Hardy spider

Posted on February 24, 2013 by Rachael

Hello there!

This tiny spider has been hanging out in my olive tree for weeks now, happily oblivious to freezing temperatures and snow. It is a colourful and rather acrobatic addition to my garden.

And, for my next trick…

“Imperio!”
Moody jerked his wand, and the spider rose onto two of its hind legs and went into what was unmistakably a tap dance.
Everyone was laughing — everyone except Moody.
“Think it’s funny, do you?” he growled. “You’d like it, would you, if I did it to you?”
The laughter died away almost instantly.
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Exploring moss

Posted on February 17, 2013 by Rachael

Today we had sun! I celebrated by photographing backlit moss with my Raynox DCR250 macro conversion lens attached to my 100mm macro lens to get really close.

Moss really is surprisingly beautiful and interesting when you get close to it.
Like a forest of tiny trees casting long shadows in the afternoon sun.

A single strand of gossamer was caught in the moss.

And I found the tiniest of baby snails on one of the stems. The only way to see it was on the screen at native resolution.

I haven’t been blogging much recently. I need to concentrate on my degree for the next few months and there just doesn’t seem to be enough time to blog and keep up with everyone else’s blogs, and take images, process them, study, be a mum and wife, keep house, etc etc. So I am going to blog once a week for a little while now and hopefully do better at reading the blogs I follow.

‘A rolling stone gathers no moss, but it gains a certain polish.’ Oliver Herford

Small White

Posted on January 17, 2013 by Rachael

I would dearly love to photograph butterflies in flight but this is no easy task. Their flight path is ridiculously erratic and their wings flap right over their heads making focus on the eyes almost impossible.

It’s teasing me

I tried to capture this one for a long time one day last summer. I can almost imagine it’s looking at me thinking: shall I, shan’t I?

Seriously dodgy, but it’s a start

This is the best shot I got that day. Yes, it’s not terribly good, but at least you can tell it’s a butterfly 😉 I will try again this year. Although I have planted for insects, my garden sees very few butterflies, but a wildflower park has recently been planted not too far away and it will hopefully be open to the public for the first time this spring. Come on Spring, hurry up!

Handsome fellow

Posted on November 30, 2012 by Rachael

A shot from last month. I couldn’t resist sharing this fine hawthorn shield bug sitting pretty on sedum flowers.

Over on the Shed Gallery blog, my last post as Artist of the Week is about some of the things that inspire my photography.

Maternity ward

Posted on November 28, 2012 by Rachael

Seeing this, one can understand why greenfly are public enemy number one in the garden. The aphid’s latest ‘baby’ has not even dropped to join its siblings yet, but another baby is already being pushed out. And the aphid ‘mum’ is feeding at the same time. Way to multi-task!

Over at The Shed Gallery blog today I am discussing some of my favourite images by other Shed creatives. And not a greenfly in sight, I promise.

Spider in red

Posted on November 27, 2012 by Rachael

This shot didn’t make the cut first time around but it has been growing on me so I thought I would share it. The spider was completely hidden under sumach leaves so the light is poor but I like it anyway.

Over on The Shed Gallery’s Blog today, my post is about photographing flying bugs. If you have been reading Focused Moments since the beginning, you will already know the piece as it is almost the same as one I posted here in April. If not, why not pop over – I share all my secrets, such as they are 😉

Living dangerously

Posted on November 14, 2012 by Rachael

The secret of gathering in the greatest fruitfulness and the greatest enjoyment from existence is living dangerously!

Nietzsche

Leaf hopper

Posted on November 8, 2012 by Rachael

It’s been a while since I posted something buggy, so here’s a little leaf hopper hanging out on a blade of grass. I liked the way the background has the same two colours as the grass blade only the other way up.

Tiny spiders on Autumn leaves

Posted on October 23, 2012 by Rachael

Autumn is spider time. The monster house spiders invade our homes and scare us arachnophobes silly. But in the garden, their smaller and far less intimidating brethren hang out on and even in Autumn leaves. The green orb spider didn’t stay long enough for me to get its legs in focus, but I like the shot anyway, for the colour.

This next one, sitting in a hole in a cherry leaf, is probably the smallest spider I have ever photographed.

The last shot is an old one but it fitted the post, so I thought I could get away with repeating it.

We are away on holiday at present so I am not doing a very good job of keeping in touch with everyone’s blogs. I will catch up on our return.

Little nymphs

Posted on October 21, 2012 by Rachael

Is this not a cute little thing? This is a psocid nymph, pottering about on a dogwood leaf. These are so small you hardly notice them, unless you spend a ridiculously long time staring at leaves, risking ridicule or at least benign amusement from your family.

This little nymph has a parasite in its belly, which I understand is very common for these little critters. But if you ignore the parasite, it tones quite prettily with its colourful Autumn environment. Perhaps that’s just me…

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