52 Photos Project 5: Water Drops

I was pretty excited about the subject this time. I've been meaning to work on water-drops for a while now - the falling, splashing kind. Turns out that's harder than it looks. None of my new efforts were share-worthy.

So here are two of my favorites, featuring drops that stood still and smiled for the camera.




Posted for 52 Photos Project

Macro Monday: Coat of Many Colors

This is a detail from a photo of a Giant Atlas Moth, taken at the butterfly house of the South Bend zoo. They are native to Malaysia. This one had just emerged from its cocoon that day and had a wingspan of about 10 inches. (They can be a full 12 inches wide.) Can you imagine seeing one of these floating around in your yard?

Just for fun, here's an even closer look:





Posted for Macro Monday at Lisa's Chaos.

Macro Monday: Incandescent

The prompt for 52 Photos Project this week is "Crop it: a before and after view". Since this is the way I produce most of my macros these days, it seemed a perfect match for both memes.

I don't have a macro lens, but I can get about two to three feet away from the subject with my 50mm fixed. It takes very sharp photos, if I can get the focus just right. My little Canon G9 point and shoot lets me get very close, but it's hard to get a decent depth of field from inches away. So ... I take a wider shot with the T2i and crop the daylights out of it.

Here we have a burned out decorative lightbulb with rippled, iridescent glass, before and after the crop. My husband always shakes his head when I hoard stuff like this for its photo potential. Wait until he sees the six dozen broken egg shells I've been saving up.

Here's the "before" straight out of the camera:




Posted for Macro Monday and for 52 Photos Project.

52 Photos #2: Microscopic

The topic is "Microscopic", and I kinda missed the boat on this one. These tree catkins are only about an inch long, which is pretty small. But within just a few hours they had opened up, turned totally yellow, and were sitting in an absolute drift of pollen. The pollen would probably have been a better choice of subject here, but I really didn't want to get up close and personal with that. So. Here ya go. Catkins.

Posted for 52 Photos Project and for Macro Monday

Macro Monday: Starry Night

Moss and lichen, a la Van Gogh.



Posted for Macro Monday

Macro Monday: Hummmers

I blew most of my day today trying to find the right combination of settings that would give me tack-sharp, noise-free, magazine quality photos of birds. (It's an ongoing quest of mine.) I never found the magic recipe, but this one isn't too bad.

I know the National Geographic guys are using equipment that costs more than my house, but I still think my little Canon Rebel is capable of much better. I just can't seem to push the right buttons.

For more close-ups, join the fun over in Macro Monday at Lisa's Chaos.



 

Macro Monday: History

This scrap of wood shines bone white in the black ashes under our burn barrel. So many textures, all speaking of its journey through life and death: whorls and undulating growth patterns; the cross-grain rip of the saw blade; a weathered gray skin from wind and sun; charred edges from the fire.

January was a rough month for a variety of reasons. Sorry I haven't been around - I have missed visiting with you, and I'll be trying to catch up this month.

See more macros at Lisa's Chaos.

Macro Monday: Thirsty

This is the above-ground part of a plant growing in a botanical garden greenhouse. The whole thing looked like a half sphere the size of a volley ball, and it looked like something green probably shoots up out of it from time to time. I have no idea what it is (there wasn't a tag) but the texture fascinated me.



Stop by at Lisa's Chaos to see the world up-close and personal.

Macro Monday: Peach Pit Boat

It's Macro Monday! And here's my entry for the week:



Here's one from my archives. It's a little boat carved from a peach pit, purchased by my uncle when he served in the Korean War. There are several interesting things about it, aside from its size.

First of all, those windows actually swing open and closed. Secondly, there is something written on the underside in tiny, tiny characters. I suspect it is the story of the Eight Chinese Immortals sailing to a banquet, carrying the peaches of immortality.

And thirdly, this photo - MY photo - has been snagged and used all over the Internet. Go ahead. Google "peach pit carving" and see what you get. Some link back to my Flickr page, and I guess I'm OK with that though I would have appreciated a request or a credit. There was one place, though, that offered this item for sale! For $400! I wrote them about it and the site disappeared soon after, though I never got a reply.

I always thought I'd be flattered to have a photo good enough to be stolen. But it really doesn't feel so hot.

Anyway, here are a couple more shots that show the amazing carving and the relative size. And if you are coming in from Google and want to use any of these, PLEASE ASK?

Macro Monday: Who Ya Gonna Call?

Dust bunnies: Ignore them at your peril. Leave them alone long enough and evolution kicks in, unleashing an infestation of Moses-knows-what.

(Nah. It's just a thistle seed head from last year.)

For more close-up photography, visit Lisa's Chaos: Macro Monday.

*Note: I apologize for not getting around to everyone who commented last time. It was an extraordinarily rough week. I love that you all stop by and visit, and I promise to do a better job of checking out all your great blog entries this week.

Macro Monday: The Best Things Are Free

A flower was offered to me,
Such a flower as May never bore;
But I said "I've a pretty rose tree,"
And I passed the sweet flower o'er.

Then I went to my pretty rose tree,
To tend her by day and by night;
But my rose turned away with jealousy,
And her thorns were my only delight.

-- My Pretty Rose Tree, William Blake

Violas have escaped from someone's flower basket or border, slipping away to dance in the grass.

The number of deer and groundhogs in my area make flower gardening impossible. However, all is not lost. The woods and fields abound with wildflowers, and I spend many happy hours finding and photographing them. They are tiny, most of them, and seem so impossibly fragile. Yet they thrive, needing nothing from me, and they are riches aplenty.

Sometimes, even leaves are a treasure.



*Note to LifesHighway: This one's for you. Sorry about the spider. ;-)


For more close-up photography, visit Lisa's Chaos: Macro Monday.

Macro Monday: Hiding

I'm hiding, I'm hiding
And no one knows where
For all they can see is my toes and my hair...

- from Hiding, by Dorothy Keeley Aldis

This little spider reminded me of the children's poem I learned long ago.





For less creepy entries, visit Lisa's Chaos: Macro Monday.

Macro Monday: Holey-er Than Thou

Imagine the ages it took for a river to tunnel its way into the heart of this little stone. Someone took it away from its source, with other stones that had lain beside it for eons, to lie in the mud of an Indiana driveway. I wonder where it will be ten thousand years from now.

Check out more up close and personal entries at Lisa's Chaos: Macro Monday.

Macro Monday: Spring Violets

I had to get down on my tummy for this one, but it was worth it. Note the long spur at the back of the blossom and the near-white color. You don't see these very often, so it's a treat when they turn up.

Check out more macros at Lisa's Chaos: Macro Monday.

Macro Monday: Into the Light

Isn't it a wonder that these big, sunny blooms were gathering down there in the dark earth, waiting there below the snow.


Check out more macros at Lisa's Chaos: Macro Monday.

Macro Monday & PhotoHunt: Spiral

I've been looking for a reason to play with this string of shells I bought a few years ago in a bead shop. I love looking at them just as they are, and I couldn't bring myself to separate them for projects.

There used to be two strings of these. One set has mysteriously disappeared, and there are a few loose shells in the bowl. My kids still swear they know nothing. Gremlins got 'em, no doubt.

Check out more macros and spirals at Lisa's Chaos: Macro Monday. and tnchick's place: Photo Hunt.

Macro Monday: We Are Saved

Look what happened this weekend: Pussywillow buds are opening! The snow is melting, too.

There is a God.

For more macro photography, zoom in to Lisa's Chaos: Macro Monday.

Macro Monday: Viola.

I found three canning jars full of old buttons at a yard sale, and one of them included this curious disc marked Viola. It isn't a button. I think it might be from an antique pump organ, but I'm not sure. I bought the whole lot just for this one piece, because I loved the mystery of it.


For more macro photography, zoom in to Lisa's Chaos: Macro Monday.

Macro Monday: Queen Anne's Ice

Hello there! This is my first entry in this meme. I don't know what took me so long - I love shooting macro, and I've been admiring all of your entries for some time now. Thought I'd jump in this time.

For more macro photography, zoom in to Lisa's Chaos: Macro Monday.