Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged buttterfly, Cabbage White butterfly, Canon 100mm macro lens, Canon Rebel XT, Pieris rapae, red flower, white butterfly on August 21, 2012| 3 Comments »
Cabbage White butterfly (Pieris rapae) on unidentified flower today at Green Spring Gardens, Alexandria, VA. Cabbage White butterflies are very common, but I find them to possess a delicate beauty in their elegant simplicity.
Cabbage White butterfly on a red flower
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Nature, Photography, tagged butterfly, Canon 100mm macro lens, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, Danaus plexippus, green spring gardens, Monarch, monarch butterfly on August 20, 2012| 2 Comments »
All this summer I have been waiting and hoping that I would have a chance to see lots of Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus). There is something so classically beautiful about the Monarch, from the white-dotted body to the gorgeous orange and black. So far this summer I had seen only an occasional Monarch.
Today, however, my wishes finally came true and I saw quite a few Monarch butterflies at Green Spring Gardens in Alexandria, VA. That does not necessarily mean that I had an easy time getting good shots of the Monarch, because the Monarchs today did not seem to like to linger very long on a flower. Consequently, more of my shots were rushed than I would have preferred.
Here is an assortment of my shots from today. None of them is spectacular, but I nonetheless am pleased I was able to capture some of the majesty of the Monarch in my images.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Bugs, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged acrobatic, amber, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, dragonfly, Eastern Amberwing, Eastern Amberwing dragonfly, green spring gardens, gymnastics, mating on August 19, 2012| Leave a Comment »
I am never sure if it’s appropriate to post photos of mating insects, but decided to overlook my inhibitions and post this unusual photo of a pair of mating Eastern Amberwing dragonflies (Perithemis tenera).
Normally I have trouble getting good shots of these dragonflies because of their small size. According to BugGuide, their total length typically is 21-24 mm long (about 3/4-1 inch). In addition, they always seem to land on plants that away from the shoreline (unlike the Blue Dasher dragonflies that seem to like the plants at the very edge of the water).
This past Friday I was photographing dragonflies with Cindy Dyer at a local garden (Green Spring Gardens in Alexandria, VA) when this pair dropped from the sky and landed on a lily pad right in front of me. I happened to be shooting with a telephoto zoom so I had to back up a little to try to get a picture in focus. For those who are technically-minded, the exposure was shot at f11, 1/50 second, ISO 400, at 179mm of a 55-250mm zoom lens.
The photo is not perfectly sharp, but it gives an interesting view into the mating habits of Eastern Amberwing dragonflies. I don’t know my dragonfly anatomy very well, so it took some research to figure out who is who in this photo. The female is the one with the brown spots on her wings and she is holding on to the male’s tail. I think I’ll stop my description there and leave the rest to your imagination.
One thing that this photo taught me is that dragonflies are a whole lot more flexible and gymnastic than I realized!
Mating Eastern Amberwing dragonflies (click for a higher resolution view)
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria, butterfly, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, dried up leaf, green spring gardens, Red Admiral butterfly, Vanessa atalanta on August 19, 2012| 4 Comments »
I took this shot of a Red Admiral butterfly (Vanessa atalanta) at Green Spring Gardens in Alexandria, VA on 17 August 2012. It was a little surprising to me that the butterfly chose such a shriveled up, dead leaf as the place to stop, rather than a flower or bush. In a lot of ways, though, I like the simpler setting. It allows me to focus on the beauty of the butterfly without any competing attention from a colorful flower.
The colors and patterns of the Red Admiral butterfly would look good on a necktie. The colors are bright, but not gaudy, and the abstract patterns convey a sense of sophistication.
Red Admiral butterfly (Vanessa atalanta)
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Humor, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Blue Dasher dragonfly, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, damselfly, green spring gardens, lotus, odonata, Pachydiplax longipennis on August 18, 2012| 6 Comments »
Sometimes when I open my images on my computer I am pleasantly surprised. I was going through my images from yesterday afternoon and came upon this one.
Click on the image for greater resolution and details
I had been focusing on shooting dragonflies that had stopped to pose on various objects. In this case I am certain that I was looking at the Blue Dasher dragonfly (Pachydiplax longipennis) perched on the rolled-up leaf of a lotus plant and never noticed the damselfly in the photo. The damselfly appears to be scaling the leaf, ready to do battle with the dragonfly. The dragonfly seems to be looking down with a little concern, wondering who is trying to challenge his position. When I compare the relative sizes of the two insects, I can’t help but think of the Biblical story of the boy David taking on the giant Goliath. In this case it would essentially be a family feud, since both dragonflies and damselflies are part of the Odonata family.
It’s a lesson to me to check my images carefully when I process them—there may be all kinds of hidden treasures waiting to be discovered.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, wildlife, tagged Blue Dasher dragonfly, green spring gardens, Pachydiplax longipennis on August 18, 2012| 1 Comment »
My friend and photography mentor Cindy Dyer and I went out yesterday to photograph dragonflies at Green Spring Gardens in Alexandria, VA, a local garden that is my favorite place to go when the urge to shoot some photos overwhelms me. We were often taking photos side by side. I was really beneficial for me to watch how Cindy, an experienced professional, approached the photographic task, what things drew her attention, and the way in which she composed her shots. At one point I even got to put my memory card into her camera, a Nikon D300 with a Tamron 180mm macro lens, and shoot for a while. It was definitely a big change from my Canon Rebel XT with a 55-250mm telephoto with which I was shooting at the time. Her set-up was a lot heavier but had a much brighter, bigger viewfinder, and faster focusing.
We were both excited when one Blue Dasher dragonfly (Pachydiplax longipennis), the most common dragonfly that we saw all day, decided to use a lotus seed pod as his home base. He would periodically fly away, but always seemed to come back to the seed pod. She and I were both able to get shots of this dragonfly against the backdrop of a lotus leaf. The light colored circular object you can see is the center of that leaf. I love the crimped edges of this particular pod—it reminds me of a home-made pie crust.
This photo came out so good that I though it probably had been shot with her camera. However, when I checked out the RAW file information I realized it was from my camera. For those who might wonder about the exposure, it was shot at f11, 1/125 sec, ISO 800, at 163mm of the 55-250mm zoom lens. If you are interested in checking out Cindy’s comparable shot (her’s is even sharper) as well as some other wonderful shots she’s taken of dragonflies the last couple of days, check out her blog postings.
Blue Dasher dragonfly on a lotus seed pod
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged butterfly, Canon 100mm macro lens, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly, Epargyreus clarus, Papilio glaucus, Silver-spotted Skipper butterfly, skipper on August 16, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Almost everywhere that I have seen flowers the last few weeks I have seen skippers. One of the few varieties that I can identify is the Silver-spotted Skipper butterfly (Epargyreus clarus) which I feature in my first photo.
Silver-spotted Skipper
Many of the other skippers, however, look almost the same to me. Wikipedia says that there are more 3500 recognized species of skippers, so I don’t feel too bad about my identification difficulties. Here’s a photo of one of the 3499 non-Silver-spotted Skippers on a sunflower.
Unidentified skipper on a sunflower
This must be the season for the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus), because I see them almost everywhere too. I’ve posted lots of photos of swallowtails recently, but I figure that the bright color of the swallowtails will complement the more muted tones of the skippers. Besides, the different lighting and angles of the shots makes them very different photos for me, even when the subject is the same.
Male Eastern Tiger Swallowtail against the sky
Looking downward at a female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged American Painted Lady butterfly, butterfly, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, glow, Meadowlark Botanical Gardens, redhead, Vanessa virginiensis on August 14, 2012| 2 Comments »
Prior to this past weekend I had never seen an American Painted Lady butterfly (Vanessa virginiensis) and now it seems like they are everywhere, if you define “everywhere” as two separate locations within a few days.
Previously I posted a photo of the American Painted Lady butterfly in beautiful soft light in a shot taken from the side. On Sunday, just as I was getting ready to leave Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna, Virginia, I saw a flash of color and realized that it was a beautiful butterfly. Upon closer examination I recognized the now familiar coloration of the American Painted Lady.
She settled onto a plant and seemed to pose for me, as though she could put aside the normal activities of feeding for a moment. The late afternoon light was behind her and was still bright, causing some of the highlights to be blown out. However, the light also gave her a glow, partially illuminated her wings, and highlighted her reddish hair. The angle of he shot provides an unusual, but pleasing, view of this butterfly.
The shot may not be perfect, but you can’t help but admire the beauty of this American Painted Lady.
The lady is a redhead
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Bugs, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, Common Whitetail dragonfly, dragonfly, Huntley Meadows Park, Plathemis lydia, reflection, reflection in water, white dragonfly on August 13, 2012| 2 Comments »
I took this photo at Huntley Meadows Park in Alexandria, Virginia, a marshland area that has lots of wildlife. I have managed to get lots of shots of Blue Dasher dragonflies but have had trouble getting a properly exposed image of the Common Whitetail dragonfly. The white body is usually blown out and overexposed in my images. (If you want to know some more about this type of dragonfly, check out the article in Wikipedia as a start.) This past Friday was mostly overcast and I finally got some decent photos.
I like the way this particular image turned out because of the dragonfly’s reflection in the muddy brown pond water, the little stump that pokes out of the water, and the green stalk that runs diagonally across the photo.
Male Common Whitetail dragonfly (Plathemis lydia), also known as a Long-tailed Skimmer.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged angle, butterfly, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly, lighting, Papilio glaucus on August 12, 2012| Leave a Comment »
The angle of the lighting and the unusual framing of this photograph of a female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly (Papilio glaucus) set it apart from other photos I have taken of the same species. (See my postings from 8 August and 21 July for other shots of the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail.)
The light is uneven and there are areas that are not sharp, but I like the overall effect of the photograph.
Click on the image to see more details.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Photography, wildlife, tagged American Lady butterfly, American Painted Lady butterfly, butterfly, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, Painted Lady, Painted lady butterfly, pink, Vanessa cardui, Vanessa virginiensis on August 12, 2012| 4 Comments »
Today I photographed an American Painted Lady butterfly (Vanessa virginiensis), which is also know as an American Lady.
At first I thought it was a Painted Lady butterfly (Vanessa cardui), a type that I had previously photographed (see my posting from 3 August). A closer examination and some internet research showed it was not the same butterfly. You can find more information in Wikipedia but the easiest identification features for me were the eyespots on the ventral side—the American Painted Lady has two large eyespots and the Painted Lady has four smaller ones.
I learned a good lesson today too about the need to carry a camera with me as often as possible. I took this photo at the outdoor sales area at a local Home Depot store.
American Painted Lady butterfly (Vanessa virginiensis)
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Bugs, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Canon 100mm macro lens, Canon Rebel XT, caterpillar, colorful, fuzzy, hairy, Huntley Meadows Park, spikey, spiny on August 11, 2012| 4 Comments »
I came across this colorful specimen while on a nature walk at a local marsh. He was close enough to the edge of the path that I was able to set up my tripod and shoot with my macro lens, so I was able to get a reasonable depth of field.
I don’t have the slightest idea what kind of a caterpillar this is, but I really like his colors and all of the hairy, spiny things sticking out of his body (even if they made focusing a bit of a challenge).
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Bugs, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Canon 100mm macro lens, Canon Rebel XT, daddy longlegs, harvestman, prey, spider, web on August 11, 2012| 3 Comments »
When I came upon this scene this afternoon I couldn’t help but think of some blog posts that I had read recently. Steven Schwartzman had a beautiful artistic image of a damselfly caught in a spider’s web entitled “Three Orbs, Three Colors.” Daniel Proud had a wonderfully informative Four part series on Harvestmen (Daddy Longlegs) in late July that included colorful images of different harvestmen. Both of those bloggers caused me to be much more attentive today as I took in my surroundings during a nature walk at a local marsh.
I managed to capture an image of the spider moving in on his captured prey, a daddy longlegs, that had become stuck in the spider’s web. Some may find the photo to be a little disturbing, but to me it is a simple fact of natural life.
Shortly after taking this photo, I moved in a little closer and must have disturbed the web. The spider quickly climbed up the web and took refuge inside the curled-up leaf. I waited for quite some time but the spider did not reappear.
I think the daddylongs was still alive when I left him, but his prospects do not appear to be good.
Caught in the web
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Humor, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged black shield bug, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, encounter, insects, stink bug, wasp on August 10, 2012| 5 Comments »
Every now and then when I am focusing intently on an insect and trying to set up a shot, other insects creep into the frame. Only later, when I am looking at the photos on my computer screen, do I realize that they are there. My friend, Cindy Dyer, likes to call them “bonus bugs.”
This morning as I was looking at some recent wasp photos, I realized that there was a black shield bug in one of them. The shot is not that great technically, but I think that the combination of the two very different insects makes for an interesting photo, particularly because the wasp seems to have noticed the shield bug.
To me the moment is reminiscent of the bar scene in the Star Wars movie in which all kinds of different alien creatures are interacting. Click on the link to a You Tube video if you’ve never seen this classic piece of film history.
This photo really is begging for a clever caption and I’d welcome any suggestions.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged attitude, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, cool, insect, sunglasses, wasp on August 10, 2012| 6 Comments »
Bees and butterflies seem to get all the love. Where is the love for the lowly wasp? Maybe wasps need a public relations firm to give them a new image.
This photo from a recent shoot suggests one approach to that new image—an edgy, radical image. The wasp already appears to be sporting a mohawk hairstyle and large, dark sunglasses. Some piercings and a few tattoos and the new image would be complete.
The result—a cool new image for the wasp to match the attitude he already possesses.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Photography, wildlife, tagged bee, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, carpenter bee, flower, nectar robbing, salvia on August 10, 2012| 3 Comments »
Whenever I am shooting flowers of any sort I am inevitably drawn to bees. I love watching them flying and hovering, back and forth and in and out of the flowers. Sometimes a bee seems to be systematically covering a group of flowers and other times he seems to be choosing randomly where to touch down before moving on, relentlessly in motion.
Here are a couple of recent shots of carpenter bees on a plant that I have been told is called salvia. I love its deep purple color and simple flowers. The first shot is a closeup of a bee. The second one gives you a better idea of the shape of the flower. Note that in both cases the bee is getting the nectar from the side of the flower and is therefore not pollinating it.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Humor, Insects, Macro Photography, Photography, wildlife, tagged Acalymma vittata, beetle, Canon 100mm macro lens, Canon Rebel XT, humor, striped cucumber beetle on August 9, 2012| 6 Comments »
Last month I first encountered the Striped Cucumber Beetle (Acalymma vittata) in a neighbor’s garden. I was immediately taken by his cool, sophisticated, man-about-town look. The black and light yellow stripes down his back make him look like he is dressed formally. The translucent orange high collar, though, adds a splash of color to his ensemble and causes him to really stand out in a crowd. This well-dressed dandy, however, has a deep dark secret. Beneath the surface of this Dr. Jekyll lurks a Mr. Hyde.
I ran into him today in my friend’s garden. Previously, the garden had been green and flowering. Now the garden looked like a war zone, with signs of devastation everywhere. The leaves of the plants had all been ravaged and looked like the image below.
So I confronted the striped cucumber beetle about what had happened to the leaves. I asked him to swear an oath to tell the hole truth, and nothing but the truth. Initially he resisted and then he admitted to a hole in one. Finally he confessed and named the other beetles who had participated. The judge, however, may be lenient with him because he took personal responsibility for his actions and acknowledged that the hole thing had been his idea.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged bee, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, centered, flower, green spring gardens on August 8, 2012| 3 Comments »
The subject is simple and familiar, a bee and a flower. My eye was drawn, however, to the way this bee had latched on to the entire center of this flower in a full-bodied bee hug. The X-shape of the splayed legs and the radiating petals combine to produce a graphic effect that goes beyond the literal subject matter.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged butterfly, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, close-up, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly, male swallowtail, nature, patterns on August 8, 2012| 4 Comments »
Usually my photos are realistic, almost hyper-realistic in their macro details. Sometimes, though, I get excited by a portion of an image and the patterns and lines contained therein.
Yesterday I took some close-ups of a male Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly. Thanks to my telephoto lens the butterfly more than filled the frame. After a bit of tweaking I ended up with an image that is almost abstract, with lots of interesting lines and shapes. You can still tell that it is a butterfly and a flower, but it has a different feel than my other butterfly shots.
I find it fun to try something completely different from time to time.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged black swallowtail, butterfly, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly, Papilio glaucus, swallowtail, yellow swallowtail on August 8, 2012| 10 Comments »
One of the coolest things about female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterflies (Papilio glaucus) is that they come in two distinctly different colors, black and yellow. According to Wikipedia, that characteristic makes them dimorphic. I’m no scientist, so I had to do some research to see what “dimorphic” means. If I understand it right, it means that there are two different phenotypes (called morphs) that exist in the same population of a species and they have to be in the same habitat at the same time to qualify.
I was thrilled yesterday to observe and photograph both variants at a local garden. The yellow ones resemble the male, although the male is only yellow and black and has no additional orange and blue markings. I have seen a lot of the yellow female swallowtails this summer. The black swallowtails, which have black bodies as well as black wings, seem to be more rare, or at least I have seen them only rarely this summer.
Which one is more beautiful? I’ll leave that call to each of you.
Female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly (black variant) UPDATE in 2020: I think that I misidentified this as an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail and now think it might be a Black Swallowtail, though the angle keeps me from being sure about the identification
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Humor, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged bee, bumblebee, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, comb, comb-over, flower, haiir, trim, yellow flower on August 7, 2012| 4 Comments »
Some bees are hairy and some bees are really hairy.
Seriously, this bee looks like he could use a beauty makeover. At a minimum he needs a trip to a barber or hair stylist to trim away some of that excess hair. Look at his legs, his forehead, and his neckline. Yikes! The worst area may be the swirly hair on his back. I haven’t seen anything that bad since the days when the comb-over was a popular hair style.
Maybe he is wearing his hair long to conceal the fact that he is going thin on his back. If that’s the case, I have news for you, Mr. Bee. “You’re not fooling anyone.” It’s time to get with modern styles, perhaps, and shave it all off.
What would a bald bee look like?
Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bee…
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged butterfly, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, Danaus plexippus, monarch butterfly on August 7, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) feeding on a marigold flower at Green Spring Gardens, Alexandria, VA on 6 August 2012.
Click on the photo for greater color and clarity
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged bee, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, flower, Houdini, stuck insect, tight spot on August 7, 2012| 7 Comments »
Does a bee ever get stuck when he flies (or climbs) into a flower with a narrow opening?
This question arose this afternoon when I watched a bee enter a flower so deeply that only his legs were visible. He remained in that position for some time and then he somehow was able to get back out of the flower. I am still not sure if he was stuck or how he was able to extricate himself. From my perspective, it was a feat worthy of an insect Houdini.
I shot a series of photos that illustrate the whole process. In this case the old adage is true about a picture being worth a thousand words. You will notice that I changed my vantage point part way through the shoot. (I had plenty of time while the bee was inside the flower.) I would also draw your special attention to the details of the last photo in which the bee has to act like a contortionist to get his legs out of the tight spot.
Who knew that bees were so flexible?
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged bee, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, carpenter bee, flower, insect, nature, nature photography, nectar robbing, reflections, sky on August 6, 2012| 4 Comments »
You might think that I am going to talk philosophically about a bee, but my title is meant to be taken literally. If you click on the photo, you can actually see reflections of the sky and bushes on the shiny surface of the abdomen end of this bee.
I am pretty sure that this is a carpenter bee for two main reasons. First, the abdomen area is shiny and hairless, unlike a bumblebee who is more hairy. Secondly, the bee is sucking nectar out of the side of the flower rather than going in from the front, a process sometimes referred to as “nectar robbing.” Carpenter bees are notorious for circumventing pollination in certain plants by slitting open the side of the flower.
Perhaps others can see more reflections on the bee. It’s like looking at clouds and trying to see shapes—it’s a lot of fun and everyone sees something different. Life is like that sometimes.
Click the photo to see more details
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, damselfly, dragonfly, green spring gardens, insect, leaf, nature on August 5, 2012| 6 Comments »
I came across this tiny damselfly yesterday when I was visiting a local garden in the late afternoon. Initially I spotted her when she was flying and I was thrilled when she chose to land in a spot where I could photograph her. I apologize to the experts for not identifying the type but I find it impossible to identify damselflies (and even dragonflies are not easy).
Damselflies are particularly challenging for me to photograph because they are so long and skinny. If I photograph them from the side, the eye is often out of focus and if I try to shoot head-on, depth of field is an issue.
I ended up with a photo that I shot from above and to the side. Somehow I managed to reduce the composition to the damselfly, the branch to which she is clinging, and a couple of leaves.
I find special beauty in that kind of simplicity in nature and in my photography.
Unidentified damselfly
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Bugs, Humor, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged Canon 100mm macro lens, Canon Rebel XT, creepy, creepy crawlie, extreme closeup, eyes, grasshopper, katydid, nightmare on August 4, 2012| 5 Comments »
A few minutes ago I was vacuuming when I suddenly noticed that there was an insect on the screen of my sliding glass patio door. Of course, I immediately stopped working and grabbed my camera (with macro lens) and tripod.
I decided to try some face-to-face shots, which was a little tricky for the insect (which I think is a katydid) was less that two feet above ground level. I am glad that nobody could see me as I contorted my body with considerably less grace than the Olympic gymnasts I watched earlier this week.
When I looked at my closeup shots of the eyes, I realized they were a little creepy. No, they were more than a little creepy. So, of course, I am sharing them with you. Hopefully this image does not cause anyone to lose sleep or have nightmares and I certainly would not advise blowing this up and hanging it on your wall. (And yes, I know my macro technique still needs work, but I am still just learning.)
Now I can return to my chores, unless some other photo opportunity literally falls at my door step.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Humor, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged ant, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, dragonflies, green spring gardens, insect, light, musings, nature, shadow, wasp on August 4, 2012| 2 Comments »
I have always been fascinated by light and shadows.
Shadows often hide or mask details of a subject, although they also may reveal elements of a subject that might otherwise be concealed. Sometimes shadows are an accurate reflection of the subject (like a silhouette), but other times they distort reality. Shadows intrigue me too because they often pick up characteristics of the surfaces on which they are cast in addition to those of the subject.
My musings on shadows were prompted by this photo of an unidentified wasp (I think it is some kind of wasp) that I shot yesterday morning. The wasp was back lit by the morning sun, causing a hidden part of his body to be revealed in the shadow.
A few months ago I decided to photograph the morning light coming through a small flower in my neighbor’s garden. As I getting ready to shoot, an ant started walking across the back of the flower. It’s not a technically good shot but I like the effect that was produced by the ant’s shadow.
Folks who follow this blog know that I love dragonflies. In early June I took some photos of dragonflies on a sunny day, resulting in lots of shadows. The dragonfly’s shadow makes me think of the position of a person hang gliding and it even looks like the dragonfly is wearing a little helmet.
The undulating surfaces on which the shadow falls really make a difference in the shape of the shadow. I especially like how the shadows of the wings fall on a separate leaf from the shadow of the main body. The shadows of the leaves themselves make this image even more interesting for me.
In this final photo a dragonfly literally is casting a long shadow. The distortion caused by the angle of the sunlight causes his legs to appear much longer and I find that this dragonfly looks much more menacing than is typical of a dragonfly.
Can a dragonfly actually look menacing?
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged butterfly, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, flowers, nature, Painted lady butterfly, Vanessa cardui on August 3, 2012| 3 Comments »
Painted Lady butterfly (Vanessa cardui) photographed today at Green Spring Gardens, Alexandria, Virginia.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged back-lit, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly, flowers, green spring gardens, nature, sky, swallowtail butterfly on August 3, 2012| 2 Comments »
Female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly (Papilio glaucus) photographed today at Green Spring Gardens, Alexandria, Virginia.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged ant, bee, canon 18-55mm lens, Canon Rebel XT, flowers, green spring gardens, hover fly, insects, orange poppy, poppy on August 3, 2012| 9 Comments »
Do you ever get in the mood for a single color? This evening I am in an orange mood. (As a disclaimer I should mention that I drive an orange car, so orange plays a larger role in my daily life than it probably does for most others.) To scratch that itch, I decided to post some photos from late May of an orange poppy and some of the insects that visited it.
May was the month when I first started getting more serious about photography and these photos were an early indication to me that I was improving. I still enjoy looking at them, remembering some of the early twists and turns of the photography journey on which I have embarked.
As I think back, I feel like I was just learning to walk. Now I can walk with much greater confidence. I look forward to being able to run.
Visiting bee
Visiting hoverfly (flower fly)
Visiting ant
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged bag worm, bug, canon 18-55mm lens, Canon Rebel XT, caterpillar, insect, lavender, nature photograhy, pest on August 2, 2012| 21 Comments »
This evening after work I returned to the site of yesterday’s adventures with the creature that I think is a bagworm caterpillar. Despite some heavy rain last night his sticks-and-silk abode was intact. I stood and waited, wondering if he would reappear.
After just a few minutes of waiting I watched as the bag started to shake and the caterpillar began to emerge from the bag. Unlike last night when he seemed a little coy, tonight he seemed to have shed all inhibitions (or was really hungry).
He rather quickly extended himself more than halfway out of the bag and began to chew on the lavender blossoms. That answered one of my questions from my last posting about whether lavender was a suitable host plant for a bag worm.
I managed to shoot him from a number of different angles to show some details of the caterpillar and the opening in the bag. I think that a couple of my shots captured the texture of the bag. My shooting time was really limited because after his brief snack the caterpillar returned to the comfortable confines of his sleeping bag.
I am sure that I will move on to other subjects eventually, but for the moment I remain utterly fascinated with my creature on the lavender plant. We are developing a relationship but I have not given him a pet name, at least not yet.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 