~JULY 2012 Photo of the Month Entry Thread~

[dapjwy]

Originally Posted by Rebek56

Coreopsis "Red Shift"
Cardoon, which always reminds me of an alien punk rocker

I've never seen that coreopsis before...very pretty. Nor Cardoon...which I had to look up--cute little punker.

Originally Posted by havalotta

WILSON! Cast Away WILSON Volleyball

~smile~ I like your take on things.

"WILSON!" (still gets me)

[Rebek56]

Originally Posted by havalotta

WILSON! Cast Away WILSON Volleyball

Thanks for the link. I'm not familiar with the film (not having the patience to sit through many movies).

[havalotta]

Oh it's a must see.....all about survival.

[Rebek56]

I'll put it on my list; my spouse is a movie aficionado.

[turttle]

Hey, 'Lib, I have that same species of dragonfly here in Chapel Hill. They must tolerate a really wide range of climates, from the balmy south to the frigid north...or was it the steamy, buggy, sweaty south?

I think Bulu's "Reward" is an amazing shot. I am awed by her (her/him?) ability to capture the moments like that in such clarity. All the photos by everyone have been awesome, as usual.

I don't have any spectacular ones this month. Three of my usual insects:




And just so you know I can take photos of larger things, occasionally,




For those bird afficanados, by my read of the iPRO field guide I have, that gull is a Heerman's gull, and should not have been in California in the summer. It was one of a flock of simliar birds, not one of a kind. Am I confusing a juvenile of some other species?

[dapjwy]

Originally Posted by turttle

And just so you know I can take photos of larger things, occasionally...

And what an up close and personal larger thing (the brown pelican). Very nice.

[havalotta]

I've never seen a potters wasp so to me it is a most UNUSUAL sighting....I think it's quite nice the way it's stretching.

[linrose]

A volunteer sunflower about to open.

[Bulucanagria]

Originally Posted by turttle

Hey, 'Lib, I have that same species of dragonfly here in Chapel Hill. They must tolerate a really wide range of climates, from the balmy south to the frigid north...or was it the steamy, buggy, sweaty south?

I think Bulu's "Reward" is an amazing shot. I am awed by her (her/him?) ability to capture the moments like that in such clarity. All the photos by everyone have been awesome, as usual.

I was confused by which photo was "reward" until I remembered that the posts on WG all retain the original file name. I take so many pictures that I'll often use random words to identify each batch as I upload them from my camera.

As for my "ability", I have to admit that it's mostly observation and being able to use the macro setting on my point-and-shoot camera. I got lucky with this one, though. My eyesight isn't very good so I'm often shooting at things that I can't immediately identify. I could tell it was a large flying insect, but it wasn't until I looked at the viewscreen to check the focus that I realized that he had a kill with him. I was also lucky in that I had a branch handy to steady my arm, otherwise the shots would have been worthless since I had to extend my arm quite a way to get the camera close enough for a macro. Because of that, this was one of the very few occassions where I didn't have to discard any photos in the series.

Still, thank you for the kind words. Sometimes when I see the work of better photographers (and there are many, many excellent nature photographers out there), it can be a bit discouraging. The appreciation of friends reminds me that, while excellence is a worthy goal, being good is still very much worthwhile.

Also, though it means little in cyber-space, I am Dan, a man. Pleased to meet you!

[havalotta]

Originally Posted by linrose

A volunteer sunflower about to open.

Sunflowers have such DETAIL when you take the time to notice...PRETTY!

Booboo Allowed me to rumble through her humongous seed stash (Thank you thank you!!!)
I gathered 3-4 seeds of EACH of the sunflowers she had...I can't wait to plant them next Spring to see their summer tapestry display!