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Posts Tagged ‘canon 100mm’

Tiny dragonfly in flight

Posted in Dragonflies, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Portraits, tagged , , , , , , , , on July 3, 2013| 8 Comments »

It’s tough enough to try to photograph any dragonfly in flight, but this past weekend I chased after some of the smallest ones, the Eastern Amberwing dragonflies (Perithemis tenera).

According to Bugguide, these dragonflies are typically 21-24mm in length, which is less than one inch. There were lots of Eastern Amberwings buzzing around the edges of a small pond at one of the local gardens that I like to visit. They were within range of the 100mm macro lens that I was using, but focusing was my big problem. Even though they tended to hover a bit, it was tough to get them in focus when focusing manually and impossible to do so with auto-focus.

The amber wings of this dragonfly are distinctive and I was happy to get some images that showcase the wings. The shots are not quite as sharp as they might have been if I had captured the dragonflies perched, but they seemed to be in constant motion and never posed for me. Focusing manually is still an adventure for me when the subject is moving, but it is a fun challenge.

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© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Skipper on dandelion

Posted in Butterflies, Flowers, Gardening, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged , , , , on June 19, 2013| 4 Comments »

The little skipper butterfly found a dandelion to be particularly appealing and I like this simple image that captured their brief encounter.

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Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Another fuzzy spider

Posted in Arachnids, Flowers, Gardening, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on June 9, 2013| 15 Comments »

As I was checking out the flowers in my neighbors’ garden yesterday afternoon, I came across this little spider, sitting on top of a flower. There was no web anywhere in the vicinity, so I suspected that I might have a jumping spider.

Last month, I encountered a tiny, fuzzy spider that turned out to me a jumping spider, so I am a little more attuned to looking for them now. This one is definitely not the same kind, though, with completely different colors and markings. You can compare the two by checking out the photos in my previous posting.you

When I first saw the spider, it had just captured some kind of insect as you can see in the second photo. It then moved under the shade of a petal of the flower to enjoy its freshly caught dinner. I showed this moment in the first and third shots. The first one was taken a little closer and shows a lot of detail, but I really like the context that the third one provides and it is probably my favorite one. The final shot gives you an overall view of the spider.

I love the color and pattern of the spider and was happy that I was able to capture some of the details. The spider was not very big and I had trouble placing my tripod on the uneven ground to get a sharp shot. I am really happy with the results, however, and will definitely keep looking for these spiders with eyes that I find to be simply irresistible.

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Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Love-in-a-pod

Posted in Art, Flowers, Gardening, Nature, Photography, tagged , , , , , on June 2, 2013| 8 Comments »

Love-in-a-mist (Nigella damascena) is one of those rare flowers that looks as good (or even better) after it has finished blooming and has turned into a seed pod. If you need to remind yourself of the striking blue blooms of this remarkable flower, check out my posting from last week that I called Whole Lotta Love.

I was a little surprised to that these ones at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, Maryland had already moved to this stage of development, but was quick to jump on the chance to photograph them yesterday. I like the way that the spiky portions of the plant are in sharp focus and how the background looks almost misty, as befits the name of the flower. As always, though, the plant looks vaguely alien to me, like it came from outer space.

Love is always beautiful and comes in many forms, whether in the mist on in a pod.

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Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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