Baby Preying Mantis

Yesterday morning, as i went to put the grill cover on from having used the grill the night before, i saw at the last moment before i pull the cover down that there was a struggling greenish insect on the side top. So i stopped and looked closer at the insect -it was really really small, maybe 1/2 an inch in length- which was struggling to move. I decided this was a good opportunity to photograph a close shot. Racing upstairs i gather the equipment i'd need and returned to find the insect had move about 3-4 inches but hadn't left. Upon viewing the insect thru the lens i saw it was a baby preying mantis. At first i thought it was struggling 'cause it had grease on it from the not-yet-cleaned surface of the grill but watching it a bit longer i saw that it was newly hatched and just learning how to move. It kept wiping it head with the front legs while it dragged itself across the top. In the meantime i'm trying to take photographs that are in focus and knowing that there was no way to get anything other then a very minimum of its body in focus as i didn't have any flash equipment with me so only had natural light to shoot with. At one point i saw that its left eye, the one closes to me, was possible to photograph relatively sharply and so i took a picture. As i watched she clearly was struggling to fly away so i put my finger down and it climbed on and i put the finger in front of the camera with the idea of taking a photograph but when i finally got my finger into focus, she was gone.

For a few minutes i think i was in love.

For a few minutes she left me a bit breathless ... then she left!

Bugatti Royale

Love 'em:

Coin from Mulhause, FR

for auto museum

Bugatti Royale

Red

Red

Nope, don't know their name ... bought them a few months ago and they have tripled in size - very hardy and gorgeously red.

Weather

We are in the mountain fall  -and what do i know never having lived in eastern mountains before now-  and the sky seems to be different every half hour.

Yesterday morning

then, this morning

And i'm lovin' it! How could one not ... now, as i write this, the sun is shinning and the temp is moving into the 80's and the clouds that are in the sky are off in the distance over the mountains.

Recent macros, the spring from a pressure gage:

Posing, a portrait

Rarely do i get someone to pose so well and upright, so i thought i'd post this after our session earlier this morning:

More

Crossing the kitchen and looking out the porch window i was the sun just inching above the horizon. Fortunately my camera was sitting on a tripod at the window. Clicking the shoot button and a bit of play with NIK gave me a morning image that i like. I've struggled with all the electrical lines in the photo when shooting sunrises and decided they work fine in this stylized image.

Lately, as a result of having joined a on-line macro club, i've been shooting more bugs/insects then i usually do. This small, about 1 1/2"- caterpillar was crawling around my the porch chair. He was moving way too fast for me to get a photo of his head which was what i wanted to do. I moved the chair, got everything set (the camera was on a tripod and using a 60mm Macro lens) for the arrival and still - no head shot! And, i haven't been able to id the caterpillar yet. If you know its name, type or anything about it would you please leave word in the comments section below - thanks.

On the other hand -other lens?- i got a couple of really good shoots a weekend ago on a local garden walk in the West Asheville area:

Gulf Fritillary Butterfly

Asian Lady Bug

I try to regularity return to macro work; ie, at least 1:1 if not larger. When i was at a friends house a week ago she had some glass balls filled with colors and shapes - an idea subject to play with macro photographically. So far i've only come up one with one that i like which is this:

 This is the one that i working with currently. The ball is not green glass, that is the color casted by the green rubber that the ball is sitting on (a Lazy Susan which i bought at a kitchen supply store - i allows me to move the subject easily) ... i put white paper under the ball when shooting.

This is what i've come up with so far. For a first effort its not so bad and it is just a beginning.

 This will be my next color to work with.

Birds

I've been doing a bit more bird photographing lately looking to improve both the clarity and sharpness of the images.

Eastern Bluebird with grub

From a park about 80 miles from here. I think the top image was one of the young ones as there seemed to be a whole family out pic-nic just as we were.

Father Cardinal (kinda hiding)

Mother Cardinal (i believe) with worm

Mother with two children.

Berwick's Wren