The Cormorant, the Dragonfly, and the Bee: July 2015

Friday, July 31, 2015

Seven Different Animals

Noah's Ark this is not, but over time I do manage to take pictures of various animals. Amusingly, I'd picked this set of animal photos to share in this post, and only after making the selection did I realize that these happen to be seven different animals. Only one of them is a bird. I don't think you'll have any problem picking out which animal is a bird.

The first two photos were taken with my Panasonic ZS40 travel zoom. Both of these were taken with a 35mm equivalent focal length of 720mm. That's a lot of zoom!

Notice the Striped Colors All the Way Along This Snake's Skin

Turtles Always Seem to Be Basking in the Sun

The rest of these were taken with my Olympus gear.

Believe it or not, I took this picture through a glass window at a not-so-great angle. I admit I removed a few glass reflections after the fact. This critter was looking in on us at a local tech college where I was taking, of all things, a photography class. The instructor took some shots of this visitor as well.

Checking Out the Classroom Offerings

Vertical Climbing Oficianado

The picture of this little fellow was taken from 45 feet away with my 60mm lens, and heavily cropped.

Crossing Front Paws

Can you count the well-camouflaged children in this photo? Taken at 1/60 sec. at ISO 1600, also with my 60mm lens; about 50 ft. away:

Gobblers During a Family Stroll

Shirley Temple Hair?

Sunday, July 26, 2015

Just Flowers, and a Few Leaves

Here's a collection of flower (and leaf) photos that I've been meaning to share, but hadn't fit into the theme of other posts to date.

Shimmering

Sheets in the Wind 1

Sheets in the Wind 2

Backlit Red Leaves

Backlit Orange Leaves

Brilliant Poppy

Shades of Purple

Burst of Yellow

Wound Up Rose

Rose Center

Two-Color Rose

Orange Rose

Orange Non-rose

Thursday, July 23, 2015

Warning: Sci-Fi Dragonfly

Seriously, if you are currently eating or just finished eating, *do not* look at these images. They are extremely graphic:) They look like frames you might see in a Science Fiction movie, except that they are the real deal.

I used my macro lens exclusively today which allows up to true 1:1 magnification. That has a very technical meaning in the photography world: it means the size of the object is the same size on the camera's sensor.

This dragonfly didn't mind me pushing a lens near his face at all. I think he kind of liked it. He sat quietly on a deck railing, and either didn't move much or briefly flew, then returned to almost the exact same spot.

All these shots are handheld. Remember, the macro lens at close focus has an extremely narrow depth of field: much less than 1 mm. To keep things in perspective, the dragonfly in all the photos below is only about an inch long.

Note the same single spot of orangey color on the front tip of each of his four wings:

The Whole Dragonfly

Check Out Those Full Lips

Showing a bit of five o'clock shadow, but in any case, he was looking *right at me*; I'm sure of it.

Two Eyes Plus a Third Eye

Looking from behind him, his head and eyes appear like a helmet, with a special hairy fringe:

Do You Think He Washes Behind His Ears?

Oh The Burden of These Heavy Wings

Hungry Dragonfly

Sorry this next shot wasn't fully in focus. But maybe that's a good thing, because really you don't want to look at it for too long...

Bug Delicacy Going Down

Just Finishing Up a Yummy Bug; and Showing Off His Muscular Abdomen

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

A Summer Day

Today's post contains all pictures taken today, a typical summer day for me. I began with a walk around the reservoir, capturing some Queen Anne's Lace, yet again, this time with some wonderfully colored insects visiting, followed by several shots in the garden and other photos taken during our walk around the neighborhood later in the day. This was an overcast day, without bright sun.

This is a photo of water only!

Branch Reflections

Colorful Visitor and Tiny Friend

Black and White Stripes With Reddish Brown Translucent Wings

One of my favorites:

Pure Queen Anne's Lace

Masterful Design

The next three photos are of our Crocosmia in our front yard. Very tropical!

Depth of Field Demonstration

Fine Color and Stucture

Lollipops

Busy Center

Here's a tighter crop on the same photo:

Central Nervous System

Athletic Neighbor Having Fun

I once heard a news story that black dogs are less likely to be selected from shelters because they don't photograph well! Absurd, wouldn't you agree?