Tuliptree Blossom with Guest
Another Day at Work
Apis Workers' Party
Predator
Some of Your Beeswax
Sedum Bumbler
Look of Defiance
Chicory Bee
Bumbling Bees
Garden Cafe
Buzz By Here - To Infinity and Beyond
Pick Your Poison
Blind Side Attack
On a Mission
Honey Bee on Sedum
Covering the Cosmos
Center of the Cosmos
Three's a Crowd
Popular Spot
On A Pedestal
Big Harry Fireworks Display
To Impress the Girl
Different Perspective
Sweet Ride
Perfect Little Piggies B&W
Flipping the Light Fantastic
Festival of Flights
To the Crowd's Delight
Amish Go Round
Wondersome One
The Stars In Her Eyes
Tuesday's Child
Sleeper Hold
Considering the Next Move
Sugar and Spice
Front Porch Portrait
Caged Competitor
Early Adoration
Child In the Ligtht
Stroll Through the Weeds
Attention Grabbing
Eye Contact
On the Line
Eyes of Wonder
Rounding the Curve
Troubadours of Basin Spring Park
Down by the Creek
Sun Day
Catching Some Light
EAA Fireworks
Hear Me Roar
Missouri
Orchids Up Close
The intricate pattern of color and unique shape makes the Orchid a delight to behold and study.
This is a cluster of blooms I found when photographing butterflies in the Butterfly Palace in Branson, MO. They had several orchids growing in the tropical environment created for the butterflies.
To view a larger version – best for studying the details – click on the photo.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.
Feed the Flame
This distinctively marked butterfly was feeding on some tiny red flowers at the Butterfly Palace and Rainforest Adventure in Branson, MO.
On a recent trip to Branson, Missouri I spent several hours at the Butterfly Palace getting a ton of butterfly images. I was also able to snap a few of the local, native butterflies in the wild. Stay tuned, as I intend to post a variety of butterfly photos in the coming weeks.
In my mind, this butterfly’s orange markings look like a custom painted flame design. I couldn’t identify this type of butterfly. Even a chart of butterflies on the wall at the Butterfly Palace didn’t have an example of this one, though there were a bunch of these beauties flitting around.
If you have a sharp eye, you may have noticed another butterfly in this shot, It’s the blurry orange and white spot in the upper left-hand corner.
To get a closer, more detailed look, click on the photo.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.
How Sweet It Is
This is honeysuckle in bloom. There are about 180 different species of honeysuckle found around the world. This bloom was found in northwest Missouri.
Honeysuckles are a favorite garden plant. Their bright color and sweet nectar attracts hummingbirds. Their vining growth are also used to cover unsightly walls and outbuildings. They are prized for their profuse tubular flowers in summer and the intense fragrance.
You can get a larger, more detailed view of this image by simply clicking on it.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.
Hello Mudder
I found this big fella spending the morning hours enjoying the mud at the edge of a Missouri farm pond.
This frog seemed pretty happy and healthy but I learned from a Wikipedia search… “Frog populations have declined significantly since the 1950s. More than one third of species are considered to be threatened with extinction and over one hundred and twenty are believed to have become extinct since the 1980s. The number of malformations among frogs is on the rise and an emerging fungal disease, chytridiomycosis, has spread around the world.”
To get a better look at this frog, click on the photo and a larger, full-screen version will open in a new browser tab.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.
Lotus Lovelies
These floral lovelies were found blooming on the edge of a pond in northwest Missouri.
I first thought these flowers were water-lilies. Then I saw online that the leaves of lotus flowers rise above the water level while water-lily leaves are found floating on the surface of the water. The same holds true for their flowers; lotus flowers bloom above the water and water-lily blooms float on the water. Clearly, these blooms were well above any water by a couple of feet or more. Whatever you call them, they are lovely.
You can view a larger, more detailed version of this photo by clicking on it.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.
Avid Gardener
I found this monarch butterfly carefully tending the coneflowers in a Missouri flowerbed.
I seem to be seeing more monarchs this year. I recently learned the monarch is also called by a variety of other names – milkweed, common tiger, wanderer, and black veined brown.
You can get a better, larger view of this one by clicking on the photo.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.
Lunch Time
The dragonfly may seem like a dainty flying insect, but don’t let that fool you. Dragonflies are fierce predators. As you can see, this dragonfly is munching on a yellow bug he captured for lunch.
I found and photographed this dragonfly during an outing to pick blackberries in the middle of a Missouri prairie. Actually, I wasn’t picking, I was taking photos while the others picked.
I am always intrigued by the detail found in the transparent wings of dragonflies. If you want to get a better look of the detail, and of the bug being consumed, click on the photo and a larger version will open in a new browser tab.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.
Prince of the Pulpit
This small tree frog found a cozy spot in the shade between the stem and flower of a Jack-in-the-Pulpit plant.
I spotted this little guy on a recent trip to Missouri. He seemed a bit disinterested in my presence. It would have been nice if he would have turned toward the camera, smiled and offered a friendly wave. He, obviously, wasn’t in a friendly mood.
You can view a larger, more detailed version of this image by clicking on it.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.
Collection In the Clearing
Hiking through the woods of northwest Missouri, I came across a clearing with a delightful arrangement of wildflowers.
When I’m photographing flowers I normally move in closer and focus on a particular bloom or two. I snapped some of those images too, of course. However, for this collection, I thought a more distant perspective was worthwhile; where you can see them in their natural state, growing wild and free among the other native grasses and plants .
You can view them in much greater detail by clicking on the photograph. When you do, a larger, full-screen version of this photo will open in a new browser tab.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.
Tree Hugger
I love macro photography because it brings things that are small, and often missed, closeup and in sharp focus. It reveals the detail that we rarely have the opportunity to observe and enjoy.
This small butterfly was one of several I found mingling around the base of a tree in the woods of Missouri. It seemed like a gathering of old friends. Unfortunately, I was’t able to get a good shot of the group’s activity because, at the base of the tree, there was a good deal of tall grass that shielded my view. This momentary loner was kind enough to sit still long enough for me to snap its image. An online friend helped me identify this as a Hackberry Emperor butterfly.
By the way, the image you see here was flipped 180-degrees. When I snapped it, the butterfly was facing downward. I thought it seemed more natural and a little easier on the eyes to have it positioned upward.
There is much more detail to be seen in the larger version. To see it, simply click on the photo.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.