Insects up close ......

Since I found out today is world photography day I knew I should do a blog post. I have been wanting to share some of the insect photos I got using my macro lens. I am still learning all the focus points but its still really cool what you can get .... 

This is one of the very first insect photos I took with my macro lens. A Japanese beetle in the rain -- as I said I am still getting used to the focus points but I love that you can see the stripes on its back and the rain drop 

A deer fly in the rain-- not sure if the rain was keeping it still but i love how shiny that water made it and couldn't resist taking a picture 

caught as it was flying away -- I love that you can see all the pollen on its legs

not a big fan of ant's so this is about as close as I want to get to it -- love all the detail in the flower also 

and another of the same flowers -- the bugs seem to like it 

I was hoping to see butterflies when I was using my macro lens -- but saw this caterpiller instead -- thought it was pretty cool the detail the macro shows 

and an even closer view -- love how you can see all the spiky hairs .... 

not sure what it is but loved the orange and black and the detail I could see 

and an even better view of the legs and antennae 

a tiny sweat bee -- such great contrast with the white petals 

loving the striped end

can see wings, antanneas and legs -- and the flowers are pretty nice too 

the details of the bee and the flower are so clear its awesome 

you can almost see it collecting the pollen 

loved this little white moth -- the petals are so delicate and I love that you can see the antennae and a leg plus the details of the flower 

and even closer so much that you can see its eyes 

close up of two bees together -- love how you can see legs and tell the wings are folded

look how much pollen it has collected - so cool that you can see some of the grains 

and a little different angle -- wings, pollen and antennae -- awesome 

again the detail I could capture is just awesome. I did have to get really close to them so they were very nice bees :D 

and I like this one because you can almost see how much the bee is  concentrating

and this one is cool because you can see the sectioning of the legs....

Thanks as always for sharing my photos with me -- I had  lot of fun capturing close ups of the insects and hope to be getting and sharing more -- especially of butterflies. Always learning and growing with my photography and I love it. Until next time my friends ... 

Macro adventures with textures and plants in the rain

About 3 weeks ago I purchased and started using my first macro lens. Its been a lot of fun looking at different things through the lens and figuring out just how close I can get to them. This set of photos is from my first couple of times out with the lens. Some of the focus is not the best but as I said I am still practicing. So far I am really liking what I am able to capture

This is from a set of cloth flowers that is on one of my coworkers desk. I thought it was cool to be able to see the actual fibers that make up the flower

A bunch of paperclips -- I couldn't resist -- and I love how it makes us see all the little ridges -- never noticed those were part of a paperclip

This is part of one of the walls in the library. I walk by it every day and never realized how much texture is there..

This is part of a stone wall -- I love how the macro lens reveals the layers of the rock 

This is part of a railing on a stairwell -- a little rusty but I love the ornate detail that the macro lens lets us see

Part of a metal sculpture on campus -- love the color and the textures...

A tiny knot hole in a wooden fence -- looks pretty cool this close up 

tree bark...love the detail that the macro lens brings 

rain drops on a rail -- I loved this because you can see reflections in the drops

The rest of these are some of the close ups of plants that I took. Most of these are pretty tiny. I am really amazed with the detail the macro lens captures. Its so fun to get such a close up view of some thing that I have never really noticed before ....

this is a cluster of  really tiny pink flowers -- I love how the lens lets us see the darker center.

love capturing raindrops

colors on this one are so pretty ...

love how tiny these raindrops are on the pine needles

I really love how clear the stamens of these flowers becomes -- and again definitely would not have seen them this clearly with a normal lens

I love the detail of the rain drops and how the lens blurs the background ..

again these are tiny flowers and I love how clear the layers are and how detailed the rain drops become 

close up of a dandelion bud

some spots on a leaf 

some tiny leaves -- about the size of my thumb 

just loved the symmetry of this tiny plant and the rain drops just made it more interesting 

another series of tiny flowers 

love this tiny purple flower -- and so close you can see the fuzz on the petals 

a tiny queens anne lace bud --with mist on the leaves ....all the designs are cool

loved the colors in this tiny flower and the way you can see the stripes in the leaves 

such a tiny bud .....

love how these almost sparkle and how detailed the little stems are 

had to get a closeup of just one of these tiny flowers 

I loved the colors of this tiny plant and the fact that the blooms formed such a nice circle

this is the center of a bigger flower. I loved all the tiny buds in the middle

and here's a wider view of the same flower -- I just loved all the colors and shapes and the detail of the petals that the macro lens made clear ...

I loved all the different directions these blooms curve in and the macro lens just helps clarify them ...

I took this picture from above the tiny bud -- what I really like is the white petals that outline it and the blue background

I loved the purple color of this plant and the macro lens really makes the stripes and the points of the leaves stand out

I loved how the light was hitting this tiny yellow flower and with the macro lens you can really see the detail of the middle and all the other little buds around it

Thanks as always for sharing my photos with me. I am having a lot of fun with the lens and will definitely be doing another blog post of photos that I have taken with it -- maybe of some of the insects that I have captured --  Until next time friends ...