Strawflower

Summer seemed a little volatile this year, fine during the lockdown but unpredictable when travel opened up towards the end of June. Plenty of wind and rain to dampen the spirits at times! Got to Lismore Castle Gardens in early August when the  gardens were getting some breathing space in between some heavy bouts of rain. Butterflies were suddenly to be seen in abundance, nectaring hungrily on a huge range of flowers. Clouds were billowing across the sky but there was no stopping the warm sunshine! Lots of vivid colour everywhere to catch the eye.  I settled on the strawflowers for a while and eventually unleashed the tripod and diffuser though the flower heads were bobbing about in  the  wind ! A couple passed by with a young child, maybe 5/6 years old, who was very curious about what I was up to and she asked a barrage of questions, the  parents bemused with her interest in the photographic proceedings. As she was leaving ,I asked her if perchance she had her magic wand with her and could do something about the wind. She declared she only had her imaginary wand with her but that she'd see what she could do. Off she wandered through the gardens calling back once or twice to tell me she had done that. She certainly seemed to have some psychic effects on the elements, as lo and behold, the wind  died down for a while and the strawflower petals steadied up in the viewfinder !

Strawflower from Lismore Castle Gardens