My macro journey

[CT_Shooter]

The bee was sleeping on the flower and was still covered with dew. A little oversaturated, but trying to dial it down resulted in the orangey shadows looking really weird. I may work on that later and try and improve it.

This bee was likely not "sleeping", but grounded by the cold morning temperature, rendering it unable to fly. Regardless, it's a truly beautiful image enhanced by the dew drops that formed on it. Thanks.

BTW, I do enlarge your images (and others) in a new browser tab. Totally recommend it.

[clovishound]

Well, getting ready for my wife to come home from rehab tomorrow and had to go the back door of the garage and saw this little guy staring at me. Ran and alerted the Pup and grabbed my camera. Got a couple decent shots.

This was probably the best. Haven't seen the Pup's yet.

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Managed to get the tongue out a little on this one.

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[clovishound]

Another backyard encounter this afternoon.

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He was very cooperative. Wish I had a really high magnification lens to get a picture of just the eye.

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[clovishound]

Well, I don't have a high magnification macro lens, but I thought I'd see what I could do enlarging the eye using the first picture.

Topaz, Lightroom and the Z5 came through.

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[CT_Shooter]

He was very cooperative.

More fabulous photos, CH. Thanks, again.

This is a female; not that it matters to anyone but her and other toads. The "ear" of frogs and toads is that oval colored shape (the tympanum) beside their eyes. If it's larger than the eye, it's a male. Otherwise...

[clovishound]

My apologies to the girl toad.

I'll try and be more observant now that I know the difference.

[markiver54]

Thanks for keeping the pics coming CH...great!

[clovishound]

Well, with the wife recovering from a broken hip, I've not had a chance to go out and about to shoot. She's progressing well, and I hope to be free to spend a few hours away in the next month or so. When I saw the toad, I decided to take advantage of the moment. Unfortunately, this is not the best season for macro work. Most of the smaller critters are not out and about.

[clovishound]

I've really been wanting to get back out and do some shooting with the camera. I managed to do that today. It was a nice, fairly warm day. There were a few critters out and about at Cypress. Unfortunately, I discovered that just a couple months out of the loop had me rusty. I struggled with issues I thought I had behind me.

This was my favorite.

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This one had some problems with blown out highlights. A switch to B&W fixed that rather nicely.

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I really like the textures of this one, even if it is a little pink.

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This one has all the elements, but for some reason just doesn't thrill me.

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[CT_Shooter]

This was my favorite.

Mine, too. Beautiful image. Thanks.