First mud

The other day, with the warm weather assuring us that it was here to stay (dishonestly, I must add,) I donned shorts for the first time to meet with a student and go out seeking the first real signs of spring to a nature photographer, which is generally wildlife in search of booty. While I had earlier been hearing the evidence of the critters pictured here, I had yet to go down to their typical read more

Seriously annoying


I had a post lined up to go Thursday night, and decided to wait a little, do a final check Friday morning before posting. The sleet had started Thursday at 5 pm, and while it soon turned into rain, the temperature hovered just above freezing, which has a curious effect. Things with a high ratio of surface area to mass – tree branches, wires, and so on – lose their heat read more

All too brief

On Sunday, the temperature topped 22°c (72°f,) making me break out the sandals for the first time since November – they’re my summer footwear, if I’m wearing anything at all. I had a student, and these images came from our session out scouting conditions and planning for the busy season come spring. It was easy to believe it was here already.

Then came Monday, with the read more

Macro photography, part eight: Tripod or no tripod?


There’s always a tradeoff in photography, the bad that must be taken with the good. The primary one, the thing that negatively affects the greatest majority of photos, is camera movement caught by slower shutter speeds. In order to get adequate light for a good exposure, the shutter has to be open for a certain amount of time, and as this time gets longer in cases of lower read more

I always wanted to try this

This is the result of my little experiment, one that I’ve wanted to try for years now and never got around to, despite having the gizmo I needed. It needs work, but not bad for a first time.

Okay, more or less first. I’ve done this with a lunar eclipse some years back now, but this is the first for a plant subject. You’ve seen these before, and better too – for instance, without read more

Heh

A nice big pic to brighten your day. You know I’m gonna be back to bugs as soon as they’re around, so enjoy this while you can.


The Girlfriend’s Younger Sprog had planted a bunch of bulbs late last year, and the first indications of them were already up in January. This crocus had bloomed out nicely, then the storms came and it vanished under 10cm of snow. I had read more

The ingredients but not the recipe

[Believe it or not, this post has sat in draft form in the system since I started it in April 2013 – it never seemed to fit in among other posts that well. So it gets to appear now as a Darwin Day post while photography has hit the winter slump. There’s still a chance something else might appear, but no promises.]


A few weeks back [a ha ha ha!] read more

Just because, part 15

In abject denial of the actual readership of this blog, I must apologize for being away as long as I have. What with the Grammys, and the Superbowl, and Groundhog’s Day, and then all the celebrity activity, well, you know how it goes. The up side of all this is, of course, that I have so much to post about now!

Yeah right. When you see me posting about anything of the sort, that’s the read more

Even for North Carolina


Like most of the country, we’ve been having some longer spells of cold weather, a bit lower temperatures than normal for this time of year, but Monday popped up clear, sunny, and shockingly warm, hitting about 20°c (68°f) – a new student who had been aiming for a day with good conditions to meet contacted me at the last minute, and I headed out. We met near read more

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