A few days back, I began finding a solitary jagged ambush bug nymph (genus Phymata) on the dog fennel plants. I was pleased, because there’s something about these little predators that’s appealing, and not just to me The Girlfriend likes them too, solely based on their appearance. I don’t find many of them – my last round of decent
Category: Photography
Frustrations, part 12
As several separate thunderstorm cells moved through tonight, I was watching the inordinate amount of electrical activity lighting up the sky like a disco strobe, and figured I should be doing something about it. I haven’t pursued much lightning photography in my current location because it’s remarkably difficult to find a good setting. This area of central NC is loaded with trees, and
From the diaphragm
Down at the park the other day, chasing whatever I happened to come across, I did a few casual photos of unknown insect larvae, roughly 15mm in length, doing their best at denuding a small tree. Upon returning and unloading the memory card, I realized I’d caught some details I never expected to see, and certainly didn’t realize at the time, or I would’ve gotten
I meant to do that
Yes, of course I chose this particular focus – anyone can focus on the bee, but using the bee as a backdrop, that takes creativity!
Okay, I lie, this was a missed shot handheld during a breezy overcast day, but I realized I liked the effect with the flowers. While I don’t encourage hanging on to less-than-ideal shots “just in case,” sometimes they can be repurposed by considering
Harken back
This is a revisit of a post from a few years ago, partially because I always wanted to tackle the images better, and partially because this is the season for it. But at the same time, this post is aimed in part at the people with a fear of spiders, because it just might be a factor in getting over this phobia.
If you go outside in the early evening, just as it’s gotten fully dark, and hold
Advice on advice
If you came to this post by following one of the links under “composition,” I’m going to apologize up front, because this isn’t exactly about how to compose photos. Yet, it does have some relation, so stick with me for a second as I explain.
Last week was a busier one for me due to photography students (which is just fine,) but it repeatedly raised something I’ve noticed
Just because, part 10
Arrived early to meet with a student, spent some time investigating what the park had to offer. I just happened to like this one, largely because of the focal plane capturing two separate subjects so well. And there’s something about the marvelous shape of the buds.
If someone’s not familiar with any of the species herein, they could be drastically mistaken about the scale – everything
Frustrations, part 11
The dog fennel plants that provided so many photo subjects last year, visible in the wide image for my last ‘Frustrations’ post, are now taller than I am, and routinely examined for interesting subjects. This evening I noticed some suspicious dewdrops, suspicious because they were
Lost in your eyes
On Saturday, I was chasing bug pics when I got an expected call to meet with friends, and snagged one frame of some amorous flies on the parsley flowers before I had to put down the camera (sacrilege I know) and head off. I couldn’t see these eyes in the viewfinder (for the reason illustrated at right,) so the surprise came much later when I unloaded the memory card.
Now, the big question:
I had to
Couldn’t pass up this post, which is going to be long without being wordy. I know you don’t believe me, so watch carefully.
Some of my resident mantids have gone missing for the past week or so, but the brown one returned last night. This evening at dusk, it had no sooner ventured out than it snagged