Here’s another photo from Quail Botanical Gardens.  I don’t know what the plant is but it was some kind of tree with these wonderful hairy yellow balls.  Quite stunning.  Taken with my Sony a350 and processed in Aperture, Photoshop and Topaz.  Lots of my flower photos are on flickr here.  DSC02809

This photo was taken at Quail Botanic Gardens in Encinitas, southern California.There were lots of super plants with wonderful flowers – more to come – but this insect took my fancy.  I then used Topaz to bring out some of the detail and contrast in the image which had too much of a flat red look straight out of camera.  More flowers on this blog here and images from quail Gardens here on flickr.  DSC02851

This beautiful flower (an anemone I think) was captured at Beverston Castle near Tetbury in Gloucestershire last April.  Shot with a Sony a350 and processed in Aperture, Photoshop and Topaz to lift shadows and bring out the detail.  See more from Beverston on my flickr here.  DSC00100

I know some photographers go to all kinds of lengths to get great photos – for flowers it usually involves a light spray of water.  This shot was taken after rain so nothing artificial about it – and there has been minimal processing here – just levels in Aperture.  See more of my flower shots here on flickr and here’s 20 previous flowers on this photoblog.  DSC01880

Here’s a pink flower photo with a completely different feel to it compared to yesterday’s photo.  I love the soft, hazy look of this shot.  Taken with my Sony a350 with very little processing in Aperture.  See more of my English garden flowers here on flickr.  DSC01867

This photo is to remind me of summer just past.  These gorgeous sweet pea blooms are so delicate and beautiful; short lived but worth it!  This photo is straight out of camera – no processing.  My most interesting flowers are here on flickr.  Also, I’m just trying out a slideshow of my photos on this site – try it here.  DSC01887

These beautiful orchids were taken at Beverston Castle, near Tetbury, Gloucestershire – amongst a lot of other beautiful orchids, and lots of other flowers around the castle.  A superb garden and a pretty ruined castle.  Taken with Sony a350 and Tamron 17-50 mm lens, and processed in Aperture with very little enhancement – I did try various processing but found the results always seemed worse than the original, so I stayed with that.  At this time none of my photos from Beverston are on my flickr, but they will get there eventually.  My most interesting flowers on flickr are here.  DSC00117

Another of my early Sony a350 shots, again with the Tamron 28-300 mm zoom, and at full 300mm stretch for some strange reason.  Just a simple garden pink.  Processing was in Aperture, Photoshop and Noise Ninja.  I wanted to smooth the background, whilst applying a little sharpening to the petals – but not too much; I didn’t want to damage the softness of the bloom.  See more English garden flowers on my flickr here.  DSC01862

One of the best places we went to whilst on holiday recently in Gran Canaria, was the small town of Puerto del Morgan.  Very windy bus journey along the cliffs to get there, then a fascinating street market (and harbour market), busy harbour, and lots of flowers everywhere.  Very pretty.  See more from Gran Canaria on my flickr here.  DSC07316

Seen at Highnam House, Gloucester at their Spring Open Garden, a wonderful occasion of flowers, vintage cars, a brass band and all sorts of fun and games.  Taken with a Sony a350 and Tamron 28-300 mm lens.  See my most interesting flowers on flickr here.  DSC04034