Spiders, flies and flowers

[clovishound]

No, I believe it's powdery alligator-flag. Thalia dealbata

It grows on the edge of the swamp and attracts bees and hummingbirds. It looks more interesting in the pictures than it does in real life, although it is a rather attractive plant. I really like the scarlet swamp hibiscus plants blooming there, but haven't managed to get any pictures that work for me.
The pods look like something from a sci fi movie.

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[clovishound]

Starting to get the hang of the new flash. Went out in the yard looking for denizens today and found this guy. I've tried to get pics of them before, but the flash made it much easier. I could shoot handheld and opt for a smaller aperture for increased depth of field.

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[BrokenolMarine]

Outstanding!

[Hatchdog]

Outstanding!

Ditto and from a non photographic person down right amazing.

[BrokenolMarine]

This was the pic I talked about earlier, the Hummingbird Moth pic I took that ended up in the Virginia Wildlife Magazine as Photo of the Month. That magazine is published by the State Fish and Game Division. I never knew I was in the running until a coworker called to congratulate me.

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They can extend that coiled proboscis like an elephant's trunk to suck nectar from the flowers while hovering, like... a hummingbird.

[BrokenolMarine]

Your bee pic reminded me of this one... which is why I asked if the flower was Lamb's Ear... the flower in the background of this one is... Lamb's Ear. You can't kill it and it spreads everywhere. We got some from my stepmother and when Tina pulled it up from the gravel walkway and threw it on the mulch pile, it grew there. She dropped some on the granite dust pile by mistake... it grew there.

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I liked to watch the insects in the garden and flower beds... and the other wildlife. Calming, and some of them are amazingly beautiful.

[clovishound]

Great photos. Bees can be difficult to capture, especially in flight.

I'm going to try and put my new flash in high speed sync mode and see if it will allow me to stop the action on the bees in flight, instead of just blurs. I managed to figure out how to get the flash in that mode, but couldn't get the camera to go faster than 1/200 sec. I'll figure it out. Eventually.

It's not like the flashes I'm used to. Figure out the distance and then look up the aperture on the chart on the back of the flash.

[BrokenolMarine]

Those pics were taken with the D40 and a zoom in Natural light. Shot a lot and deleted a lot, tried different settings. I was, and still am, a hack. But patient.
When people would ask me my secret to getting a great shot...

"Have a camera with you, shoot a lot, get lucky."

But, you do have to have some idea of composition, lighting, and a sense of artistry. We've all sat thru slide shows a dull, flat pictures of subjects we thought no one could ever make boring.

[clovishound]

When it comes to macro, even the pros discard a large percentage of pictures, because they aren't sharp, or something else is really wrong. Of course, the pros are usually pickier about what to keep than the rest of us.

BTW, figured out the whole high speed sync thing. I was thinking about going to one of the closer parks that afternoon, but it's just too darn hot, and the overcast they promised never showed up.

[dave77]

When it comes to macro, even the pros discard a large percentage of pictures, because they aren't sharp, or something else is really wrong. Of course, the pros are usually pickier about what to keep than the rest of us.

BTW, figured out the whole high speed sync thing. I was thinking about going to one of the closer parks that afternoon, but it's just too darn hot, and the overcast they promised never showed up.

Big advantage with digital. Back in the film days it cost around $6 or more for film and processing a 36 exposure roll and I was happy if I got between 5 and 10 good pictures. Back then I would occasionally take photo's for friend's weddings when they couldn't afford a Pro and I actually hated it. Had to wait for the results and no do-overs. Have only shot one since going digital and it was great, being able to take many, many photos and able to take a quick glance at the back screen to see if the shot was OK. It did help that it was outside so didn't have to worry about the flash at the ceremony.