Posted in Butterflies, Flowers, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Epargyreus clarus, green springs garden, Silver-spotted Skipper, Silver-spotted Skipper butterfly, Tamron 180mm on June 25, 2020| 14 Comments »
Out of the more than 3500 species of skipper butterflies worldwide, there is only one that I can reliably identify, the Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus). I spotted this little beauty on Monday during a brief visit to Green Spring Gardens with my friend and photography mentor Cindy Dyer.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Flowers, Gardening, Nature, Photography, tagged abstract, Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, green springs garden, lotus, lotus leaves, Tamron 180mm on July 19, 2016| 6 Comments »
This weekend when I visited Green Spring Gardens I was shocked to see that not a single lotus flower was blooming, given that so many were blooming recently at nearby Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens. As I looked in vain for a flower, I somehow became fascinated with the shapes of the leaves of the lotus plants and their interplay with the light and captured these almost abstract images.
These images are definitely different from the ones that I normally post, but I thought I would share them to show you what unexpectedly caught my eye that day.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, green springs garden, Mimus polyglottos, mockingbird, Northern Mockingbird on February 6, 2014| 8 Comments »
Mockingbirds always strike me as bold and defiant, often perching in the highest point of a tree or bush and singing loudly, heedless of the weather. On a recent sunny day, a rarity for us, I spent quite some time observing this Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos).
Most of the time, the mockingbird seemed to be just soaking up the warmth of the sun, but occasionally the bird would reach down and grab and swallow a bright red berry so quickly that it seemed to be inhaling the berry. In this shot, I managed to capture the berry before it disappeared.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Posted in Bugs, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged Canon 100mm macro lens, Canon Rebel XT, green springs garden, insect, king of the mountain, macro photography on May 23, 2013| 3 Comments »
It took some time for this tiny insect to ascend to the top of this leaf, which may have looked like a mountain to him, and once there he seemed relax and pose for me, as though he was really proud of his accomplishment.
I don’t have any idea what kind of insect he is and would welcome any additional information (or even guesses) from fellow bloggers. To aid you in identification, I have loaded a higher resolution view that you can access by clicking on the photo.
Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Mike Powell 