Photography – Macro Water Droplets Series No. 2

Splish

Stats

f/stop: 5

Shutter speed: 1/200

ISO: 100

Macro Focal length: 238mm

What do you think? Number 3 coming shortly….

More from the Water Macro Droplets Series

Green Design – ‘Grow Your Own City Food’

Green i Design loves the Eco. Grow your own and save the planet as well as the pounds!

Here we have a guest post from our learned friend Peter Kirby-Harris, known to the kidz as Kirby / The Kirbster / Kirbalish and is studying for a PHD in Environmental Politics Oooohhhh…………………………………………………………………………………. get him!

This boy is an Eco Geeko. A walker by nature and a vegetarian by force, Kirby is more than dedicated to helping us understand how we can be that little bit greener.

So welcome to Kirby our very own Eco warrior and WE wanna see your results – grow it, snap it, show it. munch it, love it.

Get growing.

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Room for growth? Put your home to the test.

Whether it is a desire to be more self-sufficient or the alarm at rising food prices, the issue of how much food can be grown on a local level has never been more important.

From growing herbs in window boxes to allotment gardening, this series of horticultural insights are your guide into the ever increasing world of grow your own (GYO)

The indoor herb garden.

This is something everyone can do no matter what size of dwelling. Minimal time, effort and money can bring about a pleasant although marginal boost to one’s own self sufficiency.

Ingredients – seeds, soil and plant pots. Easy.

Simply plant a few seeds (to increase changes of successful germination) into a pot full of soil and bury it about a centimetre deep. Keep in a warm place until shoots develop then position by window with several hours worth of daily sun. For maximum results try turning the pots 180 degrees every few days to ensure even growth for your plants. Try adding a little compost, if you can manage the smell, or some organic fertiliser.

Continuously harvest when ready for excellent additions to cooking. They could end up looking like this if your good to them.

This should only take about 1 hour a week of planting, watering and composting. This is well worth the effort, not only does it save you £’s per year on herbs and seasonings.

Sainsburys charge nearly £1 for a 25g packet of the stuff and think about it, pizza is just shit without herbs. Mmmmmmm.

Photography – ‘Chill Out’

Don’t know where you are and what the weather is like there, but for once I’m surprised to say I’m writing this to you from a rather warm London. With the recent temperamental climate here it makes today feel like a heatwave.

Make the most of it my friends because it’s a nigh on certainty that it ‘aint gonna last! So when you come in from sunning yourself in the garden with your factor 400, or come back from that sneaky extra long lunch break you just had and your looking for something to cool you down a bit – may we recommend this photo – taken by one of Green i Design’s resident photographers in April 08 no less.

A chilly little macro shot reminding us all that no matter where you are or how lovely it is today it’s never guaranteed and this could be just round the corner!! Now run, get your shorts on and catch that ice cream van before its all too late!

Photography – ‘Take Flight’

‘Take Flight’

Matt Swann of Scattershot Genius, California, Pismo Beach

Stats:

105mm macro lens, 1/1250, f/5 and ISO 400.

The original shot was then converted into black & white in Aperture, where Matt knocked down the blue channel and kept the red + the green, resulting in the final image.

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This shot of the seagull, is so crisp it looks like that little bugger is going straight for your eyes, or at least for your sandwich!

Matt said “I used my D70’s continuous auto focus mode to keep focus on the seagull’s eye as he flew – I can’t remember whether he was landing or taking off.”

Whether it was going up or down, Matt managed to get a beautiful image of the creature in flight, the light perfectly capturing each feather, an incredibly hard shot which would have taken a very steady hand, not to mention a bit of nerve. Well done Matt, Green i Design thinks you rule.

Photography – ‘Fleur Violet’

‘Fleur Violet’

A stunning shot, showing the advantages of a macro lens…. looks almost hand painted, good enough to eat.