Day out at Mt Tomah Botanic Garden

Here are a few snaps taken on a gloriously-sunny day trip up to the Mt Tomah Botanic Gardens...

 

Stunning peony in full sun
(Pic by Natalie Hitchens)

Always hopeful to get some good bird shots - so my tool of the trade on the day was a (ridiculous) heavy 420mm telephoto lens. But, even for flowers, it proved to be quite useful because its shallow DOF was perfect for isolating the subject and throwing the background, such as it was, completely out of focus.
(Pic by Robin Nichols)

Freshly hatched cicada
The noise created by these little beggars at Mt Tomah botanic gardens was deafening, almost painful to the ears!
(Pic by Graham Robinson)

King protea
Nice shot of the almost felt-like petals of the king protea (Protea cynaroides)
(Pic by Vinnie Nguyen)

Brilliant bottle brushes at Mt Tomah
(Pic by Natalie Hitchens)

A nice combination of red waratah and white daisies.
Shots like this one require quite a bit of careful processing because of the contrast - deep shade and bright white textured highlights. This RAW file worked out well.
(Pic by Vinnie Nguyen)

Another view of one of Mt Tomahs amazing king proteas
(Pic by Graham Robinson)

Giant dinner-plate sized flower from the protea family
With a distant background, the shallow DOF separates the subject nicely from its background.
(Pic by Natalie Hitchens)

Rhododendron in pink
Macro close-up of the inside of this amazing Himalayan flower.
(Pic by Robin Nichols)

King protea flower
(Pic by Graham Robinson)

More proteas
Nice to see good compositional balance in this shot - with the sharp foreground image contrasted with the the out of focus flower head in the background.
(Pic by Vinnie Nguyen)

Stunning close-up shot of an everlasting flower in full bloom
(Pic by Natalie Hitchens)

Waterfall that runs through the gardens
Who says you can't hand-hold with a slow shutter speed?
(Pin sharp results from Graham Robinson - Olympus stabilisation, 1/5s @ f22)

Another type of (pinwheel?) protea
These flowers are reputed to be among the oldest flowers on earth
(Pic by Vinnie Ngyuen)

Peak flowering time
Another close-up shot of an sumptuously-coloured rhododendron flower
(Pic by Robin Nichols)

Another massive king protea, with pond and waterfall in the background
(Pic by Vinnie Nguyen)

Floral pattern
A nice semi-abstract shot highlighting the leaves as well as the flower heads.
(Pic by Graham Robinson)

Love the depth of colour.
Iridescent iris, close-up with 100mm Macro lens
(Pic by Robin Nichols)

Peony with bee
(Pic by Natalie Hitchens)