Name: Mandy Disher
Picture title: Stitchwort
Category: Plants & Fungi
Nationality: British
Occupation: Retired

Mandy says:
‘It’s a welcome sight in late spring to see the masses of Stellaria holostea or greater stitchwort appearing in my garden. I like the delicacy of these tiny wild flowers, the pure, bright white, deeply-lobed petals contrasting beautifully with the small orange anthers.

Getting a close-up of a flower that is no larger than a five pence piece in situ would be a real challenge, so I collected a few stems, put them in a small vase and placed them indoors next to a bright window. With my camera mounted on a tripod I set the aperture wide open – the depth of field was extremely shallow at this close range. I took several shots at different focal points to obtain sharpness at the centre of the flower, and also of the stamens and stem. I then blended the two images together in post-processing to create the single finished image.’

Technical information:
Canon EOS 7D
Tamron 60mm Macro
ISO 100
f/2
1/400sec
Accessories: Tripod, remote release switch, reflector
Post processing: Basic colour and tonal adjustments using Camera Raw and Photoshop 

Website: www.mandydisher.com
Instagram: mandydisherflorals