I've finished editing and sharing a series of photos showcasing spring flowers in the woods in #CartonHouse near #Maynooth. I really like how they came out, and I hope you notice they're a little different to typical flower macros.
Let me explain why …
glass.photo/bbusschots/series...
A low and close view of a low-growing wild plant along the edge of a muddy forest trail. The plant is very low-growing and at first glance looks like it only has wide green waxy dark green notched leaves, but on closer inspection some stems stand a little tall if the leaves and are topped with tiny green flowers with four yellow-tipped stamens in the center of each.
These tiny little yellowy-green Opposite-leaved Golden-Saxifrage flowers are easy to miss, but I love the unusual texture they give our woodlands. I snapped these along one of the woodland trails in #CartonHouse near #Maynooth. #Bloomscrolling
P.S., was glad I wore my trusty Merrell hiking shoes! 🙂
A low, close, and wide view of a small low-growing wild flower at the edge of an earthen woodland path. The flowers themselves are about and inch across and bright yellow, with a big central circle of stamens, and a ring of countless thin petals. The flowers stick up over a dense bed of dark glossy green spade-shaped leaves. The flowers dominate the right-foreground, with the path running past and disappearing into the distance to their left. The trunks of countless still bare trees can be seen in the background in soft focus.
These lovely yellow Lesser Celandines are carpeting the clear areas under the trees along the trails in #CartonHouse near #Maynooth ATM. The more showy blue & white carpets of Bluebells & wild garlic that will follow get all the attention, but I love these little yellow suns 🙂 #Bloomscolling
A ground-level close view of small purple wild flowers growing on a forest floor. The flowers are growing above dark green spade-shaped leaves, and each has two petals pointing up, like bunny ears, and row of three spread across their lower half like a broad face. There are very fine hairs in the center, where the colour changes to white with purple veins. Tree trunks are visible behind in soft focus.
Wild violets on the forest floor along a woodland trail in #CartonHouse near #Maynooth. These tiny little gems are easy to overlook, but they are so pretty with their intricate little details! #Bloomscrolling
A close portrait-oriented view of the top part of a foot-tall flowering stalk with small dark blue bell-shaped flowers hanging from it. At the top is a cluster of still closed buds growing in a forest clearing. Behind, in soft focus is a sea of lush a dark green grass-like leaves speckled with more blue flowers, and a background of still bare trees at the end of the clearing.
Bluebells starting to bloom along one of the woodlands trials in #CartonHouse near #Maynooth. #Bloomscrolling
A low and wide shot close to a clump of wild flowers growing through last year’s brown fallen leaves on the floor of a deciduous forest with bare-branches trees. The base of a tree trunk frames the left of the frame and a dirt path can be seen curving through the right of the scene in the mid-distance.
Inspired by this month's category I stretched out my walk today to spend some time on the woodland trial in #CartonHouse near #Maynooth. Lots of stuff for me to sort through and edit over the next few days, but these little primroses along the path were instant keepers! #Bloomscrolling
The Staysure Legends Tour returns to Carton House as Irish golf builds toward a Ryder Cup-fuelled summer.
#CartonHouse #OFXIrishLegends #StaysureLegendsTour
lovelivegolf.com/staysure-legends-tour-ca...
A close portrait-oriented of a small single while bell-shaped flower with little green accents hanging down from a 3 inch stalk and growing between a free dark green grass-like leaves.
A single perfect little snowdrop peeping up through the decaying remains of last summer's oak leaves in #CartonHouse near #Maynooth. #Bloomscrolling
A close but wide portrait-oriented view of a purple and white flower growing in a raised pot next to a path. The path as well as tall trees lining it and a pole with signposts are visible behind the flower in soft focus. The sky above is out of focus but clearly overcast.
These winter flowering Pansies are really breaking up the January gloom in the various flower pots decorating the grounds around #CartonHouse near #Maynooth. #Bloomscrolling
A portrait-oriented view down a curving gravel path through a large lawn dotted with large bare oak trees towards a small lake with a stone boathouse on the far bank. There are a mix of more bare deciduous trees and evergreen trees behind the boathouse, and a dull grey overcast sky above.
My photographic challenge for 2026 is to shoot more portrait-oriented shots of places, so I'm getting some practice in with this view of the #CartonHouse boathouse near #Maynooth on a pretty gloomy winter day.
A low close view of small white bell-shaped flowers growing at the base of a mossy tree. The small flowers hang down from their own dedicated thin stems growing between thin grassy dark green leaves.
The very first signs of spring I've seen in #Maynooth this year are these little Snowdrops just starting to flower under the trees in #CartonHouse. #Bloomscrolling
A square-cropped wide black and white view of a large tree with bare branches standing on a large lawn. The sky above is overcast and lightly textured, and more bare trees are visible in the background below the hero tree’s branches.
The big bare-branched old oak trees in #CartonHouse near #Maynooth make for impressive silhouettes in the winter months.
A telephoto landscape shot showing a stand of bare trees with orange branches in front of evergreen trees with a grassy area in the foreground. The colour regions are the main subject of the photo.
These fiery-orange bare willow branches really brighten up the winter landscape in #CartonHouse near #Maynooth.
A portrait-oriented telephoto shot of a section of winter landscape, with the telephoto compression flattening the scene into regions of colour — a light sandy coloured gravel path frames the base of the shot, followed by green grass, then a layer of burgundy red bushes then a layer of mixed trees, some deciduous, some evergreen, and while most of the bare deciduous trees have brown trunks and branches, one or two are orange.
Bare trees don't have to be dull and boring — just look at these ruby red tree branches in #CartonHouse near #Maynooth!
A square view looking along a tree-lined path towards the sky beyond where golden sun rays are shining down from between light grey clouds.
The pathway to enlightenment? Crepuscular rays seen through the trees in #CartonHouse near #Maynooth.
A landscape shot of sun rays radiating out from a gap in the clouds of a mostly overcast day. The rays are golden yellow and the clouds a light friendly grey. The foreground is a golf green on a hill with a rural landscape beyond.
Crepuscular rays over Co. Kildare as seen from the big hill in #CartonHouse near #Maynooth.
A portrait-oriented telephoto view towards the distant horizon across a rural landscape. The compression collapses the deep landscape into layers, tall grass in the foreground, parkland with bare trees beyond that, a distance church spire, and a long flat plain vanishing into the haze. The sky above is a hazy blue fading to a pale salmon at the horizon.
The Co. Kildare landscape looking towards #Maynooth from next to Tyrconnell tower high on the hill in #CartonHouse on an idyllic winter afternoon.
A portrait-oriented shot looking straight up a steep gravel path through lush green grass vanishing into a clear blue sky. The edge of the silhouette of a bare tree frames the top left of the image.
Reach for the skies! (taken in #CartonHouse near #Maynooth)
A portrait-oriented landscape shot of a a gravel path crossing a small wooden bridge at the very bottom of the frame and then winding into the distance between big bare trees growing in a lush green lawn under a clear blue sky.
A winding winter path in #CartonHouse near #Maynooth — rather than snow and ice, bare trees and green grass are more common in Irish winters, and when you're very lucky, blue skies too 🙂
A banded landscape with brown scrub in the foreground, then an inky-black stream, a vibrant green golf green, then a town of trees with bare orange branches to the left, and deep green pines in the center and right, and a deep rich blue sky above.
When you think "winter colours" you probably think white frost and snow, but in #CartonHouse you can also get rich blues and greens from the clement Irish climate, and amazing oranges from
The bare willow branches.
An approximately 2ft by 4ft gingerbread model of a Palladian mansion on a raised platform clad in artificial snow flanked by two large Christmas trees with a smaller red and white gingerbread cottage in front on a lower step with a snowman on the peak of the roof and flanked by a pair of Santa figures. A two-story wreath decorates the big gingerbread house, hanging over the front door.
The Christmas displays in the main hotel reception in #CartonHouse near #Maynooth is always impressive, and 2025 is no exception!
A wide-screen wide view of a blue steam loco pulling a rake of blue and cream carriages past a canal harbour. The loco is running ‘backwards’ with its coal tender leading, and frames the left edge of the view. The right side of an old canal barge frames the right edge. The sky above is grey and overcast, but the clean steam from the chimney still stands out nicely.
My last shot of former #GNRi 4-4-0 steam loco No. 171 Slieve Gullion working the last of the steam-hauled #RPSI Santa Specials of 2025. She performed wonderfully, and sped past the Duke's Harbour on the #RoyalCanal at #CartonHouse near #Maynooth. Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it! 🎄
A telephoto view looking through the arch of a stone bridge over a canal at a blue steam train approaching in the distance. The edges of canal barges moored in front of the bridge frame the right of the scene.
A peek at former #GNRi 4-4-0 #steamLoco No. 171 Slieve Gullion through Pike Bridge at the Duke's Harbour on the #RoyalCanal at the entrance to #CartonHouse pulling the last steam-hauled #RPSI Santa Special of the 2025 season out of #Maynooth.
A wide shot looking down a canal from the edge of a stone quay with an old canal barge framing the right of the scene and as a dark green railcar-type train with white doors and a yellow front approach on the far bank of the canal. The train is long enough that it stretches all The way from the two-arched stone bridge in the background which spans both the railway and the canal. The sky overhead is overcast and the water of the canal looks distinctly wind-blown.
An #IrishRail Commuter train passing under Pike Bridge at the Duke's Harbour on the #RoyalCanal opposite the entrance to #CartonHouse near #Maynooth.
A wide landscape shot looking out over a canal as it cuts through a rural scene from an elevated point-of-view. On the left side of the canal it widens into a quay with three barges tied up, and a two-track railway line runs along the right bank. A blue steam locomotive approaches on the track furthest from the water pulling a burgundy brake van and a rake of blue and cream carriages. The sky above is overcast with light grey clouds.
Former #GNRi 4-4-0 #steamLoco No. 171 Slieve Gullion passing the Duke's Harbour on the #RoyalCanal at the gates to #CartonHouse as seen from Pike Bridge with the last steam-hauled pulling an #RPSI Santa Special of the 2025 seanson. No steam as she's coasting towards the #Maynooth approach signal.
A wide landscape shot looking out over a canal as it cuts through a rural scene from an elevated point-of-view. On the left side of the canal it widens into a quay with three barges tied up, and a two-track railway line runs along the right bank. A dark green railcar-type train with white doors and a yellow front with a pair of lit headlights approaches on the track furthest from the water. The sky above is overcast with light grey clouds.
An #IrishRail Commuter service from Dublin passing the Duke's Harbour on the #RoyalCanal at the gates to #CartonHouse as seen from Pike Bridge as it slows for #Maynooth on a dull December day.
Day 1083/1084 took advantage of a beautiful day. Enjoyed a longer walk. #1100daysofwalking #100daysofwalking #CartonHouse
A pair of beer taps in the foreground in front of a soft-focus grassy background with near-by tree branches framing the top of the shot and the far side of the greens on the horizon. The sky is grey.
A beer with a view — Guinness and Carlaberg taps out on the golf course in #CartonHouse near #Maynooth
A landscape shot taken from a bridge above a water-lily-speckled canal. Barges are moored along a stone quay to the left of the canal, and a railway line runs along the right bank. A silver and dark green railcar-type train with a rounded yellow front approaches on the right-most of the double tracks. There is a clouded sky overhead and the entire scene is in a rural setting.
An #IrishRail InterCity approaches Pike Bridge at the Duke's Harbour on the Royal Canal opposite the gates to #CartonHouse near #Maynooth.
A close portrait-oriented view of a flower stalk sticking up into the frame, ringed by small purple trumpet-shapes flowers at intervals up the length of the spike. In soft focus behind is a vintage ruby red car with a big black radiator grill and big round headlights.
Inspired by Glass's May featured category 'bokeh' (https://glass.photo/explore/categories/bokeh I've been on the hunt for fun out of focus backgrounds all month — I think this vintage taxi at the reception door at #CartonHouse Hotel near #Maynooth was my best success 🙂 #bloomscrolling
