
Yesterday my new camera arrived and I have been practising with it, taking first photos around The Holler. (Click to enlarge the bees to see the details).

It is getting detail and is super fast, but will require more practice.

I was planning to use the camera mostly for landscapes, so I was pleasantly surprised with these first-attempt macros.

You can see some of the detail capability in this Datura or Moonflower. Moonflowers are night-blooming and belong to the nightshade family. They are poisonous and are pollinated at night by Sphinx and Hawk Moths. Native Americans used Moonflowers in sacred ceremonies as a hallucinogen.

These Night Blooming Cereus flowers were taken with my older, trusty HX400, which is still my go to bird and wildlife camera. The flowers grow on the tallest cactus in the world, Cereus Peruvians. Ours is over 30 feet tall! It’s flowers are as big as plates and open only at night. The tree generates tons of fruit called Peruvian Apples that are crunchy, sweet, and delicious!

Cheers to you from Sony’s views~
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Oh my goodness, Cindy! Even more fabulous than any before this!
I like bees and have some saved pictures of them.
The moonflowers are amazing and thanks for the story of how they are pollinated at night by moths. The macros are amazing and hope someday to hear you are famous and doing cards or magazines, but my favorites would be from “in the Holler!” xo 💖
I feel so released from the wish to be anything. Ambition has gone from me, which is so good. Now I can be like the kid I always was, and do what I always loved to do: Birds. Nature. Running around, watching it all.
In my life, I did what I wanted as a clinical social worker.
The only fame I want now is friends like you, and that is true. Be well sweet Robin.
The flowers look exotic.☺You’ve done a great job !
I am so lucky to meet people like you.
Oh boy, oh boy! You already knock it out of the park, Cindy. I’m fastening my seatbelt cause I can only imagine where your new camera will take us. Such impeccable detail. WOW!
It’s just a question of me keeping up with the camera! Thank you so much for such incredibly kind and motivating words Ruth <3
Outstanding collection! Awed by the skills you possess! Cheers!
Honored and humbled my friend. Thank you!
I knew it. I just knew it. It’s not the camera, it’s you! These are absolutely gorgeous as always! 😀
You are a very sweet friend and I am so lucky you are my friend Linda <3
Aw, shucks! Right back at ya! 😀 <3
Lookin’ good! RH
It’s a big brute of a camera too……I like it’s size, not too big.
I feel like I could reach out and touch the bees! Your camera is sharp and you have an amazing eye!
So encouraging and so kind. It does catch the details, but it is a bit tricky, and requires me to practice as I am still learning how it works. Hugs to you <3
Absolutely great professional photographs Cindy, your new Camera really brings out the color and detail of your subject, both of which I don’t think could be achieved without your artistic eye for detail.
Beautiful post.
Bloggers are the best friends in the world and they come from all over the world! I am so blessed to be part of this amazing community. Thank you so much!
Wow! The new camera makes those bees look like airplanes. The detail you got. Very inspiring. I’m so happy I got to drop by and catch up. I feel like I travel when I see your photos.
It is always a joy to hear from you and your fairy gown from Resa looks so incredibly perfect for you and so beautiful!
She is amazing! I love the dress. I feel lucky if I inspired her in any way at all.
You and Resa are two examples of why the blogging community is so remarkable. Each from different parts of the world, each with so much talent and creativity, and kindness too. I am so lucky to be part of this and believe me I know it! I love your dress. I love you and Resa~ <3
Aww, you are the sweetest. I feel lucky to be part of this community, too.
Cindy, just when we thought you couldn’t amaze us more than you usually do, you up your game! What many of us are waiting to hear is when do your photography books roll out? xx
One of the better things about my getting older is losing ambition and being content with with where I am. Appreciation from people like you, who I admire is all the recognition I want. <3
For many years, all too many, for some, the ambition was just to survive. However, I do understand and appreciate what you say. Someday, I shall get the chance to tell you just how much your encouragement has meant… When are you coming back? <3
Soon I hope. We have a definite rendezvous on the books when I do! <3
Looking forward to it my friend! <3
Beauty and the bees…love it! Have fun with that new camera and exploring.
Thank you for the kind encouragement & cheers to you!
Absolutely stunning Cindy!! the fuzz, the wings of those bees– so beautiful and something we could never see with our eyes alone! You are an artist. Congrats on your new camera!! I know you’ll make good use of it! xox
Have a blessed Thanksgiving Rhonda and thank you for being so very kind <3
Truly a great camera but in the hands of an expert produces such quality images. I’ve been looking at a new camera and tried a friends too and it does take quite a time to get to know a new camera these days! I got bewildered by the 4 k mode.
Yes, I tend to google one function at a time, and take it slowly, learning one thing at a time. My senior cerebellum seems to appreciate this approach!!
That’s a good idea. I was stuck trying to use a friends camera that was already on some settings for close ups for birds and I was really confused! Also on Spanish but we finally reset it!
That is like my travel computer that I bought in Germany. It does help me practice my German though!
Well done! 🙂
Merci beaucoup mon ami~
I hope you enjoy your new camera to the fullest. These are all lovely! From your blogger friend and neighbor to the north, Pam 😊.
Hugs to you Pam & cheers & thank you too! <3
Happy learning-curve. -Oscar
<3
Congratulations on your new camera… The pictures are awesome. Specially the bees, they look outstanding.
Ps. I never knew the Brahmkamal is known as Cereus Flower and that it’s apples can be eaten? Wow.. When I go back to my city I will surely visit that cactus again.
Thank you. They must be in the same family of night blooming cacti. I read there is a 100 foot tall cereus in India. Check out: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night-blooming_cereus
Wow.. Thanks for the link Cindy 🙂
<3 <3
Have fun with your new camera these photos are amazing. 🐝
You are a most appreciated & very sweet friend Charlotte!
Congratulations on your new camera, Cindy. Your photos look fabulous, the macros are stunning! Have fun and enjoy learning more, photography is a great adventure. Like Rebecca Budd said when we met; it’s like going down a rabbit hole! 🙂
Best regards from the Cotswolds,
The Fab Four of Cley xox
Thank you! You are in the beautiful Cotswolds. I wonder if I told you I spent a summer there when I finished graduate school. We stayed in a 450 year old gardener’s cottage with massive overgrown bushes of ancient roses that I filled the cottage with. It had a Dutch door painted blue and a private chapel on the estate.
nice shots
Grazie!
Cindy, I didn’t think that your photos could get any more fabulous, but they have! That first photo was incredible!!! Cheers to your new camera and your talent!
Awww, you are very sweet! Thank you for encouraging and motivating me all the past years and I so look forward to sharing in your adventures in 2018! <3
Likewise, my friend! We leave for our first adventure of the New Year on Tuesday! 😀
Can’t wait to read all about it! Safe travels <3