Man its tough finding color on the prairie in January! Warming to 7000K helped with the grasses but I was looking for something more vibrant. I found these rose hips and with carefully burrowing into the snow I could minimize the background distractions. The red was slightly enhanced in Lightroom but comes primarily from fill flash.
It was 46 degrees when I woke up this morning, way too cold for butterflies. I finally went out when it hit 55 degrees and found a couple hairstreaks feeding on a dew covered butterfly weed. I settled for the butterfly after getting frustrated trying to capture a bumblebee in flight as it moved from flower to flower.
Everyone sees butterflies and feels the mosquitos but ants are usually overlooked. They are constantly in motion and could be described as having a type A personality type. It might be a trap to ascribe personality traits to insects but if ants are type A say have attention deficit characteristics. With this line of musing, maybe the mosquitos have attacked my brain.
I love the descriptive names of wildflowers, they are so much more elegant than scientific names. Spring gives me a chance to get reacquainted with my 20+ year old 100 mm macro lens. It takes several seconds to gain auto focus and complains with a grinding noise while it searches for focus, like my knees when getting up after shooting these guys.
I know a little more than a drop has fallen recently but this is the only one that landed here. Southern Minnesota ephemerals are about on schedule despite this winter's snow and cold. Bloodroots are past peak, trout lilies are starting, and the forest floor is a brilliant green.
I was outside letting my mind drift last week. I have a 25 year old 100 mm macro lens that is my walk about lens when looking for details and patterns. Instead of trying to force color into the image it was converted to black and white relying on contrast to carry the image.
Red and green must mean Christmas is coming, right? These guys were a welcome sight on a recent walk through the woods. I came across a stump covered with them and after an hour of shooting realized the best shot was from below with the background blurred. A little slow on creativity on that day.
