Wooly Bear
At least this is what I call them. And it’s what I taught my kids to call them. Do you recall Proust’s La Madeleine? No matter. The appearance of a wooly bear recalls to me the childhood of my children and that magic moment when they first saw a wooly bear themselves. I was the one to point it out. And so, I passed down knowledge. Ah, they can’t take that away from me.
Swallowtail
Sometimes I see something again for the first time. It’s like looking but not seeing. It would be akin to not listening when Colleen is speaking. I like to pride myself on being able to parrot the last ten words she said to me in order to prove that I was paying attention (not). I usually fail to convince her. I wonder why? But, here, I am seeing the spots on the wing as though they were powdered on like delicate feathering. The transitions are soft not sharply defined. Nature is wonderful. In most circumstances I would have been thrilled to get a picture of the whole butterfly. That blue spray upon the wings is such a nice detail mother nature decided to add.
Collateral images
I’m having a day with the swallowtail caterpillars and a praying mantis walks up and into my picture. They are scary looking. And I do not know if they eat caterpillars. Frankly, it’s need to know and I don’t want to… know. It’s considered good luck to see one. They are carnivores. Great! We both go our own way…. I hope he will eat all the mosquitoes in my garden… probably not.
Praying mantis
My container garden is a magnet for insects. I had an invasion of Japanese beetles that ate a whole New Guinea impatiens. Just one, who knows why they spared the other plants. I have seen a couple praying mantises among the containers. It’s said to be good luck to see one. I think they eat lots of other insects. Maybe that will help against my ants and beetles? From my perspective this guy looks fierce.
Butterfly
We have a number of butterflies who come to the plants to eat. And much of the time they have injured their wings. This one is no exception and has a missing part to the back left. I am amazed at the detail of the camera and lens. I am good. The camera makes me look better. Between us we got a few great shots.
Dragonfly
Another year, another dragonfly. They do pose for me. And I shoot lots. And then I pick one to post. I suppose I should try to get a better vantage. But then again, I am happy that they will pose for me. Welcome back.
If you wait, then another opportunity will present itself. It’s a different day. And, the light was favorable. And the dragonfly was cooperative. I got a better shot. Hey! I have seen a bald eagle and a red dragonfly while we sat on the deck. I can’t show you the picture. The video of them is in my head. And you can’t download that.
Grasshopper
Sometimes pictures just jump into my lap. On our terrace door was a grasshopper clinging. This meant I had a ventral view – belly – not so usual for bugs. I got some shots. I was pleasantly surprised the camera did the exposure and it focused sufficiently through the glass so the eyes were sharp.
Bugs
I’m working a container garden on a deck about 20 up. We have a planter with green onions/chives that bloom in the spring. How’d I get these bugs? They flew on up? Or crawled? It’s a long way. How’d they find them? It was about the last thing I expected when I edited the images. I was looking for stamens and other flower parts. Bugs! We got bugs.
…at least three.
Bumble
How do you plan for this? Serendipity, fortuitous, right place right time. You bet!!! I was taking pictures of the snap dragons when this bumble bee flew into my picture. Yes! He flew in. I shot and shot. This is what I got. Rhymes? Can you believe this? It was completely by luck. I would tell you not. I have lots of bees on flowers. But, no bees in mid-flight. That’s hard to do. Trust me. I got all excited…still am.
Wasp
I’m not sure. It looks more like a wasp than a bee. I told you I hate bugs. If not (you didn’t know), I do. They keep coming ‘round the flowers. So, with my trusty camera in hand…. The camera does a more than adequate job. I suppose the next step would be to go to a macro view. Much of what I have learned comes from my most recent experience with fish and underwater photography. Ha! Maybe you were thinking fish look better than bugs?
