CalevPhoto

A day of ducks and bugs

Last week I decided to spend some time photographing the ducks by building 30.  I felt a bit strange, as the last time I took the time to photograph ducks, I had just bought my camera.  I find it rather humorous how every photographer seems to start with ducks.  They are easy to find, pretty, and don’t mind us getting close.

We watched the ducks for about a half hour.  I didn’t get any shots that I am particularly crazy about, but it was interesting watching them.

From watching them I learned that each pair of ducks seems to have a territory.  Generally the territory is defined by some natural obstacles – such as a fallen tree or some branches.  When another duck (particularly a male) enters this territory the other male will slowly glide towards it.  Most of the time, the intruder responds by backing off and leaving the duck’s territory.  However, once in awhile they start fighting.

Continue Reading…

Mysteries come, mysteries go with the Canon 5D Mark II

One of the things I am getting the biggest kick about with the 5D Mark II is the resolution of the shots.  Very often when paired with my MP-E 65 I see things that I would never have been able to notice.  In some cases they answer questions I had always wondered about.  In other cases they bring up new questions.

Mystery solved: How to harvestmen climb?

Here you can see a closeup of two of the legs of the harvestman.  On the ends of each leg are claws.  They obviously use these claws to grasp onto things.  This shot was taken around 3x magnification and is blown up 150%.

Of course, with each mystery solved a new mystery comes along.  This harvestman was found on a fallen leaf.  Therefore the new mystery is – what are those things coming out of the leaf?  My guess is they are some kind of mold or fungus, but I truly do not know.

Continue Reading…

Sometimes the subjects come to you

The day was done and I was happy with the shots I had gotten.  We had walked at Twin Falls State Park and I had taken some decent shots that day, including my first silverfish.  As I was chatting about how to find interesting insects, I glanced at my tripod that was sitting on the ground.  There was something interesting climbing on it.  I could not identify the insect, but quickly got some shots of it as it explored this strange thing that had invaded its forest.

The patterns on its wings in particular were very interesting.I wish now that I had tried to get a closer shot of them, but this particular critter was not going to sit still.  Getting good shots of it was a challenge.  However, after consulting my literature at home I am now fairly certain of what this is. Continue Reading…

A silverfish is not a fish!

Last weekend while hiking at Twin Falls State Park with some coworkers, we had finished photographing the waterfalls and stopped by a small river to take some shots.  I quickly got out my macro lens and started looking under logs and brush to see what I could find.  The vast majority of my macro photography is from my backyard, so this was a major treat for me.

Sure enough, after turning over a log I saw something interesting moving.  I knew immediately from the shape of it what I had found, even though I had never seen one before.

This is none other than the silverfish.  The silverfish is a very primitive insect that many people know as a pest in their house that east book bindings.  While I have never found one in my house, I was delighted to find this one in nature. Continue Reading…

The mystery of the strange beetle larva revisited

Some time ago, I blogged about a strange beetle larva that I had found.  It is clearly the larva of something – probably a beetle.  However, I still have no idea what it is.

Interestingly enough, I have only found this critter in one place – close to one of the ponds near my office.  I have never found one by my house or in any of the parks.  Therefore, my suspicion is that – while obviously not aquatic – whatever this grows up into prefers to be near water.

Continue Reading…

The bugs are back in town! (Part II)

I had to finish yesterday’s blog due to a FlickR outage (they host the pictures for the blog), so continuing with the story I was amazed with how many bugs were out.  I picked up the lid on one of the trash cans in the back of our yard and noticed a stink bug.  This is a shot after I had moved it to a leaf.

At first I was rather excited because as I prodded it to move to the leaf I smelled something curious.  Had the stink bug actually fired at me?  After all, it is well known that stink bugs defend themselves through a foul smelling mixture that they spray at potential attackers.  I then heard my neighbor cussing that something he had opened really stunk, which culled the excitement.  A closer sniff of the bug revealed that it was not the stink bug itself.  Perhaps it did spray, but I couldn’t smell it.

I then moved the stink bug to a primrose that I felt was more photogenic.

It didn’t seem enthralled to be there and soon took off.

I let it go, knowing that it certainly will not be the last stink bug I photograph this year.  I always enjoy photographing them due to their bright green color and interesting eyes.  The next time though I think I’ll try finding a leaf that matches the color as close as possible and try some photographs on it.  I’m not sure the strong colors of the flower really helped the shot in this case.

Another interesting episode came with an ant that I found crawling in one of our recycle bins.  It took off when I tried to photograph it and crawled into the bin.  I watched it for a bit until it came to the very edge of the recycle bin and we stared at each other for about a minute.

I’m not sure of the species.  It did not appear to be a carpenter ant, but I didn’t get a good enough shot of the entire body to be able to identify it.

Finally, I did not have too much luck with the flies that day – who were a bit skittish, but I did manage to get one fly.  Interestingly it was wingless – though I’m not sure why.

Why this particular fly did not have wings will have to go in my mystery bin.

The bugs are back in town!

Last weekend we had a nice warm spell and I found it fascinating how some of the usual suspects just popped out of nowhere.  Sometimes I really wonder where many of these insects go when the weather is bad – as when it is cold and wet it is nearly impossible to find many of these and once the weather turns good they are everywhere.

I found this ladybug on one of our outdoor chair covers.  I didn’t feel this was the best place for it so I moved it to one of our rose bushes.

Continue Reading…

A different take of the ponds near my office

Recently I started a new challenge where each Friday I will photograph several ponds that are located near my office.  Last Friday I went again to the ponds but I decided to try something different.  Instead of searching for tiny creatures with my MP-E 65, I decided to use my 180L instead.  In addition, I did not allow myself to use my MT-24EX but instead had to use ambient lighting.

Occasionally I like putting myself out of the comfort zone.  I did afford myself a monopod – though if I try this again I will likely bring a tripod instead.

Continue Reading…

Some more work on composition

About two weeks ago, temperatures were only a little bit chilly on the weekend so I went out to see what I could find.  I also went out to try to improve my compositions.  It is my goal to not just take identification pictures of insects and other small creatures – but to give them personality and make pleasing shots to look at.

Most of the small critters were hard to find that day, but I did find some interesting things.  This one I found rather cute and it looks almost like the worm is introducing himself!

Continue Reading…

My new resolution for each Friday

Next to my office, there are several ponds that are teeming with wildlife.  Once in awhile, I go down there during lunch to take a few pictures.  I often find that my best macro shots are taken in places I go to often.  For instance, the majority of my best shots come from my backyard.

Therefore, I have decided to organize a group mini-photoshoot each Friday during lunch.  This will push me to make sure I show up here each Friday.  Each day, I also try to do something different.  For instance, the last time I went there I took my MP-E 65 and took pictures of the few creatures I could find.  Conditions were wet and chilly and much insect life had not yet appeared.  However, I did find some interesting worms.

As with current trends, I am trying to pay more attention to composition in my shots.  Therefore, it worked out quite well that I found some interesting worms.

I am excited to keep visiting this location each week to see it slowly change.  It is a very interesting area and I will try a few non-macro shots as well in the future.  For instance, there are a great deal of birds here so I will bring my 100-400 at some point.