Monday, June 30, 2014

Saturday park outing

 
Gotta get away sometimes so Saturday morning we headed to Guadalupe River State Park. I had my camera along so I had fun photographing whatever I wanted. Take a look at this Lindheimer's morning glory. So pretty!
Foliage of the Lindheimer's morning glory.
My favorite milkweed: pearl milkweed vine. LOVE the flowers!

Along a trail, we nearly walked through a huge orbweb or two. I used my spider smarts and found the giant lichen orbweaver, tucked underneath a branch. She blended in perfectly with the moss and bark.
James spotted this big robber fly with its foot "entangled" in the grass. I picked the fly up, grass and all, and it looked like the fly just didn't want to let go of the grass. (So far identified by Bugguide.net experts in the genus Diogmites. Commonly called "hanging thieves," for obvious reasons. Check out that photo!)
Black-eyed susan
A better image of a second orbweaver that we found.
A little Texas thistle bloom.
New native to me: wand butterflybush. Cool!
 


Look who we encountered on a trail! A semi-sociable armadillo.

Ladybugs in love (Harmonia axyridis)...image submitted to the Lost Ladybug Project.
A cool Brock Magiscope that visitors can use at the park's Discovery Center. We want one of our own!

Friday, June 27, 2014

Macro matters

Beautiful stink bug nymph...

Close up of heartleaf skullcap seeds....In the viewfinder, I saw something lurking in the background....
A juvenile bug of some kind!
Found my little praying mantid friend on the Jerusalem sage...
Ah, those messy spiders!

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

First water lily bloom of the season


Our first bloom!

And HA! Just TRY to photograph gambusia! 

 


Crepe myrtles bustin' out

Right now is one of the prettiest times of the year to photograph our front yard.

Note to self

I bought two butterfly weeds last April in Boerne. Same genus/species, but the one on the left has reddish flowers and the other, yellowish. I wanted to save their markers.

Horsetail rush flowering

Horsetail rush in our stock tank pond blooming!




MORE milkweeds

Our beautiful little Texas milkweed (Asclepias texana) is blooming. Gorgeous! I love milkweed flowers.


This is a green milkweed (Asclepias viridiflora) that I happened to spot along the entrance road to the Flying X Ranch at the Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge, where we had our macro photography workshop (Abbott Nature Photography) lat weekend. I saw the flowers and instantly knew it was a milkweed species of some sort. My first green milkweed ever!



Macro nature photography workshop

One of my macro portraits of mountain pinks from the workshop.
For the first time ever, I registered for a photography workshop, mainly because the sessions focused on close-up (macro) photography. John and Kendra Abbott with Abbott Nature Photography hosted the weekend crash course at Flying X Ranch at the Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge northeast of Marble Falls. Great learning experience!
John showed us all kinds of flash and lens setups.

Some of his equipment (he brought a LOT) was QUITE amazing.
The Abbotts (that's Kendra smiling) also brought live animals for photography sessions. 


We practice shot plants and animals in light boxes.

We went outside, too, to photograph subjects.


My portrait of an ironclad beetle taken in a light box.

Mountain pinks in a light box.
My portrait of a lovely Texas tan female, taken on glass over black velvet.
Thanks, John and Kendra! (And Bri for taking this photo)
P.S. This is my 1,000th blog post!!!