Shed Snake Skin
I found this shed snake skin while out walking the dog. I expected it to be fragile, but when I picked it up, I found that it’s actually quite strong and flexible. Without the head, which is missing because it was wedged under a stone wall, the snake was 24 inches long. Not a large snake, but not too small, either.
Harvestman Spiders (mating or fighting?)
Crane Fly and Moth
Both of these photos were taken in low light. The first one turned out a little blurry and grainy, the second, much clearer, but in need of some tweaking of saturation and contrast.
I have a higher end cheap, consumer grade digital camera. Meaning, it’s pretty decent. It’s flexible, has a nice lens, and the color tends to be pretty good. However, it’s not a DSLR, and it’s incapable of doing as good a job as a high-end camera. I’d like to get a digital SLR some day, but even the cheaper ones are way out of my price range. Besides, I just can’t justify spending that kind of money on what amounts to a hobby, so I’m trying to learn as much as I can about my current cameras, in order to get as much out of them as possible.
One of those things I’ve been working on is figuring out how to get usable close-ups in low light conditions. The problem is that low-end automatic cameras don’t allow you to control the shutter speed. If you try to take photos in low light conditions, you are either forced to use flash (ptoui!) or a tripod (not always possible), or your image will be blurry because the shutter stayed open too long, trying to accommodate for the insufficient light. It’s damned if you do and damned if you don’t territory.
But! You can trick your camera into a short shutter speed without the flattening effect of the flash. All you do is set your camera to close-up/macro mode, compose your shot, then, before pressing the shutter release, cover the flash with one or two fingers[1]. Et voila, the shutter is fast enough that your image is sharp, but the flash is not allowed to flatten and wash out the image.
One problem, though. Your image will be a little dark. Because it is sharp, though, you can correct this in post processing. There are several ways to go about it in Photoshop, including levels, curves, saturation, and color balance layers
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[1] You can also put a piece of electrical tape over the flash, but then you’ve got adhesive residue on your camera, and that’s no fun. Something else that might be interesting to try is to use colored fabric (silk scarves or layers of dyed cheese cloth) over the flash.
I found this little fellow on the back steps of the house where I’m cat sitting. I don’t know how he died (hopefully not WNV!), but he was pretty well intact, so I took some photos before moving him to the foot of a tree at the far end of the backyard.
I spent some more time this weekend in Owen County. I didn’t take many photos, though, because it was just too disgusting and depressing. When we got there on Saturday, we found that there were new holes in the master bedroom walls and the trash we’d picked up, bagged, and stacked last weekend was strewn all over the place again.
Spider and Bath Tub Drain
At one point on Saturday, the couple who had been living in the trailer we’ve been cleaning out showed up. Not a word of apology for demolishing the place and leaving a disgusting pig sty for other people to clean up. Not a mention of the puppy they abandoned or the kitten they left locked inside the trailer with no food or water. Not one word. They just said that they were there to pick up some things and that they’d be back later for the big stuff.
Today, when we got there, the mirror in the master bath was smashed, along with a globe from one of the lights. They did, indeed, come back for the big stuff, and they trashed the place some more while they were at it. What the hell is wrong with these people?
I’m finding it kind of difficult right now to feel very sympathetic toward them.
The Scream (child’s drawing on the front steps to the trailer)
The kids–there were three of them–drew on everything within reach: floors, walls, cupboard doors, and the front steps. Mostly, it was the same screaming face, which was kind of creepy.
Purple Cone Flower (Echinacea)
Centaurea Montana Blue (Perennial cornflower)
White-faced Meadowhawk with Black-eyed Susans
Pearl Crescent Butterfly
Joe Pye with Bumblebee
And, with that, I really have to go clean my house. Or, at least, I have to put a loaf of bread on to bake and clean the living room. And vacuum. And maybe clean the bathroom. It wouldn’t hurt to do a couple of loads of laundry, either. I should also start thinking about what I’m going to make for supper, but before I can do that, I need to wash the dishes and sweep the kitchen floor.
I can think of about a million things I’d rather do than any of the above.
Skiff Moth Caterpillar (Prolimacodes badia)
Grasshopper
I pulled both of these out of the archive and re-edited them.
Joe Pye with Bumblebee
Thistle with Bumblebee
Cosmos with Bumblebee
Yellow Slug, Owen County, Indiana
This little guy was hiding under a leaf in the walkway. I nearly stepped on him, which would have been tragic for him and disgusting for me. Slug juice is some sort of industrial adhesive.
Abandoned Teddy Bear, Owen County, Indiana
Rusted Bolt, Owen County, Indiana
Spider on Silk Flower, Owen County, Indiana
red paper boat 