Friday, September 30, 2011

Red Admiral Underwing


Also from yesterday- There are so many cool things out right now. Here's a bonus morning post that I actually scheduled to go up this morning last night before I went to bed.  Have a great weekend.

-Tom

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Autumn Bouquet


Yesterday an image from my morning commute, and today, a photograph from my lunch break, this time with the "big gun".

How many species you can identify?  I don't have an answer...but I'm counting them up myself!

-Tom

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Point and Shoot

Delaware County, Ohio
I love the times around the equinoxes.  Why?  Because I'm traveling to work just before and just after sunrise.  This can lead to some absolutely incredible photographic opportunities.  Today I just had to stop the car and snap this image with my Canon D10 point and shoot. 

This roadway was built with the expectations that it would be home to shops, offices, and condos.  But the recession hit, and now there is nothing but a fancy roadway meandering through a chopped down forest that is now starting to grow back. 



Monday, September 26, 2011

The Widefooted Treehopper

Campylenchia latipes- Widefooted Treehopper

I apologize for jumping between states.  South Carolina offered so many awesome photographic opportunities.  There are enough images that I'm excited about that I'll probably be sprinkling them in now and then for the next few weeks.  But now we're headed back to Ohio.

One of the great challenges for any photographer is to find interesting subjects close to where you are.  I once heard that there are a lifetime of amazing photographic opportunities only a mile from where you live.  I don't need to travel to South Carolina to find amazing images- the opportunities in our own backyard are limitless.

Take this widefooted treehopper, for example.  One evening last week when it wasn't raining, Megan and I were running Weston around the backyard.  I stopped to examine the patch of Canada goldenrod  that I have let grow up along our back fence.  One stem of goldenrod had a thorn.  Canada goldenrod with a thorn?  How could that be possible?

After I moved in closer, I saw that this "thorn" was actually a treehopper.  The diversity of these tiny little bugs is amazing. And the mimicry that that this particular species possesses is even cooler.  What great camouflage.  But you can't fool us-  we botanists know Canada goldenrod doesn't have thorns!

-Tom

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Sunset over the Salt Marsh, Pawleys Island


Have a great week. Here is a view across the salt marsh towards the north causeway at Pawleys Island, South Carolina.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

The Lodge at Deer Haven Preserve








About once a month I volunteer at a nature center called "The Lodge at Deer Haven Preserve". I'm here now, actually, typing and photographing with my IPhone. Most central Ohioans are well aware of the Franklin County Metroparks, but Delaware County also has a fantastic park district. The system in this County is known as the Delaware Preservation Parks.

The Lodge here at Deer Have Preserve is a fantastic place to watch birds. The nature center is open - every day from 12-5 pm. I'll be here today until 2:30.

-Tom

Friday, September 23, 2011

It's Autumn


Can you believe it?  The vegetation doesn't lie- I snapped this view of the various colors of Virginia creeper leaves just yesterday.  I've been experimenting with my super wide angle lens to photograph plants- The bets way to view this photograph?  Bury your nose in the screen, just like you were botanizing this little patch of ground.

-Tom

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Eastern Garter Snake


We've got snakes in our yew bushes at the office.  Two of them- I would gander a male and a female, as we saw them pretty tightly intertwined the other day. I snapped this shot on Monday.  I've started bringing my full set of camera gear to work.  Why the heck not?  I can get everything to fit in a shoulder bag.

At home we have been experiencing the let-down of a post vacation week.  AND we all have caught colds.  Yippee! I've got plenty of things on my mind and I've been using the camera to document autumn.  That's right, goodbye summer, hello fall!

-Tom


Sunday, September 18, 2011

Friday, September 16, 2011

Nighttime at Pawleys Island





Our time at the beach is almost over. The reality of a return trip has set in. Just how tall has our front grass grown while we were away? Will the drive back with two kids under three be as smooth as the drive here?

Over the past week I have enjoyed a little night time photography- something I rarely do back in Columbus. A trip to the beach with relatively little light pollution makes me want to use the dark sky and the light of the moon to make photographs.




Making images from the relatively dim light of an almost full moon can be a frustrating experience but the results using long exposures can be quite rewarding.




Our time here at our "shabby" little cottage on Pawleys island is almost over. It's back to Ohio for us!

-Tom


Saturday, September 10, 2011

Life's a Beach





We made it to Pawleys Island, South Carolina. Now, if we can get the kids to bed, we might just be able to relax!

I'm posting this evening with my iPhone- my 7d hasn't even made it out if the bag. It's so easy to be spontaneously creative wig my phone. This image, this text, all done with a phone!

-Tom

Wednesday, September 07, 2011

Did I Photograph a Dragonfly Pooing?


Don't adjust your monitors, eyeglasses, or contact lenses.  The photo above is horribly out of focus.  But as I was going through the literally hundreds (about 900 to be exact) frames that I shot of these darners at Little Pond, Maine, one in particular caught my attention.  It had a little pinkish thing hanging from the tip of its abdomen.  What the heck is it?



Here is the next frame immediately afterwards-  This one is in focus, not only the dragonfly, but also the foreign object.  I'm definitely not an expert on dragonfly poo, but I'm just saying....what else could it be?  Megan, the resident poo-ologist in the house, says poo.  What do you?

-Tom

Tuesday, September 06, 2011

Goodbye Once Again to Little Pond



Megan, Weston, Brody and I have been been home now for almost a week and it's time to say goodbye to Little Pond. Here's a slideshow of some of my favorite images. I also created the background music today using my Ipad and the software Garage Band. Creating slideshows is really a rewarding experience for me- I hope you enjoy viewing this as much as I enjoyed creating it.

-Tom

Monday, September 05, 2011

Tandem Meadowhawks


Here is a tandem pair of meadowhawk dragonflies.  I'm not exactly which sure which species we're looking at, but if I had to guess, I would guess Cherry-faced meadowhawk.  The male's face is awfully red. 

The meadowhawks do the egglaying together.  The male, in front, grasps onto the female's head with the end of his abdomen, and they literally fly in tandem.  Pretty neat trick, isn't it?  I'm not sure if the male makes all the decisions about where to go, or whether there is truly some type of communication between the two.

The female, in back, is just about ready to dip the end of her abdomen in the wet peat of the bog, depositing eggs with each tap.  The pair would hover for a few seconds, drop down to the bog, do some abdomen tapping, and then hover once more.

-Tom

Sunday, September 04, 2011

Channeling Monet's Water Lilies


Claude Monet- I'm pretty sure everyone learned about him in sixth grade art class, but in case you didn't- here's what I'm talking about.

-Tom

This week I'm posting images from our late August 2011 trip to Little Pond, Maine.

Saturday, September 03, 2011

Not Until Twilight





The beavers wait until the sun sets and twilight shimmers across Little Pond- you won't see them a minute sooner.  But if you're on the pond or at the dock during this magical time of light, you just might get to see one.

-Tom

This week I'm presenting images from our late August 2011 trip to Little Pond, Maine.

Thursday, September 01, 2011

Darner in Flight


One of the Mosaic Darners (species to be determined), Little Pond, Maine- August 26, 2011