I’ve started a new site, edgeofthecircle.net, where I will have more writing and less photos. Please feel free to check it out and subscribe if you want to!
As part of an application for a photography show, I wrote a writeup that turned into a manifesto for macro photography, an explanation of why I enjoy it so much and why it makes me so happy. Here’s the link:
http://edgeofthecircle.net/2018/02/08/a-manifesto-for-macro/
One of my special places.
The coldest seven day spell in a hundred years is just starting, and we already have plenty of ice at Mann’s Pond.
I should mention that the next images have been edited a bit to remove a few stray branches.
A white Christmas! It would be wrong to miss the chance for a walk in the woods right after a snowfall. I apologize if there are too many photos here; the fresh snow brings out so much beauty.
Winter insects are always a thrill. Here’s a winter stonefly, If you want to learn more about them: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/winter-stoneflies-sure-are-supercool/.
One of the biggest attractions today was the sun shining on the droplets on the branches, setting them afire. However, photographing that posed a challenge: what was scintillating to the eye disappeared in the photos, as the droplets were too small and the highlights were cut, so the brilliance was lost, for the most part. This is a typical photo:
By accident, I found that one way to sometimes compensate for this was to take photos out of focus — in retrospect, I suspect everyone else already knew this, but it was fun to experiment with. Here’s pretty much scene as the previous photo, but out of focus:
I’ve often mentioned that I’m obsessed with photographing this particular view:
Here’s a boulder that clearly is not enjoying the snowstorm 😦
And here’s an occasion where the droplets in the sunlight did in fact display themselves well:
I don’t apologize for my time exposures of the stream, cliched or not! But it’s nice to find a new twist on this approach. Today, the sun was reflected on the bustling flow, so the exposures had a fresh look.
And finally, the sun was low enough that I could take backlit photos of this eccentric icicle, with the sun in the background:
A leaf suspended in a spider web:
A nice autumn fall day. There’s no way should anyone be indoors. I went on the Ridge trail at Moose Hill Mass Audubon in time for sunset.
It got late and as I was going back, the yellow autumn leaves were pretty much glowing in the dark.
There was a large flock of swallows gyrating. I tried to take some time exposures. Still working on it, but these are reasonably interesting.
One of our favorite walks. The boardwalk is now open, too.
The Handsome Trigs were everywhere! Seriously, though, that’s their official name. This one seems to be eating some prey? As katydids, I assumed that they would eat plants. Perhaps a larva? [Edit — I learned that most Orthoptera are in fact opportunistic eaters of other insects or carrion, so this is certainly food. And armed with this knowledge, I can never look at locust swarms in the same way ever again.]
My first geometrid moth caterpillar ever! These are known for their spectacular camouflage. I would never have realized that this wasn’t a twig, except that it mistook the wooden railing for the branch of a tree, and so stood out:
In case you’re still not convinced, here’s a closeup of the head:
A beautiful spreadwing damselfly. This photo was taken on a stretch of the King Phillip’s Cave path that I call Damsel Alley; it’s never without its damselflies.
A shock of color.
It was late in the day, so I took the opportunity to get some backlit photos of this flower:
Pelecinid wasps are always a thrill:
I like this color combination:
There’s nothing very extraordinary about this photo. I just like something about the balance of it.
I haven’t posted in a while, so I’m going to add a mishmash of miscellaneous photos to this. Playing with the new telephoto (remind me, please, to crop this one better).
Reverse photo of an ambush bug (Phymatidae) on our window:
This photo of the crane fly reminds me of Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man drawing.
Wasp on our flowers:
Dolichopodidae (long-legged fly)
Borderland State Park:
a little wild 