Bee
I’ve gotten to where I get the occasional bee upon a flower. It’s pretty rare to catch one in flight. I have skill. But, I lack in action photography. I learned long ago that I am off by … that much. I am and remain at the mercy of serendipity.
Spider
Yup, done this one before too. No problem. I haven’t done it many times and I don’t think I have done it upside down. Oh! Sure! Yes! Done that too! No matter, it’s still fun and unique. It’s not easy to get the shot. A point and shoot camera has certain disadvantages. Focus on small objects is a problem. But the main advantage is that I had a camera at all when I found this spider asking for his close-up.
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?
Butterfly
This butterfly wandered by. I got a shot with proboscis out and ready to eat. Have I told you I hate bugs. I think it’s the crunchy squishy part that I’m squeamish about. Then again, ants and mosquitoes are no problem. DOD. I have a simple rule. Outside, fine. Inside –“ dead ham.”
Praying mantis
It showed up at dinner when we grilled on the deck. I got a shot. It’s not my first. But they are rare enough to see that I took a few shots. Then the cat found it and chased him down between the deck planks. It lived on.
How many?
Someone the other day asked how many pictures do you have? How many are on display? What do you do with your images? Share. I share a small fraction. I hardly print any. And there are a few on the desktop of my computer. Screensavers?
The other how many question is: how many images do you shoot? How many of the same subject?
I can’t really answer. It turns out the last image was the best? Or it was random? Or I lost interest? There’s no answer. More images means more choices. It means more editing. I’ve been shooting a lot more with digital being so easy to shoot. There’s not too much downside. Memory cards are not expensive. Why not delete immediate failures? One image is enough. It is akin to deleting all of your rejects. But, a hard drive takes so little space.
I shot another series of bugs. I hate bugs. And I especially hate big bugs. Less is more. I should just post one single image and then editorialize. This is a photo blog. And if I don’t show you more examples the images will be on my hard drive never to be seen. Good strong images one and all. One image, whittle it down to one image?
Would you believe this?
I thought I had taken a fantastic picture. I thought I had a hummingbird! Nope! I was promptly corrected out of hand – hummingbird moth. Really! Did they make up that ID? It was a correct identification. Never heard of it! Apparently, a lot of other people have. It was kind of spooky bizarre. I caught the shot as the bug was hovering over the flowers. I got exactly these two shots that were good enough to post. I’m pretty amazed myself. I sent to the kids. Immediately, David responded that he had seen them in Joshua Tree park. I’ve been there. I did not see them. Oh well, sometimes I discover new and amazing things to find that others know all about it. This was a lot of fun to find and share. And I can say that I have never seen this before. You may feel free to “ho hum” now.
Dragonfly
Hey! Look at this! It wasn’t easy to do this. Well, it was. I got it without too much trouble. Really? The technical challenge was getting the camera to focus. The dragonfly flitted and finally landed. It stayed in place long enough for me to get my camera. Then it was hard to focus. The camera looks for sharp contrast and focuses upon the whole scene. It wanted to focus on the leaves in the background way more. The dragonfly was a thin sliver. I had to fool the camera into focusing upon the leaf and then moving the camera to shoot my dragonfly. It’s good that digital allows me multiple tries. I got a good one. I feel good that things came together for me to get this shot. Another day another dragon fly.
Dragonfly
This guy decided to rest upon the empty screw that awaited a wind spinner. He didn’t move. I got a bunch of shots. I’d like to shoot one flying. It’s technically too difficult for me at this point. I suppose I could do it. But that would be work. I’m retired. Sit! Stay!
Spinning
Similar to my previous post this image was serendipitous. I carry a camera constantly close within reach. This spider was crawling about on the container. I shot and shot. Its body was partly translucent and detail is poor at the front. But look at the web that trails. No other shot I took shows this. It’s cool. I don’t get this shot despite all the spiders that live in my garden and home.
Cicada
I did not know that locusts and grasshoppers look pretty much alike. So, that makes this a cicada. I’m seeing all kinds of interesting wildlife since I’m not diving. I hate bugs. I hate insects. I hate mosquitos. I hate spiders. Why is it always ugly bugs? Well, for some, beauty has its own appeal. …just not me.
Monarch
I did not know the monarch butterfly goes through four generations in a summer. The first three remain local. The last generation is the one that heads south to Mexico. I have not seen any butterflies in my neighborhood. But we have seen the caterpillars. And now I have seen a cocoon. It’s interesting that I got this far and have never seen one. But here it is. It’s equally amazing that there are gold dots along the top of the cocoon. And if you look closely you can see the developing butterfly. Yeah, all these years and I’m still learning new stuff.
Praying Mantis
It’s a bit scary and intimidating. I don’t care for bugs much at all. This one was sitting on the car. It moved up the window and perched on the roof. Well, why not? I got a great shot. The technique comes from my time with underwater macro photography. No big housing needed, I got a riveting shot. I like fish better. But what it is is what it is. Can you believe this?
Monarch Butterfly, Cone Flower
During my childhood in West Virginia monarch butterflies were everywhere. Now they are not common for me. I had a great photo op one day in Central Park. There were cone flowers and this monarch just sat and posed ever so nicely. The lake in the background was pleasantly out of focus. Imagine that, all this wildlife right in the middle of Manhattan.
Butterfly
If I say that butterflies are skittish that would be an understatement. Mostly I chase and don’t get an opportunity to get a shot. And then every once in a while I have an opportunity to shoot all I want. It happened that way one spring day in Maine. This one just sat and posed. I’m so used to a brief moment to get the shot that I was at a loss to do when it didn’t fly away.
