I have loved swallowtails since I was quite small. My Mom-mom and Pop-pop both have a small farm, where they grow mostly wildflowers, but also fruits and veggies. They're also into photography, as much of my paternal side is. When I was in elementary school, my Mom-mom started bringing into their house and raising Eastern Swallowtail and Tiger Swallowtail butterflies, mainly for photographing as they emerged from the chrysalis to fly.
Every year she would give us a few caterpillars (she raised them from eggs) and tell us what/how to feed them, and we would steward them from that point to adulthood. The first couple years, we freaked out when the caterpillars started entering the chrysalis phase because they seemed for all the world like they were dying. But they weren't, and watching the chrysalis change from day-to-day (and they do, quite noticeably for butterflies), and then seeing the adults emerge was awe-inspiring in a truly literal sense.
I really have a hard time understanding why parents invent and perpetuate things like Santa and the Tooth Fairy, when there are so many miraculous things here on this planet, in this moment, to share with children. Who needs an Easter Bunny when we have magical, glorious creatures emerging around us all the time?
I really didn't mean to blab so much. Your pictures remind me of my childhood and the beauty around us, and I wanted to share with you as you have so generously shared these garden visitors with us here. Thank you.
Sorry, this isn't about the photos, but I only just noticed the Twain quote you put near your profile. That is friggin' awesome. Not sure how long ago you added that - I'm a little slow on the uptake sometimes.
OMG you are my best friends. I love you. I don't know what I'd do without you - I've been so bummed out for days!!!! Thank god for you.
Here is the info on the camera. It's a Sony DSC F-707 (which was poo-pooed by the community and then the F-717 came out immediately after and was a big hit). Well I don't care because I still ADORE my camera. I paid a lot of money for it 5 years ago when it just came out. It's 5.0 megapixel which is extremely fine grain, and handles 128 megs of images at a time. It has a million settings because it's automatic AND manual, and I can change the lenses. I have telephoto and wide angle lenses for it, plus a bunch of filters. For these photos I've used a telephoto lens on top of the 10x magnification of the basic camera lens. I have a 2-year certificate (a degree) from the NY Photography Institute and used to be a freelance photographer for the NY Daily News. :-) This is a very long-term hobby of mine. I still have a black and white darkroom in spite of the fact that I've been shooting digital color for several years now. I still love the smell of fresh print paper, the chemicals, developing my own film, etc. - all in black and white. Photography is a real passion for me. But - this is the first time I've ever attempted nature photographs!! And it's tremendous FUN!!!
I've been doing this to take my mind off my finances and joblessness. It has helped to some degree but you can see from lapses in dates that there are days when I either spend the whole day job hunting, or sit like a lump, in consternation over my weird (unlucky) life. Like last weekend.
Here are some pictures of my camera. It's truly an amazing piece of equipment. I can't take credit for photos when using a camera that makes shooting so easy. http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/sony/dsc_f707-review/
4 comments:
More beautiful photos!
I have loved swallowtails since I was quite small. My Mom-mom and Pop-pop both have a small farm, where they grow mostly wildflowers, but also fruits and veggies. They're also into photography, as much of my paternal side is. When I was in elementary school, my Mom-mom started bringing into their house and raising Eastern Swallowtail and Tiger Swallowtail butterflies, mainly for photographing as they emerged from the chrysalis to fly.
Every year she would give us a few caterpillars (she raised them from eggs) and tell us what/how to feed them, and we would steward them from that point to adulthood. The first couple years, we freaked out when the caterpillars started entering the chrysalis phase because they seemed for all the world like they were dying. But they weren't, and watching the chrysalis change from day-to-day (and they do, quite noticeably for butterflies), and then seeing the adults emerge was awe-inspiring in a truly literal sense.
I really have a hard time understanding why parents invent and perpetuate things like Santa and the Tooth Fairy, when there are so many miraculous things here on this planet, in this moment, to share with children. Who needs an Easter Bunny when we have magical, glorious creatures emerging around us all the time?
I really didn't mean to blab so much. Your pictures remind me of my childhood and the beauty around us, and I wanted to share with you as you have so generously shared these garden visitors with us here. Thank you.
All right, you must tell us the exact make and model of camera you're using. SPILL! The detail you can see is fantastic.
My fave thus far has to be the ones you denoted as "His wings." It's really nicely composed.
These are all so neat - thanks, L.
Sorry, this isn't about the photos, but I only just noticed the Twain quote you put near your profile. That is friggin' awesome. Not sure how long ago you added that - I'm a little slow on the uptake sometimes.
OMG you are my best friends. I love you. I don't know what I'd do without you - I've been so bummed out for days!!!! Thank god for you.
Here is the info on the camera.
It's a Sony DSC F-707 (which was poo-pooed by the community and then the F-717 came out immediately after and was a big hit). Well I don't care because I still ADORE my camera. I paid a lot of money for it 5 years ago when it just came out. It's 5.0 megapixel which is extremely fine grain, and handles 128 megs of images at a time. It has a million settings because it's automatic AND manual, and I can change the lenses. I have telephoto and wide angle lenses for it, plus a bunch of filters. For these photos I've used a telephoto lens on top of the 10x magnification of the basic camera lens. I have a 2-year certificate (a degree) from the NY Photography Institute and used to be a freelance photographer for the NY Daily News. :-) This is a very long-term hobby of mine. I still have a black and white darkroom in spite of the fact that I've been shooting digital color for several years now. I still love the smell of fresh print paper, the chemicals, developing my own film, etc. - all in black and white. Photography is a real passion for me. But - this is the first time I've ever attempted nature photographs!! And it's tremendous FUN!!!
I've been doing this to take my mind off my finances and joblessness. It has helped to some degree but you can see from lapses in dates that there are days when I either spend the whole day job hunting, or sit like a lump, in consternation over my weird (unlucky) life. Like last weekend.
Here are some pictures of my camera. It's truly an amazing piece of equipment. I can't take credit for photos when using a camera that makes shooting so easy.
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/sony/dsc_f707-review/
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