Larry at Larry's Images.com

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Frog's sounds

Green Frog

This frog sat there for the longest time. I am unsure if he was watching me or not. He was close and he did something I have never observed before. I knew they did it but I have not observed it. He made his call. Listen to recording. (If you scroll down past the notices that the web site is down, you will come to the "green frog" text which is linked to the file.) Listen for my imitation. Let me know if you can pick it out. It was a little tricky to capture it with the camera. I could not observe any behavior which indicated that he was about to do it. My reflexes were not fast enough to make the shot when he did it. I received some help from him though. Sometimes he did two in a row and my slow reflexes caught the second one. That is how I made this capture.

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Wednesday, July 27, 2011

A new technique (for me) in shooting the American Goldfinch.

American Goldfinch

I thought of this the other day and tried it. I used it this morning to capture these images. It goes like this:

Get setup far enough from the bird so that you do not stress it. I use my camera on a monopod to support and steady the telephoto lens. I take a few shots, and move up. The way I move up does not frighten the bird. I keep my face behind the camera trying to watch the bird through the view finder as I move. I lift the camera just enough that I can drag the monopod along. That is not much lifting. If I lift it too high, I find that the bird will fly. I move up a little and take a few more shots. I move up a little more and take a few more. I think that the key here is work your way up without frightening the bird.

American Goldfinch

As you can see, I was able to get close enough for a nice shot. The bird can be aware of my presence but seem to stay comfortable as long as something is between them and me.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

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Sunday, July 24, 2011

Frog Update

Frog Unknown

Remember this little guy? I made a shot the other day which makes me wonder if he is a bullfrog.

American Bullfrog

The thing that bothered me about that "little guy" was the underside. I realized that I don't usually see that side of the frogs in the vernal pool. In the above picture, the underside pattern if not the color is similar to the "little guy." The field book shots that I have seen show a solid yellow underside for the bullfrog. Could the "little guy" be a young bullfrog? If you know, please tell me.

American Bullfrog

I don't suppose people would want a frog picture in their house but I think this one might suffice if anyone did. What about a teacher and a classroom? I could make this into a poster.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

The Laugher!

The Laugher

I was walking down the trail in the shade the other morning and observed what appeared to be a single filament stretching from the ground up into the tree. The tree was a cherry tree. On this filament, I observed two caterpillars moving upwards. One was at an ideal height for me. I don't do low very well.

The Laugher

A slight breeze was just beginning and was alternating from still to breeze. I had to be patient to get these shots when they were not moving too much.

The Laugher

I would like to try to observe the moth.

Friday, July 22, 2011

Blue Dasher Dragonfly!

Blue Dasher

The Blue Dasher is smaller than the larger dragonflies. I would call it mid-sized.

Blue Dasher

The background in this and the next shot is the front pond on which water lilies are blooming. The white spot is one of those blooms. I shot this one two ways.


Blue Dasher

I thought that the white might set off the dragonfly. They both are nice, but I think that the first one is better because it adds interest to the picture as a whole in a way the bottom one does not. What do you think?

Blue Dasher

They kind of get used to you sitting there after a while and almost become curious. This is an "in your face" shot of the Blue Dasher. I think, to a lesser degree, that encaustic might strengthen this one as a print.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Dragonflies!

Twelve-spotted Skimmer

I have long wished for a way to backlight my prints. I think that this one would benefit from it. You are viewing it backlit on the monitor. I recently read about a process called Encaustic. You dip the print in a mixture of bees wax and something which makes it translucent. You can then mat and frame it without a back. You then display it so that light can strike the back.

Ruby Meadowhawk

I don't see these around the pools that much. They seem to stay in the meadow.

Common Green Darner

This is one of the larger and stronger flying dragonflies. That might be why it is one of my favorites! They appeared on July 12th this year. I have read that this darner has been observed migrating but we do not know much about that.

Common Green Darner

The other dragonflies did not welcome the Common Green Darner. They tried to run it off but I doubt that they will succeed.