Rainbow On Ice

 

 High in the sky ice crystals refract sunlight into a partial rainbow  

called a sundog.

Aquatic Crochet Creatures

 

Created by Jen Stone.

Captured At Last

 

© 2022 Luke T. Bush

For many years I’ve been trying to photograph a white cabbage butterfly.  Every time I approached one of these wary critters it would fly away.  Its circle of fear was like around six feet.

But finally I captured an image of one.  It acted skittish, flying away but not too far from the from the pollen-laden flowers.  As I’ve seen with bees and wasps it was focused on collecting pollen, in this case feeding on it.  It was still somewhat elusive.  My macro lens needed to be a few inches from my subject, easily spooking it.  But a few times it was too busy feasting to be bothered.

With such insects you can’t use a tripod, they move too quick from flower to flower.  So the above image was taken while hand-holding the camera, trying to keep it steady.  The slightest twitch can blur the image due to the great magnification.  The area that was in focus (depth of field) was only 3-4mm deep.  In most of the shots the butterfly’s eye was out of focus but I did nail it with the image above.

Patience and repeated shooting paid off.

Downside To Pollination

 

 © 2022 Luke T. Bush

Another tricky handheld close-up shot, this time on a windy day. The wasp whipped around on the goldenrod as if an earthquake was striking.  My left hand held on the plant in place while my right hand operated the camera.  This was taken with set manual focus, choosing a magnification ratio and then moving the camera back and forth to get the wasp sharp using the small optical viewfinder.  Not easy with my focus depth being only 3-4mm.  Great for eye strain.

 

Sun Splash

 

 

Lurking Eyes

 

 

At A Loss For Words

 

 

Watch This Space

 

 

Mushroom Glow

 

 

 

WARNING! WATCH WHERE YOU STEP

Read and see the disgusting details at Dogtown 12901.

Not safe for work or dinner.