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
Pops Digital
Keeper of the Lighthouse
This view of the Algoma, WI lighthouse was taken early in the morning. I believe the bird is a cormorant.
This was taken a good distance from the subject. To make the cormorant the focus of the shot required a pretty aggressive crop. There’s quite a bit of digital noise in the image. I decided I liked it and did nothing to diminish it.
Pretty Profile
It has been at least a couple of weeks since we’ve seen a hummingbird at our feeders. They’ve headed south for the winter…already.
This is one of the regulars that we will miss – a female ruby-throated hummingbird.
I like this photo because of the clear view of her pretty face and the blurred effect of her right wing. Also note the tiny strand of spider web dangling off the back of her head. Find out why there might be a spider web attached to a hummingbird. I detail it in a previous post – Click Here.
To see a larger version of this image, click the photo above.
The Beeline
Beeline (noun) 1. direct, straight course. 2. To move swiftly in a direct, straight course.
One of my “quests” this summer was to capture a bee in flight. They’re small, quick and errattic. Hard to catch in focus. So far, none of my efforts have come close to what I would deem, “successful.”
The image above is the best I’ve managed…so far…and it was by accident. (That happens more than I might like to admit.)
I was taking photos around a flower bed beside our house. While I was changing camera settings, I accidentally pressed the shutter button. A that exact moment, a bee happened to be zipping into the frame…and voilá.
If I were trying for it, I wouldn’t try in black and white, but looking at this, I really like the intensity it creates. The bee – with his straight antennae, trailing legs and blurred wings – looks like he is on a do-or-die mission and will not be denied.
To see a larger version of this image, just click on it.
To see more bee photos, check out the Bugs & Spiders gallery.
Where Fairies Live
These sprites were gracious to greet us and pose for pictures at the Green Bay Botanical Gardens. Though they seem pretty relaxed, they are obviously very conscientious about their public image and work hard at keeping up their home and garden landscaping.
You can enjoy a larger view of either image by simply clicking on it.
Kewaunee Lighthouse Fly By
At the end of the Kewaunee, WI pier, a couple of fishermen watch a flock of Canada geese fly by.
Click the image to see a larger version.
Botanicals
Here are a couple of the images I liked from my recent visit to Green Bay’s Botanical Gardens.
Click either photo to see a larger version of the image.
Sunrise Brushstrokes
This was an image I snapped on my way to church Sunday morning, September 11, 2011. The clouds reminded me of the strokes from an artist’s paintbrush.
These are is the piers and lighthouse of the Algoma, WI harbor. The sun, rising above a calm Lake Michigan.
Early morning fishermen are starting to populate the piers as salmon begin their annual to come in to spawn up river. I took this photo around 6:30 am.
If this image appeals to you – by all means – share it with your friends. (Thanks.)
Click the image to view a larger version.
Gazing Beyond
It’s all in the eyes. This ring-tailed lemur obviously had his mind on other things. This is one picture, I think , is worth a thousand or so words.
What do you imagine he’s thinking about? Is he working calculus problems in his head? Fondly remembering a long lost love? Thinking ahead of an upcoming vacation on a secluded, tropical island? Fresh bananas?
I don’t know exactly what he was thinking about. Your guess is as good as mine.
For a better view, click the image to be taken to a larger version.
Risin’ and Shinin’
A Saturday morning sunrise over Lake Michigan and the Kewaunee, WI pier and lighthouse. As you can see, I took this one from the beach yesterday morning.
If you have a large monitor, you may be able to see a larger version of the photo if you click on it.
Brown-eyed Beauty
quest, (noun) 1. The act or an instance of seeking or pursuing something; a search.
I have been on a quest this summer…to find and photograph a butterfly. Seems simple enough. (Yeah, right.)
Every now and then I get a photographic target in my head. One of my targets this summer has been a butterfly image worthy of posting on this blog. Judging by the number of butterflies I’ve seen, much less snapped, butterflies have to be top candidates for some endangered species list. Of the very few I have seen, I’ve not been able to get a good, in-focus, shot of one.
In the last few days, I’ve spotted a few in a vacant field next to my work place. I trudged through the waist high weeds, trying to sneak up on them. They are skittish, flighty little buggers. When I did get one in focus, I couldn’t seem to get a good angle on it…where you can see the wings spread and colors displayed.
This image, though short of my ideal, is the best I’ve been able to come up with and the only one I’ve felt worthy of sharing. And, since it’s not my ideal, the quest will continue.
To get a better view of that brown-eyed beauty, click the image.