Berberis Trio - April 2022

It was a beautiful warm sunny day for my photo shoot in dad's garden this week, and the only thing to get in the way of some macro photography was a stiff breeze.

However, after a little perseverance I managed to get a few decent images for this week's article, with this one of a trio of Berberis blooms being my favourite.

Welsh Poppy - April 2022

Another new flower to the garden this week was the Welsh Poppy (Meconopsis cambrica). These were particularly difficult to capture on such a breezy day, but I was quite pleased to get the dead centre of this one pin sharp.

Spiraea Vanhouttei - April 2022

It was a complete surprise to come across the first white blossom of the Vanhoutte Spirea (Spiraea vanhouttei) bush, as I wasn't expecting this to flower for another couple of weeks. In fact I couldn't see any other flower buds on the bush, so these blooms, while very welcome, seemed to be abnormally early.

Forget Me Not - April 2022

The little blue blooms of the Forget Me Not (Myosotis) plants continued to pop up everywhere.

Turning Pink - April 2022

It was lovely to see the large white blooms of the Cherry (Prunus) tree turning slightly pink, as it gave an extra dimension to the mass of blossom.

Honey Spurge - April 2022

The Honey Spurge (Euphorbia mellifera) bush continued to flower with its weird but wonderful flower formations.

Periwinkle Surprise - April 2022

I wasn't expecting to see a Periwinkle (Vinca) flower at this time of year, as they usually finished flowering by the middle of March.

Mahonia Grapes - April 2022

It was quite late in the year for the Mahonia (Mahonia japonica) bush to still have berries too.

Hovering - April 2022

Being quite warm I was once again expecting to see lots of insect activity, but my bug buddies seemed to be camera shy again this week. I was quite pleased to grab a photo of this hovering Hoverfly (Syrphidae) while my macro lens was in manual focus mode though.

Resting Butterfly - April 2022

I was really annoyed at not getting a better shot of this Speckled Wood Butterfly (Pararge aegeria) though. I always take a series of photos as I approach my insect subjects, just in case they fly away. They don't normally fly off until my lens is practically touching them, but on this occasion, the Butterfly flew away before I'd got within about four feet of it. I must be out of practice with my stalking technique!

Resting Cat - April 2022

Finally, my photography companion mustn't have been feeling well this week, as he spent most of my visit sprawled across the carpet, watching the snooker with dad. It's a hard life being a cat!

So this week I went with Berberis Trio as my Image of the Week simply because I loved how the trio of little blooms looked hanging amongst the dark leaves of the hedge...