Orange Crush*

Gerbera, originally uploaded by http://andrewskelton.net.

It just goes to show what 5 minutes, a £2.00 bunch of flowers and a single light source can do – quite effective isn’t it? Having zoomed to the local shop for further supplies, my eyes were immediately drawn to the vivid orange (as ever, I’ve not digitally altered any part of this photo – with the exception of the watermark) of a bunch of Gerbera that were amongst other flowers for sale outside the supermarket. A bit like the smell of bread as you enter any food store, the flower positioned cunningly near the entrance can’t help but catch the eye, as they did in this case, and for less than a pint of beer (in a pub) I couldn’t resist buying these beautiful blooms (I guess I fell for the store’s marketing strategy).

I mentioned yesterday that I wasn’t going to be posting any new photos today – and originally I wasn’t intending to take any photos but the flowers became the subject matter for an impromptu photo lesson for one of our house guests. I’m not sure whether I helped or hindered my student, such were my incoherent ramblings – but with a trip out to the zoo tomorrow we can start again and put theory into practise in better conditions (and hopefully lighting).

Tomorrow should, in theory, be an easier day than my normal photographic days as I won’t be taking The Beast (600mm lens) with me, as it still hasn’t been fixed (I plan to drive over to Elstree, Canon’s Service Centre, with the lens and deliver it directly – I want to ensure my “baby” is safe!). That doesn’t mean I’ll be going without any white “L” glass – I’ll be taking Dad’s 500mm prime telephoto lens with me (as well as all the other usual suspects). Whilst not exactly light, the 500mm weighs in at a much more reasonable 3.9Kg whereas in contrast, the 600mm (version 1, version 2 is much lighter) is a hefty 5.4Kg – remember this is just the weight of the lens, and doesn’t include the camera itself – the 1D4 is nearly 1.2Kg itself. It’s not wondered my knuckles now drag along on the floor – I’ll have to make sure I don’t get too close to the Gorilla enclosure in case the Keepers thinks one of the Great Apes has escaped!

* Blimey, this song takes me back… R.E.M. ‘s Orange Crush was released whilst I was at University (there we go, you can now work out how old I am… or can you???)

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