In bloom ...

A promise made .... a promise kept. I said on Friday I'd post this shot, so here it is. Did you expect the flower of the humble dandelion to hide so much beauty? (Click and enlarge to see the detail)
Me neither. And again I wonder - why is it that so many winter flowering plants have yellow flowers?
As for my camera settings - it's that zoom macro setting again.

Just dande ....

I've apologised before for posting some things that are not Midlands exclusives, and let's face it you could probably go out right now and find a dandelion growing within a few metres of your home. But the difference is you wouldn't. You probably wouldn't even notice one anyway (other than to mutter 'damned weeds') - and if you're a city dweller you'd likely not have the time to stop and look at just what  marvellous works of nature the delicate seed heads of the dandelion really are. Do yourself a favour and take that time - I've even noticed the incredible beauty of their vivid yellow flowers - I'll post one on Monday and you'll probably be as amazed as I was.
I have again used the zoom macro setting on my camera (a Ricoh Caplio - R3 for those interested) to capture the incredibly fine detail of this shot. Selecting a head which had partially dispersed its seeds allows the lace like tracery of the soft silky hairs of the seeds to show up clearly. Simple, but effective I thought - (definitely an image to click and enlarge to fully appreciate).