species of white Pussytoes. The Pink is so pretty, though. Seen off Elbow Falls Trail (Highway 66) in the area of the Ing's Mine parking lot. Taken using Raynox 250 macro lens, only partly zoomed in. These are tiny flowers in reality! That's the "problem" with macros and supermacros - they are so misleading - but I love them! Holy smokes - fell asleep for two hours in front of the TV this evening - just woken up to find that it was 10:00 p.m. Thank goodness I didn't sleep right through an hour of blaring, alarm clock music this morning, which is what I did yesterday morning (plus another hour and a half) and consequently missed a day trip with a few friends to Bow Valley Provincial Park. The University of Calgary held their Open House at their Field Station in Kananaskis today - near Barrier Lake. Four of us went to the mountains for this and enjoyed going on a botanizing walk first on our own. Then two of us went on a Butterfly walk with a young, very knowledgeable guy named Steve, who is at the Station for part of the year. We saw several different butterflies and two or three other insects - and we made it rain, LOL! The wildflowers are just so spectacular at the moment - a joy to see so many bright orange Western Wood Lilies, for a start. Absolute food for the soul! Barb, if you happen to read this - thanks SO much for the drive today and for changing your plans and going out of your way for me. Appreciated SO much!!! This is all interfering with being on Flickr - sorry, everyone! Fall and winter are getting closer and closer and our very short growing season will be over and I won't be out for as many full-day botanizing outings. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antennaria_rosea

Just "playing" with my macro lens outdoors here - a lens that had previously only ever been used indoors for flowers and waterdrops : ) Because I have to be within about 6" of the subject, I find this lens is an absolute neck-killer! I LOVE the strobilus (cone-like structure at the tips of some of the stems) of any kind of Horsetail - not sure which species this one is. The much-reduced leaves of horsetails "grow in whorls fused into nodal sheaths. ... The stems are green and photosynthetic, and distinctive in being hollow, jointed and ridged (with sometimes 3 but usually 6-40 ridges) and these are often played with by children who will separate and then seamlessly rejoin the segments." The leaves are seen here across the middle of the image. Taken while we were botanizing Priddis Greens Golf Course, recording all the flora and fauna seen that day. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equisetum

Wasn't sure whether to post this supermacro shot (taken with Raynox 250) of a very tiny Spotted Coralroot flower or not, as I am not a big fan of very blurry images, LOL! However, if you look carefully, you'll notice that the "important" part, that gives this teeny wild orchid it's common name, is sharper than the rest of the photo. I rarely get to see Spotted Coralroot, so it was great to see it in the wooded area at the Priddis Greens Golf Course that we botanized the other day. Several of us had a long, but so enjoyable, day out south of the city today. We were lucky enough to be given the chance to make a return visit to Janel B. and her family's ranch, near Millarville. A delightful family who make us all feel so welcome! We had such an interesting day, walking though the forest that is part of their land, recording all the flora and fauna that we saw. Best of all, we were accompanied for the whole day by two youngsters: their son, Trystan, and a close friend of his, Casey (sorry guys, I need to check on the spelling of both your names!). Talk about delightful kids, and very helpful in helping to find all sorts of things in the woods, especially fungi and bugs!!! I found myself wishing that all kids could grow up in such a place and being so in-touch with nature! Wonderful to see! Thank you both for your much enjoyed company and for all your help, both of you! I suspect you will both sleep really well tonight - I've just woken up from falling asleep in front of the TV this early evening! Trystan, if you read this, I haven't had time yet to go through my photos from today, but will very slowly get a few of the better ones (if there are any, LOL) added to Flickr. Thank you from all of us for a lovely day! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corallorhiza_maculata

For the first time ever, I used my little Raynox 250 macro lens outdoors, when I drove out to the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains two days ago. I normally only use it in my kitchen on flowers, waterdrops, etc. However, this time I thought I would finally try it out on wildflowers. I knew that there must be no movement at all when using this lens so, armed with my little table-top tripod, I set out from home. Well, I hit four lots of rain that afternoon, and it was rather windy! Tried out my lens and, needless to say, was disappointed. At least it got me closer - now I just need to see if I can get any sharper on a windless day - LOL, in Alberta??? Calgary is a windy city, and it seems that the wind is almost always blowing within the city and outside it. I always feel rather isolated from the rest of the world when I'm in the mountains, so it was definitely not a pleasant feeling when a pair of Hawks of some kind flew from behind me and right above my head, checking me out no doubt, while I was down on all fours, nose just a few inches from the ground, eye to the viewfinder. The rushing sound as they passed over my head was tremendous - I wondered what on earth the noise was when I heard it coming, despite the fact that I have been dive-bombed by Hawks before now. You wouldn't believe how many different kinds of butterfly flew by while I had my macro lens on. My camera has to be about 6" away from the subject when I take supermacro shots. It's such a hassle to remove the tripod, change the Conversion, etc., so I had no chance for shots. Still, my purpose for this trip was to see if there was a particular plant growing in a certain area again this year. It is a mystery plant so far, one that has puzzled me for about six years, wondering what kind of Castilleja (Paintbrush) this is. Maybe two separate plants of it this year, but I want to go back and have another look when it's not raining and windy. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castilleja

Used (for the very first time outdoors) my little macro lens on this very small Yellow Mountain-avens flower three days ago, when I was at Cobble Flats, off Elbow Falls Trail, Kananaskis (i.e. the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains). This is a very low-growing plant, so it really kills my neck to have to be about 6" away from the subject, using this lens! Anyway, this is what one of those small yellow flowers with the drooping heads looks like a bit closer : )

This is a supermacro taken of, I believe, a Northern Green Bog Orchid (Platanthera hyperborea). I was trying my little macro lens (that I've had for ages) on my point-and-shoot outdoors for the very first time - and, of course, it rained and was quite windy, LOL! It's hard enough to get things sharp when I'm in my kitchen, taking supermacros of flowers or water droplets, so I got about as much success as I was expecting. Hopefully, though, on a sunny, still day, maybe it will work out better. You can hardly see these very tiny flowers on this species of wild Orchid. The flowers grow in a 2-10 cm compact elongated cluster and are green or yellow-green. Flowers are about 8 mm wide. Taken at Cobble Flats, off Elbow Falls Trail (Highway 66).

Bye-bye sunshine - hello colour, LOL! Definitely needed this shot of colour today - where is the sun hiding? This is just another moment of playing in my kitchen yesterday. A rare, "just about sharp enough" image to post, but I love the orange and blue together! I have several other abstracts to post sometime - please bear with me until/IF I ever get a tiny, table-top tripod to use when attempting supermacros, ha, ha. This is the sharpest of them, so really the others are more for the colour : ) Oh, guess I should just add that this is a tiny petal tip with a couple of water droplets. The white tip is almost translucent and sparkly.