Early morning light

It was on Friday I started to feel like I was coming down with a cold, but today it's been in full force.  My 50mm lens project requires me to take a shot each day, which, when you're feeling like death warmed up, isn't the easiest of tasks to complete.

Straight after getting out of bed this morning (after a somewhat disturbed night I might add) was, I thought, my best chance to get a shot.  I wasn't feeling too bad, and the light passing through the Canna Lilly leaves was lovely.  I really like the colours, shapes and textures these leaves present when the light is behind them.

Autofocus and a tripod were the order of the day as my eyes are pretty blurry and I wasn't very steady holding the camera ... wow the things you do for these self imposed projects!  All shots were taken at ISO 200 with spot metering and exposure.  When I got the camera at first I used an average metering but have switched now to spot.  If there's a chance of blowing out some areas, or losing details in the shadows in others I'll use exposure bracketing and take several shots (and then perhaps play with HDR).  There's different types of bracketing ... I've only played with exposure bracketing.

After taking the first shot I noticed a small spider on the leaf, which led to the second shot.  This has been cropped slightly.  Click on it to see an enlarged view and let me know what you think.  There's another version on my 505050 page.

On the way back inside for the pills, potions and hankies I took this shot of some flowers near the back door.  I was quite taken with the bokeh effect from a shallow depth of field (f1.8) and the way the blooms seem to be straining towards the light.

Hopefully the sore throat, coughing and sneezing will clear up soon and I can get some better shots.