Macro Picnic Ants, sweat bee, and Noah's eye

Noah and I stopped by the park today and I took a few macro shots of some ants scurrying around picking up crumbs off our picnic blanket. I also got a shot of a fast sweat bee and then Noah's eye.

a moon shot from the other night...

zoomed in 40x.......and no tripod...

hummingbirds...

I stopped by my parents' house tonight and the hummingbirds were going crazy so I decided to try to capture a few shots.......they are so fast....very difficult to capture on film and to try to have your settings just so.....well....it was very hard. Here are a couple.......but not as good as I would have liked for them to have been!

progress of days gone by...

Shot with DMC-TZ1 at 2007-08-20

forgotten?

Shot with DMC-TZ1 at 2007-08-20

another beautiful sunset.....

Shot with DMC-TZ1 at 2007-08-19

fountain of water......

Taken at C.O.S.I......I thought it was really pretty because it looked like glass.....


Shot with DMC-TZ1 at 2007-08-19

cicadas.......

He was lying on my doorstep....and the ants were trying to eat him? He appeared dead but maybe he was getting ready to shed his skin? I am not sure. I know it looks like he was trying to shed his skin but there was no sign of life in him. AND ants were already inside him and coming out. Do they help eat away the outer skin?

Here are some of my favorite MACRO shots of him:


Shot with DMC-TZ1 at 2007-08-14


Shot with DMC-TZ1 at 2007-08-14


Shot with DMC-TZ1 at 2007-08-14


Shot with DMC-TZ1 at 2007-08-14



Shot with DMC-TZ1 at 2007-08-14


Shot with DMC-TZ1 at 2007-08-14

and yes.......I put him back outside where I found him.....maybe he has a chance yet.


Shot with DMC-TZ1 at 2007-08-14

To watch a cicada shed his skin check it out here:

CICADA SHEDDING SKIN

a ball balancing on water jet....

My sister and I took our kids to C.O.S.I. yesterday and they had an OCEAN area where the kids could do all sorts of water-related activities. One was balancing these balls on jet streams of water. Of course I had to try and capture a few shots.....I LOVE water shots like this where the water is captured in action by the camera and it ends up looking like crystals!


Shot with DMC-TZ1 at 2007-08-14


Shot with DMC-TZ1 at 2007-08-14

looking UP a blue spruce...

Shot with DMC-TZ1 at 2007-08-11

sensual self...

Shot with DMC-TZ1 at 2007-08-11

my buddie Joe....

Shot with DMC-TZ1 at 2007-08-11

He looks so sad.......and is a great dog. He deserves a much better life than what he has right now. He is not my dog.....but belongs to owners who do not really take care of him or pay him much attention. I feel really sorry for him and wish I could give him a good home.

homemade apple pie...

Shot with DMC-TZ1 at 2007-08-11

me as a nun?

I dressed up as a nun last year for Halloween.....and I wanted to make this B&W shot look like a 60s poster....so I colorized it with funky colors....the shot is a bit blurry and was taken with my old Mustek camera.....so it is not that great but I like how the colored version turned out. It resembles a stamp.


Shot with DSC at 2007-08-11


Shot with DSC at 2007-08-11

I know....it's sorta scary......haha

a very slow fly........

I think he is dying off. He has been buzzing me the past 24 hours and lands all over the place and then barely moves. Since he was in my office this morning I decided to grab the camera and take some MACRO shots......here are a couple:


Shot with DMC-TZ1 at 2007-08-11


Shot with DMC-TZ1 at 2007-08-11

another sunset...

Shot with DMC-TZ1 at 2007-08-07

Crickets and Candles......

Noah and I sat outside last night.....and took a candle out with us. It was incredibly black outside in our backyard and what sounded like a million crickets and bugs were chirping and clicking and singing. While out there I grabbed my camera and decided to try taking some MACRO shots of the candle I had burning. It was a pillar candle in a glass hurricane. I did not use any flash.....and these shots were all taken directly THROUGH THE GLASS of the glass hurricane. I really liked how they turned out......showing the melting shape of the candle all aglow.....and no reflection of the glass and complete blackness around it. Here are a few:


Shot with DMC-TZ1 at 2007-08-05


Shot with DMC-TZ1 at 2007-08-05


Shot with DMC-TZ1 at 2007-08-05


Shot with DMC-TZ1 at 2007-08-05

This last one I tilted the camera at a slightly different angle and the effect against the glass made it look more like a small fire with flames.....




Shot with DMC-TZ1 at 2007-08-06
Shot with DMC-TZ1 at 2007-08-05

Rose of Sharons.........

such a beautiful flower......these were taken at my grandmother's backyard where she has many Rose of Sharon bushes blooming right now....


Shot with DMC-TZ1 at 2007-08-04


Shot with DMC-TZ1 at 2007-08-04


Shot with DMC-TZ1 at 2007-08-04


Shot with DMC-TZ1 at 2007-08-04


Shot with DMC-TZ1 at 2007-08-04

inch worm......inch worm........measuring the marigolds...

While at the park the other day an inch worm dropped down onto my shoes and blanket. I put him on a twig and started snapping away.......this is one up close and personal....


Shot with DMC-TZ1 at 2007-08-04


Shot with DMC-TZ1 at 2007-08-04


Shot with DMC-TZ1 at 2007-08-04

check this out.......the eyes........the pincer!!

I went to our local park today and while there captured some shots of ducks and an inch worm and this bug. At first it looked like a giant horse-fly but then upon closer inspection......after checking out these macros.......it almost resembled a locust. In a way it appears like a mutant .....half horse-fly and half locust. The eyes I did not notice till I saw these macro shots and look at the orange pincer thing in the front! Looks like he came with his own fork! He was crawling on my car so I figured I could grab my camera and take some macro shots of him. He moved very slow and creeped me out big time!

UPDATE: I had some ask about the size.....this was big. LONGER and LARGER than a horsefly........and even a locust. I have some flying around my house too.....but this one was hanging around my car and moving slowly so I snapped the shots there. He was probably at least 2 inches long.


Shot with DMC-TZ1 at 2007-08-02


Shot with DMC-TZ1 at 2007-08-02



Shot with DMC-TZ1 at 2007-08-02

shot last year with a Mustek......