Macro May 2018 - Day 31

And just like that, the month is over. Last photo for Macro May 2018 is these cute little fungi nestled together in the undergrowth....until next year.

Macro May 2018 - Day 30

Not much compares to a rose...

Macro May 2018 - Day 29

Down to the last couple of days for the month and some simple ivy, after the rain.

Macro May 2018 - Day 28

The wonderful potential of a rose bud.

2018 Lifestyle Project - Week 21

You can read the introduction to this project by clicking here.

We had some crazy flash flooding yesterday; it was a sudden deluge, too much for the street drains to handle. It had been feeling really mild and the girls were really excited, grabbed their jackets and boots and headed out to splash around. By the afternoon the sun had reappeared and it was mostly forgotten, but it will be a fun memory.

Macro May 2018 - Day 27

This busy little bee took many attempts to try to capture, you should see all the near misses. Not perfectly happy, but I never claimed to take portraits of bees, so he gets no money back.

Macro May 2018 - Day 26

Not a lot of flowers at Page Park right now, but some lovely colours and textures...

Macro May 2018 - Day 25

If you don't live here and watched it on tv, don't let the glorious weather from last weekend's royal wedding fool you, the rest of the week has been gloomy and wet! The snails are out and loving it, but some of us humans (especially the ones who used to live in California) not so much.

Macro May 2018 - Day 24

Another gloomy day around here and of course when I saw my perfect macro shot my camera was at home...so sad. Beads it is then.

Macro May 2018 - Day 23

It was another scramble this evening as I roamed the house for a suitable subject.

Macro May 2018 - Day 22

As the month wears on the challenge gets harder. I know people approach MacroMay in different ways; while some store up photos ahead of time and post one a day, I challenge myself to each day of May take a new photo to post. As the month end nears though, the struggle increases.

Thank you to my hubby for today's inspiration, not sure why I didn't think of it before. This photo captures the truly narrow depth of field involved in macro photography; this was shot at an aperture of f/5.6, which with any other lens would give a considerable depth of field and a lot in focus, but here and at this proximity you can see how little there is to work with. Fun huh?!

Macro May 2018 - Day 21

Visited another friend's garden today. I am often surprised by what catches my eye once I upload my photos, it's not always what I would necessarily expect.

2018 Lifestyle Project - Week 20

You can read the introduction to this project by clicking here.

Love that each of my kids is artistic...homemade birthday card making.

Macro May 2018 - Day 20

Another departure from florals, I decided to do a still life today, just to try something different. I didn't have too much on hand and was losing light rapidly, as well as multitasking as I made dinner for the family. But it works...

Macro May 2018 - Day 19

Macro May 2018 - Day 18

Loving all the pretty blossom surrounding us, wherever we turn, these days.

Macro May 2018 - Day 17

Little more abstract today but I like it.

Macro May 2018 - Day 16

I poked around a friend's garden today and this plant in the corner caught my eye. It had no need for flowers because the gorgeous leaves look like this...

Macro May 2018 - Day 15

Halfway through the month already. Another change up from florals because I've photographed everything I have access to in local parks, and yeah, that nonexistent garden we have. Who has a garden I can hit up?

Macro May 2018 - Day 14

2018 Lifestyle Project - Week 19

You can read the introduction to this project by clicking here.

Walking the dog is a daily occurrence for me, but I try to rope the rest of them in on the weekends. We went to Snuff Mills yesterday afternoon and it was lovely. Grabbed this shot which really sums up so many of our walks; certain young lady talking, certain young man behind in a  world of his own, dog focused intently on daddy.

Macro May 2018 - Day 13

More little flowers...

Macro May 2018 - Day 12

It's bluebell season here in the UK, it doesn't last long but there's nothing better than the carpet of blue/purple when you find it. I still need to figure out where that is, local to us, but wanted to capture a solo one too. Such beautiful flowers. I'm loving all the purple shades this week.

Macro May 2018 - Day 11

Managed to snap this towards the end of the day, right before it began to rain again...

Macro May 2018 - Day 10

Just a dried up old bud that caught my eye...because I look and see differently when I have my macro lens. Fresh perspective!

Macro May 2018 - Day 9

I wasn't sure what this purple flower was so I asked the Insagram world and the consensus seems to be that it is an Allium, more specifically an ornamental allium, which is basically an onion. Learn something new every day!

Macro May 2018 - Day 8

I took a break from the floral macros today for my photo. This little guy is a very much loved member of the family, complete with all his issues, because we all have them, right?!

2018 Lifestyle Project - Week 18

You can read the introduction to this project by clicking here.

We've had a couple of lovely days weather-wise (due to end again, boo)...it's no wonder Brits are obsessed with weather, it just makes no sense and constantly teases and tricks us. On Saturday afternoon we took our dog over to Ashbury Court Estate for a run and I've never seen the place busier; not just the playground area, which was packed, but the place was full of people having picnics and barbecues and enjoying the sun and time together. I lost sight of youngest for a few moments but found her quickly just on the other side of a massive fallen tree, making daisy chains. It was picture perfect and unplanned and quite lovely. Too hard to choose just one favourite.

Macro May 2018 - Day 7

They're everywhere, making sure you can't forget them!

Macro May 2018 - Day 6

When all else fails and there really hasn't been much left to photograph for your daily macro photo...there are always dandelions; beautifully puffy and delicate, perfect domes yet still amazing 'past their prime' to the very last seed.

Macro May 2018 - Day 5

Cow parsley may be a weed, but it doesn't stop it being pretty. So delicate and unassuming, it always catches my eye.

Macro May 2018 - Day 4

Macro May 2018 - Day 3

Spring really is trying and they are predicting a break from the rain and some sun. All the blossoms and sunshine and we start to feel hopeful!

Macro May 2018 - Day 2

Raindrops on leaf...because England = Rain

Macro May 2018 - Day 1

It's Macro May! I joined this Instagram photo challenge last year and will be playing along again this year. I confess, with my personal lifestyle 52 week project, following our real life, more documentary or lifestyle, I find myself missing the 'pretty' and the 'details', so this is just what I need.

Hopefully the rain will hold off some of the days as most of my best inspiration comes from nature. This little beauty was poking over from next door (as sadly there is not even one flower or bloom in our garden, which we have yet to start) and I added a very low opacity texture from Jessica Drossin.