Cowslips (Primula veris)

Green-winged Orchid (Orchis morio)

Longhorn (Sternocorus cursor)

Mayfly (Ephemera danica)

Oleander Hawkmoth (Daphnis nerii)

Rusty-back Fern (Ceterach officinarum)

Sundew (Drosera sp)

RANMORE, SURREY.

OM-4Ti, Zuiko 28mm lens + Zuiko 49mm close-up lens, Kodachrome 25.

Here I wished to show something of the background of the Cowslips, but with no wide-angle lens in my camera bag, I used the best combination of lenses that I had with me. I also used a polarising filter to reduce the flare on the shiny, textured leaves.

DORSET

Canon EOS 5, Canon 70-200mm zoom lens + 1.4X teleconverter, Fuji Provia.

A long lens combined with a shallow depth of field is an ideal technique for whole plant photography. I find that the key to success is to search diligently for an ideal plant, one with several spikes in one plane, and with just a touch of out of focus grasses in the foreground. You will need a low viewpoint and to shoot through the soft grasses.

WOLSTENBURY, EAST SUSSEX.

OM-2N, Tamron 90mm macro lens, Kodachrome 200.

6.30am is ideal time of the day to shoot insects. Many have not awoken from their over night sleep, while those that have, remain motionless, soaking up the sun’s rays in preparation for take-off. The soft diffused light has enabled me to record the silvery leaves of the thistle with none of the inherent problems of shooting in harsh sunlight or with flash.

RIVER ARUN, WEST SUSSEX.

OM-4Ti, Zuiko 80mm macro lens + 65-116mm telescopic tube, Olympus twin macro flash, Fuji Provia.

Mayflies are delicate, primitive insects. The adults don’t feed and are short-lived. The bodies of this species are about two centimetres long. The individuals synchronise their emergence and in this moist water meadow were abundant, drying out on the stems of slender wet grasses.

HORAM, EAST SUSSEX.

OM-4Ti, Zuiko 135mm macro lens + OM Bellows, Fuji Velvia.

One of the most beautiful of all the Hawkmoths, and no longer resident in the UK, this individual was successfully reared by a friend. I photographed it resting on an Oleander shrub, in his garden.

IN LIMESTONE WALL, THE BURREN, CO. CLARE, IRELAND

OM-4Ti, Tamron 90mm macro lens, Fujichrome 100.

This attractive fern gets its name from the silvery scales, which become rust-covered with age, and cover the underside of the fronds. Sori containing spores are produced among the scales. Here, I was attracted by the diagonal composition together with the colour contrast provided by the grey of the limestone, the rust coloured moss, and the bright green of the fronds.

OM2-N, Zuiko 80mm macro lens + OM bellows, Kodachrome 25.

Sundews are insectivorous plants, living in boggy, acidic areas which are deficient in nitrogen. Like all carnivorous plants, they obtain their nitrogen from animal visitors that land on their leaves.

In this picture back lighting is used to illuminate the sticky tentacles on the leaves, tentacles that contain glands that secrete sticky mucilage and digestive enzymes. The mucilage traps the visiting insect, while the enzymes dissolve its tissues prior to absorption of its nutrients by the leaf cells.