Overloaded

Bee with lots of pollen.  Nikon D7000

31st March 2014

I saw this bee today investigating the Hyacinths that have just started flowering in the garden.  It seemed to be struggling to fly, and when I looked, I realised it was laden down with a huge stash of pollen in its leg sacks.

After a short rest, it seemed to buzz off happily, with lots of food for the evening.

I wonder if bees can sneeze?   With all that pollen around and sticking my head in flowers all day, I know I would.

Refledged

Repaired Canberra model.  Nikon D7000

30th March 2014

After sitting on the shelf for the last year or so still in bits, I finally found some glue and repaired my Canberra model.

It was not purely out of nostalgia, I have some pretty rough 3D geometry to sort out and waving the model around with some paper axes on it does help to visualise the data transforms.

You never know, one day I may get around to painting it too!

Under Pressure!

Overfull water barrel.  Fuji F10

29th March 2014

The patterns water makes when pressure makes it work against gravity are rather fascinating.    Capturing water flow in the camera needs a decent shutter speed, however a slower speed gives slight blur and the impression of motion.

You just have to be careful not to capture water within the camera itself, or all subsequent pictures will be blurred as well!

Creepy Plastic

Alex's modified Lego figures.  Nikon D7000

28th March 2014

Alex has been modifying some of his Lego figures. It is amazing how a benign piece of plastic can turn quite macabre with just the addition of a little bit of black pen.

I am glad all policemen do not smile like this...

The chicken called 'Notch'

Notch,  Nikon D7000

27th March 2014

Of the chicks that hatched a few weeks ago, Alex named this one 'Notch'.   Notch is the stripy one in the middle of the last picture here; he has grown a touch!

Given the size of his comb already, we are pretty sure he is a cock.   He is a Silver Campine so should be really quite pretty, and if he ends up anything like Henrietta (a hen we had for many years; she was a Golden Campine) may be bright and quite a sod!

Colours: RGB pixels, the effects of being near and far

Pixels on the laptop.  Nikon D7000

26th March 2015

This image is intended to be clicked on and viewed large.

When the image is small, the pixels are there, just not quite resolvable by the eye and what we see is the intended overall picture.

When viewed close up though, the pixels form a wonderful abstract mosaic in their own right; truly a picture within a picture.

Every day objects: Papadum Tower

Papadum tower.  Fuji F10

25th March 2014

When it is curry night, it is fun to watch the papadum's curling up and changing shape in the microwave.

They seem so innocuous when they are totally flat in the packet, but soon identify the hotspots in the microwave oven and bubble and twist into fun shapes.

They are just a sod to stack on the plate to carry to the table though!