Water of Leith
October 2026 - Autumn comes
Leaves on the trees are beginning to change colour and there is a freshness in the air. The grass is awash with dew in the morning and fungi are emerging rapidly in the woods. Autumn is on its way.
I was surprised to see a single red campion plant in flower on the estate where I work but perhaps a burst of late September warmth had totally confused it! I was nevertheless grateful for its appearance and grabbed a photograph. Meanwhile, harebells hung on until the end of the month before giving way but green alkanet is still holding its own.
I enjoyed photographing backlit leaves, bracken and ferns last month and seem to be building a small collection of images of them. Their vibrant green fronds contrast so well with the dark shadow behind them to make striking images.
However, the big news from September is that I have eventually gone mirrorless! After resisting the temptation for several years, I now consider the benefits will justify the expense and a secondhand Canon R5 camera body ended up in my lap. The in-camera focus-stacking will help my plant photography, the automatic eye focusing should help my wildlife images and the ability to crop deeply into the 45 megapixel file will help my macro shots. By using a converter, I shall be able to retain my current crop of lenses meantime; to buy a new raft of lenses would have been beyond my price bracket!
I took the R5 camera down the Water of Leith for a play. There are some differences to a DSLR camera to overcome but the basics of photography remain the same and, with familiarisation, the knobs and buttons will soon become second nature. I look forward to seeing its results this autumn…
October 2026 - Autumn comes
Leaves on the trees are beginning to change colour and there is a freshness in the air. The grass is awash with dew in the morning and fungi are emerging rapidly in the woods. Autumn is on its way.
I was surprised to see a single red campion plant in flower on the estate where I work but perhaps a burst of late September warmth had totally confused it! I was nevertheless grateful for its appearance and grabbed a photograph. Meanwhile, harebells hung on until the end of the month before giving way but green alkanet is still holding its own.
I enjoyed photographing backlit leaves, bracken and ferns last month and seem to be building a small collection of images of them. Their vibrant green fronds contrast so well with the dark shadow behind them to make striking images.
However, the big news from September is that I have eventually gone mirrorless! After resisting the temptation for several years, I now consider the benefits will justify the expense and a secondhand Canon R5 camera body ended up in my lap. The in-camera focus-stacking will help my plant photography, the automatic eye focusing should help my wildlife images and the ability to crop deeply into the 45 megapixel file will help my macro shots. By using a converter, I shall be able to retain my current crop of lenses meantime; to buy a new raft of lenses would have been beyond my price bracket!
I took the R5 camera down the Water of Leith for a play. There are some differences to a DSLR camera to overcome but the basics of photography remain the same and, with familiarisation, the knobs and buttons will soon become second nature. I look forward to seeing its results this autumn…
