[say cheese]

The place where we went camping over the weekend had a barn with animals that you could interact with and pet … I’d say I had some good interaction! 

[almost] Wordless Wednesday

The blessing of new life…

ISO 320 … 1/200 … f/5.6 … 100mm

[linking up with Kristi at Live and Love Out Loud]

[oh, honeysuckle, how I love you!]

Our woods are full of the sweet smell of honeysuckle and apparently I’m not the only one enjoying their beauty and aroma…

All I had to do was stand there and eventually the butterflies came.  One even landed on my pants!  I had to be quick, though, because any movement at all sent the butterflies fluttering away.

I purposefully shot these a little warmer than normal and then didn’t do much with them in processing (sharpened and made a few, very slight adjustments – contrast and clarity – in ACR).  I really like the end result!

[linking up for This or That Thursday]

butterflies

It only took me two weeks, but I finally got all my butterfly pictures edited!  Yay!  For the sake of any new visitors, all of the following shots were taken at Frederik Meijer Gardens in Michigan.  Their ‘Butterflies are Blooming’ exhibit is one of our favorite attractions each spring.

I don’t have a super great zoom lens yet, but my 100 mm macro worked like a charm when I couldn’t get quite as close as I would’ve liked to the butterflies.  I seriously love that lens.  It never fails me.

I didn’t do a lot of editing to these pictures – just a few minor adjustments in ACR and some sharpening in PSE. 

Aren’t butterflies amazing?  So intricate, delicate and colorful!  And so much fun to capture with my camera!

[linking up with Deb for This or That Thursday]

My date with an insect

Yesterday I was feeling rather uninspired and not at all creative.  I took picture after picture of various things in hopes that something would inspire me.  Eventually I decided to take my camera with my macro lens and take a walk around the yard, thinking there had to be something out there that would get me out of my creative funk.

I headed to the mums first because that’s about the only thing that’s still thriving in my yard.  I snapped a few shots from different angles and was starting to find my groove when I spotted a tiny, green insect.  This had potential.  What I love about my macro lens is the ability I have to get extremely close to my subject and not have to worry about whether it will be able to focus or not.  This little guy was probably smaller than my pinky fingernail, but because I was able to get down low and extremely close, I was able to get some fantastic shots.  And thankfully, he wasn’t camera shy!

I didn’t do much to these shots in the editing process … just made a few slight adjustments in ACR, ran a levels adjustment layer and a high pass filter to sharpen in Elements.  That’s it!  And I’m thrilled with how they came out.  Who knew that a little green bug could be so inspiring?

On a different note, I have a question for all you camera people out there … I’ve been noticing an increased amount of noise in my pictures even at lower ISO’s like 400 … anyone have any idea why that would be?  I shoot with a Rebel xti and have never been able to go above ISO 800 but I’m wondering if the recent increase in noise is just due to wear and age.  My camera is almost four years old.  Any thoughts?  I desperately want a new camera, but we’re trying to hold off a few more months so if anyone has any suggestions that will improve the situation until we can get something else, I’d sure appreciate it!

Have a blessed Tuesday and may you find inspiration in the most unlikely places today!

A creature = God’s creation

It’s for moments like this that I truly love my macro lens.  I was actually able to get pretty close but even so, I love how the macro lens enables me to see and appreciate all the little details.  It makes me more in awe of a God who creates all things … even creepy, crawly creatures!  If he put that much thought into creating a grasshopper, how much more thought did he put into the creation of me?

O LORD, what a variety of things you have made!

In wisdom you have made them all.

The earth is full of your creatures.

[Psalm 104:24]

Charlotte’s Web?

My kids think these pictures are disgusting … I think they’re amazing!  But in the interest of full disclosure, I’ll give you fair warning … if spiders make you squeamish, you may want to look away!

I am not a spider lover in any way, shape or form, but I am totally amazed at their web-building ability!

A couple of days ago, we noticed a small web on our deck.  It was anchored by my Rose of Sharon bushes that are approximately 8 feet apart.  I tried to get some pictures then, but they just didn’t turn out well, mainly because I couldn’t get a good focal point.  This morning, however, we awoke to yet another web in the same spot … a web that was much bigger and more intricate than the first one.  And to top it off, the spider was still working on it!  So I set my lens to manual focus this time and was able to capture some fairly good shots.

Disgusting or not, I was in awe…

After spending a good amount of time capturing the above shots, I had to go in and help Katelyn with her hair.   When I returned to the deck several minutes later, the web and the spider had mysteriously disappeared and this was all that was left…

Kind of strange, huh?  We’ll see if the spider returns for another go at it tonight…