"Agapanthus Dream" posted on 500px gallery

Whilst the sun is out, I continue my collection of flower macro shots, this time finding a bunch of agapanthus around the corner from where I live. Those purple flowers are beautiful, and form balls of flowers, contrasting with the green of the plant itself.

This one is a bit closer, and is taken this afternoon in natural light - quite a harsh sunlight, but creating a beautiful soft, dreamy effect.

"Agapanthus Dream" - (c) Gilles Royer 2014

The link to my +500px gallery is as follows, if you have time please come and visit: https://500px.com/photo/92579873/agapanthus-dream-by-gilles-royer

Thanks again for stopping by!

"A Flower's Genitals" posted on 500px gallery

Yesterday, I took a few shots of petunias in the garden. With summer here in Melbourne, the flowers my wife planted are in full bloom, and petunias of all colours are ready for me to take their portrait.

This one is a macro of the centre of the flower, showing the genitals of the petunia. That's what you call a nude portrait in flower photography, I guess! 

It was shot in full sunlight, about 4pm, and I also added the fill-in flash, so this gives to the surrounding petals a high key effect that I didn't mind at all, giving emphasis to the centre, yet showing the purple lines in the petals.

Let me know what you think...

"A Flower's Genitals" - (c) Gilles Royer 2014

And here is the link to the photo on +500px gallery: https://500px.com/photo/92502149/a-flower's-genitals-by-gilles-royer

Have a beautiful weekend!

"Portrait of an Hoverfly" posted on 500px.com

Today I was playing outside with my daughter when I noticed a little bug on her. Coming closer, it was an hoverfly, that wouldn't move out. Upon closer examination, I quickly found that this was because of a broken wing.

I went to get my camera - the fly still on my daughter, not scared at all by the "bebete" (French for little bug / insect) - and came back to take a few shots. This one is my preferred one, and one of the few with focus spot on on the eye:

"Portrait of an Hoverfly" (c) Gilles Royer 2014

I also posted it on my +500px gallery under the following link:
https://500px.com/photo/85330385/portrait-of-an-hoverfly-by-gilles-royer

This was a great opportunity to take a macro shot of that fly, otherwise, I don't know how to get those close-ups of flying insects - they don't stay very long on one spot!

If you have any tips on how to take insect macros, please share them!

"La Mouette au Soleil" - New photo on @500px gallery

Today I posted a photo taken a few weeks back, on the same morning I tool the photos for the OMOE 2014 (One Minute On Earth - check the www.kujaja.com website if you haven't yet).

It was taken one my way back from the shooting session, going back to the car park from the St Kilda Pier. I saw this seagull looping around, then landing on one post, obviously enjoying a rest as well as the warm rays of the rising sun:

The link to the 500px gallery is below:
http://500px.com/photo/76325917/la-mouette-au-soleil-by-gilles-royer

What I liked in this shot is the beautiful warm light (arriving from the right hand side, where the sun has just come above the horizon), highlighting the details in the feathers. You can even see through the nostril on the beak if you look closely! 

Hope you enjoy, and thanks for your visit!

The Story Behind... Portrait of a Giraffe @500px

Just posted a new photo in my 500px gallery (http://500px.com/photo/73635573/portrait-of-a-giraffe-by-gilles-royer)

Although I wish I had taken this one in Serengiti reserve in South Africa, I must admit this is a photo taken at a zoo - I know a few hard core animal photographers believe taking animal photos in zoo and parks is cheating, but that's only their opinion!

This particular one was taken in Singapore Zoological gardens, which I visited with my wife and daughter during a recent trip. This zoo is fantastic - big, clean (you're in Singapore after all), a train is running all around if you get tired, and they even have a polar bear in there - not bad when outside temperature is 30 degrees+ and humidity probably over 80%

One of the highlights was actually to go and feed the giraffes - you make your way to a raised platform, buy a plate of cut veggies /fruits for 5 Singapore dollars (it's a donation), and wait your turn to get 2 or 3 giraffes popping their head over the platform's balustrade, and display a very curly tongue to grab some pieces of fruit - I'm sure they are well fed at any time, yet this must be a treat for them! 

If you have a chance to get there, this is a highly recommended family activity - plus the photographer in you will be spoilt!

Thanks for your visit and ongoing support

The Story Behind... Portrait of a Mantis

Hi there. I've just posted this photo, in my series "Portrait of...", on my 500px portfolio (http://500px.com/photo/63354599). This one is titled "Portrait of a Mantis"

Portrait of a Mantis (c) Gilles Royer 2014 - Nikon D200 / Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro

This shot is from an impromptu meeting. A couple of nights ago, my wife had a little scare as she met this little mantis on our deck. But the surprise over, she called me as she realised I'd be keen to take a few snapshots of this beautiful little bug. 

I straight away took the camera, but it was quite dark outside. But I thought this was the only chance I had, so set the mantis in a pot of flowers nearby, and started to shoot with the flash. I then moved it to a cyprus bush, and tool a few more shots. When I reviewed the shots later on, I was not fully happy with them, as it was hard to get a good focus in total darkness, and the flash and focus of the Tamron lens combined were way too slow to get an interesting shot.

So I was nicely surprised, the day after, when I went in the garden, and this mantis was still there, baking in the late summer sun. You already know what I did next! I rushed back inside to grab my camera, determined to have a good shot under the nice morning light. 

And I did! I tried a few different angles and distances, as well as a few different sets, thanks to a very helpful Mantis, happy to be moved around, carried on a stick, and probed to show its best angle! 

This was was shot in a bush of purple Platycodon Astra (Platycodon grandiflorus), hence the nice purple hues in the background. I aimed at focusing on the eye, whilst setting a shallow aperture of f/5.6 to get nice separation between the face and the rest of the body. I also turned down the ISO to 125 (I usually have 200 as a standard setting on the camera).

I'm not quite sure what the exact species of Mantis this one is. It's a brown / beige colour, not the green mantises I'm more used to. Please let me know if you know the species name, as I'd be keen to find out.

Hope you like it! And thanks for your visit