It's coming soon . . .

. . . to a neighborhood near you!

"The Ladybug wears no disguises.

She is just what she advertises.

A speckled spectacle of spring,

A fashion statement on the wing . . . 

A miniature orange kite.

A tiny dot-to-dot delight."

- J. Patrick Lewis

I've been trying to make it to my nursery once a week to check on the flower inventory.

Been looking for poppies, anemone and or ranunculus, and the only one I've managed

to come across is the ranunculus. But they have been the really tiny ones and no

soft peachy pinks, my favorite.

But last week, I came across dozens upon dozens of ladybugs. Not sure if they put them

there or they found their way there. But I can say that there will positively be little

ladybug larva soon.

I was so enthralled by them I must have spent at least 45 minutes with my camera in

the same spot.  But boy oh boy can they move fast, which sure makes it tricky to get

them in focus.

I know most of you have had either bitter cold weather or have been buried in snow

this past week(s), and I just want to let you know that it won't be long...

. . . spring really is coming, I promise.

I know this because it happens every year without fail, and the tree pollen

has been off the chart here. I don't think I've ever had this much trouble with asthma before.

So, keep your eyes peeled, it may be subtle, but she's on her way.

Love, Kim

Little Things Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, Friday Finds

It is after all . . .

. . .  a small, small world.

A world full of treasures, a world full of awe.

Did you ever notice that the bigger the circles we run in life,  that the harder it is to see

the details, the smaller world around us. And I don't just mean in nature, but the people around us too.

The bigger the circle, the faster we seem to be able to run, and the less we really see.

Making the circle smaller means we will go a little slower and well it sure is easier on my knees, and my eyes!

"Life is a great big canvas,

you should throw all the paint on it you can."

- Danny Kaye

And well, when we slow down . . . we have a better chance of getting some paint on it at all.

I was out this past week gathering some ideas for the garden,

. . . and came across other gatherers.

. . . beautiful roses,

[ photograph life-two subjects ] 

 . . . and even more gatherers. 

. . . and an itsy bitsy teeny weeny sweat bee.

And yes, I had to share this one! You know spiders have 4 pairs of eyes but have you ever seen them.

Gosh, I could as I'm getting older use an extra pair. We were weeding last weekend when it seems I disturbed this momma to be - uh huh, she is holding her egg sac filled with hundreds of baby spiderlings

who will for the first few weeks of their life hitch a ride on mom's back. That's why you never step on a spider in your house if you're in Texas, or you could have babies scattered everywhere. 

And last but not least one of my favorites of the week . . .  

[shoot.edit.submit, P52-favorites, Flower Art Friday, Photo Art Friday ]

Have a wonderful, long, and safe Memorial Day weekend!!

Love, Kim

XO

 Linking up with Kent Weakley for Project 52

And...

  

  

Foto Friday - Getting a little closer

I love seeing things close up,

And lately I can't seem to get enough.

There is just something very intriguing about the world around us that we don't normally get

 to see close-up or that our eyes can't focus on that closely. Amazing details in ordinary things and happenings in a miniature world that go on and usually without our knowledge.

So this week, I'm sharing some of the details I saw through my lens. Details that have details, whether seen or unseen and ones that I am grateful for.

God is in the details.

This is a wild morning glory that just showed up in my garden, not quite open and covered with the dew of the morning.

My rose, Belinda's Dream, starts out like a tea rose and opens up like an old fashioned cottage rose.

Probably by far my favorite and so easy to grow. Since we live in a mild climate it produces nearly year

around although the blooms are not as proficient or multi-petaled in the cooler weather. One of the most important details of this rose is its heavenly scent.

From the same rose bush, a backlit leaf showing its veins. The details we cannot see are the tubes that

carry water and minerals to the leaf from the roots.

A gulf fritillary drinking nectar. What we can't see is the nectar being drawn up in the proboscis.

Some of you are familiar with the dreaded fire ant. If you look closely you can see their mouth parts that

they will use to hold on to you while they sting you. What we can't see is the venom they inject and if you've never been stung all I can say is OUCH!! To give you an idea of their life size, these guys range from 2-6mm (.012-.024"). I have no idea what they were doing and by the size of the one in the middle I'm wondering if she was the queen. They seemed to be tending to it at first and then there was a fight . . .

A cute daisy like flower . . . what you can't see is that it is really part of a weed.

Who knew weeds could be so beautiful!

Sparkling like diamonds, dew on a rose leaf and the result of surface tension. Does this boggle anyone else, the fact that round water drops can form and stay without immediately rolling off?

Straight from my dining room wall and my interpretation this week for straw, is wheat and what we can't

see inside of each tightly closed husk is a grain.

{linked to Lala's home daycare - theme straw}

I used this same image as my Photo Art Friday subject. I used a pencil sketch action with a

slight orton-ish action. I have never used the pencil sketch before and really like how it turned out.

{Shoot and Edit /Fabulous Friday}

A mountain is composed of tiny grains of earth. The ocean is made up of tiny drops of water. Even so, life is but an endless series of little details, actions, speeches and thoughts. And the consequences whether good or bad of even the least of them are far reaching.    -Sivananda

Because life is so full of details it can sometimes be difficult to choose which ones to give

our attention to, and there are those we cannot go back and notice. Sometimes there are no second chances. I would rather notice the people, places and smallest of things around me than to have a detailed clean house. Oh how it used to be so much cleaner until I discovered photography!! (sorry honey!)

So, I'm wishing you a weeked full of a dirty house! ; )

Love, Kim

XO

 

"      

Scavenger Hunt Sunday



Okay, so I have to say that I was a wee bit excited when I saw the first prompt

this week because getting up close is one of my favorite things to do.  The only problem is

when the macro lens you have is a 40mm it means getting pretty close to your subject, as in

a few inches.  

1. Macro: I found this guy on my front door handle and transferred him to another spot where I could get

    more light to better show off his eyes! ha  That dark spot in his eyes is not his pupils, but the reflection

    of my lens.



2. Found Texture: On a walk my husband and I came across one of our favorite trees that had been cut

    down. I have no idea why it was cut down, but someone counted and numbered the years - 61 !

3. Home:  Home is where the heart is and the fastest way to a teenage boy's heart . . . food!

4. Cover:  And speaking of teenage boys - I don't know any who wouldn't want to be on the 'cover' of
    Sports Illustrated. In fact, he has requested I post this on facebook so it can be his new profile pic!! ; )

5. The tree:  I ran out of time this week to search for the "tree" so I'm digging this out of the archives from a

    post I did in February called - What do you see, the forest or the trees?

  

Hope your having a great weekend!

You can continue the scavenger hunt here.

Love, Kim

XO

 

Foto Friday - My Mantis Adventure

It's very, very good to have a friend willing to capture creatures for you to photograph.

Not once but twice all in the same week. I'm a lucky girl!

My friend Renee called to tell me that she captured a praying mantis for me.
Warning: If you feel the earth shake it's just me as I'm still jumping up and down from the excitement. I went to retrieve it from her and waited until evening to take it outside and get some shots 'cause you know, it's all about the light.

Now, you just never know with these wild things just what they'll do or if you will even get the
chance to photograph them. I opened the container and it immediately ran up my left arm. It took several tries before it would stay on my hand but it never lasted long as it was determined to be king of the mountain my shoulder.  We battled it out and I eventually won. But, I waited a bit too long as the sun was going down quickly and I was losing my light so I tried to place it on a flower. It. Just. Didn't. Want. To. Go. Finally,  I was able to coax it onto a flower and started clicking when I could see it waiving its arms in the air. The next thing I know, I've lost sight of it in the view finder only to find that it was on my camera lens! We went back and forth like this for several rounds and each time I put it a little further away it would just make it back onto my lens? I gave it one last try and put it on a flower basket that was about 3 feet off the ground. It followed my every move and when I stopped it took a leap off the basket, towards me of course! I quickly tried to get a few pics of it on the lantana, but no such luck as it just kept walking towards me.  At this point I was kneeling in the grass and was about a foot from the edge of the stone border in the garden, and yep . . . he leaped straight across to me. It was quite comical.

 

For an insect, they sure have personalities - It's got the same expression that my dog gets when

he hears the initials 'DQ'!!

(f5.0 / 250s)

So to say the least I was a bit disappointed that not many of the shots turned out as sharp as I would have liked and the depth of field was off, but if at first you don't succeed your friend will find you another one. This one was bigger, quite feisty while in the container and to complicate things it was a mature mantis complete with two sets of wings! Yes, this would prove to be a bit tricky and since I got it from her at night I would have to wait until morning for the outcome. The next morning I set out with my camera in hand and container of precious cargo to the garden. I decided on an area of lantana because I was able to get really close with my camera since the lens I was using was my 40mm macro. And when I say close, I mean within inches of my subject.

                                                                         ( f7.1 / 640s)

These guys are fascinating to watch especially when they're cleaning themselves and

they seem to have the curiosity of a cat. (f7.1 / 640s)

Somehow I missed a close-up of their raptor like legs. They have razor sharp spikes

that they use to impale their prey and I read that they are able to strike twice as fast

as the blink of an eye - that's pretty fast!

(f16 / 125s)

Oh my, check out these eyes!! I knew that they had compound eyes like most insects, but

until I had seen one through this lens I had no idea that they also have 3 simple eyes on top of their head.

He (or she) looks bejeweled!

(f16 / 125s)

{Linking this with Fabulous Friday at McDougall Photography 

and Macro Friday}

I 'm guessing that it was about 3 to 3 1/2 inches long.

(f20 /160s)

(f11 / 400s)

{Linking this with favorite photo of the week contest at Through a Photographers Eyes}

I guess they get thirsty too . . . .

(f11 / 400s)

Love the delicacy of the wings and their detail.

(f8.0 / 800s)

The watching . . . it was mutual.

(8.0 / 620s)

(f8.0 / 320s)


At one point I startled it and it flew away . . . but not to worry, I got the ladder and my net and was able
to safely capture it again for more photos and I'm quite certain that I entertained my neighbors, as usual! I think I would be in trouble should I ever fall and not be able to get up, since that is usually where they find me anyway - laying on the ground.

One thing I learned using my macro lens is that with the increase in magnification there is a loss of DOF (depth of field) and to maximize it I need to set the aperture as far down as possible (higher f-stop) so that
more of my subject is in focus and not just it's head (like in the third photo, f5.0). I'm also learning that all
the things that can make normal photography difficult are just magnified when trying to shoot macro. Simple things like just breathing can affect your focus and sharpness and a slight breeze seems like a hurricane.
So more practice for me, but in the meantime I'm really enjoying the details I see through my lens!!

Until next time, take a closer look at something you just might like what you see!!
Have a wonderful weekend,
Love, Kim
XO

Everything as beauty, but not everyone sees it.
-Confucius

photo friday with the hollie rogue