Extreme apertures in the lavender fields

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I took a trip to Snowshill Lavender Farm the other weekend to get some shots of the lavender fields in full bloom, and I was looking to get something a bit different from the usual purple rows you see so often.

Photographing big cats

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A little while ago I took a trip to the Wildlife Heritage Foundation based in Kent. This charitable organisation has been running The Big Cat Sanctuary since 2000, their mission is to protect big cat species around the world from extinction through their successful breeding programmes.

Part of the way they raise funds for their projects is hosting photography days, where you can get up close (but not too close) with the various species and get a few snaps.

Your not allowed in the cages with them of course, but you can get right up to the fence to get the shots, assuming that is the residents of that particular enclosure are not being too cantankerous. If they aren’t in the mood for a close-up, a quick snarl and the flash of canines soon has everyone stepping back fairly briskly.

Our first visit was to the cheetah enclosure, these inquisitive animals were quite comfortable with us being there and it wasn’t long before they wandered over, in that nonchalant way of theirs, to see just what we were up to. In fact cheetahs are quite easily domesticated, the ancient Egyptians and Romans used them to hunt, hence the name ‘hunting leopard’, although they are most closely related to the puma and jaguarondi.

While they are not a true ‘big’ cat, as they cannot roar, instead issuing mews, hissing, chirrups and yowls, they are one of the oldest extant cat species, still closely resembling their forebears from 200,000 years ago.

This one was getting quite bored with our company and obviously couldn't 
stifle that yawn.

Blurring flowers for interesting effects

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At this time of the year the flowers are out in full swing, parading their colourful blooms in a grand display of sprightly vibrancy and sparkling vigour. There are some of course, who insist it’s just showing off, that it’s nothing to at all to do with pollination and propagation. They even go so far as to bewail the ‘pomp and bravura’ as nothing more than pure ostentatious narcissism.

These people are idiots.