the camera dance

This little butterfly is the Fiery Skipper. (Thanks Fishing Guy, for the bug link.) They hop around a lot, but its skipping around was to my advantage, because as long as I could react quickly, it offered several different profiles. I would have preferred to clearly see both antennae. Nevertheless, I am quite satisfied with this result. The butterfly photo was taken under the flagpole at church. Several people are presently collaborating to reconfigure the landscaping to something that looks pretty, but at the same time, does not require a lot of work to maintain.

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Then, I have some Zinnias from a friend's yard. She spends a lot of time in her yard, and between the bird feeders, vegetables and flowers, I would be a fool to visit their home without my camera. They are kind enough to let me wander away from the conversation or dinner table to chase photo opportunities. I'll be they stand inside the windows and laugh at me, while I'm out there, doing the camera dance. You know how it goes... both hands holding the eyepiece to the face, crouch low, stretch high, move side to side, get down to the ground, find a spot and freeze... then do it all over again.

flutter by

I have not been very patient yet with butterflies. Rather than sit and wait until they get close to me, I have tried to sneak up on them, and they don't like it. Their flirt & flee tactics make them terrible models.

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I stayed home a couple days this week to do some chores around the house. After lunch, I saw one land on a neighbor's flowering bush, I crept around the blind side, and zoomed right through a gap between the branches to get this one. That's a monarch, right?

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We're experiencing the dog days of summer, and the heat index is pretty bad... especially when moving boxes and bicycles and lawn mowers, and five-gallon buckets filled with what-the-heck-am-I-saving-that-for?! I have a barbell that we kept for my oldest son to use. Somebody welded the caps on, so that the weight can't be changed. How do I get rid of that thing? I banged my ankle on it and did a funky little pain dance. It looked like a Caribbean/Irish jig.

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At the end of the day, I had an incredible thirst, and wanted a tall, frosty beer. Those clever commercials make it look like the most satisfying drink on the planet. I had water, instead.

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The sneaky butterfly picture was a nice treat for a grueling couple of days.

Rocky Bal-butterfly

This must be the Rocky Balboa of butterflies. Ouch... It looks like a bird tried to have it for breakfast. There will be no modeling contracts or beauty pageants in its future, but I think it will survive to the ripe old age of whatever it is that they usually live to be.

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The butterfly remained stoic during the portrait sitting, acting as if it didn't even notice me. I said something about how it is a brave little survivor, and then, as I began humming the Rocky theme song, it cracked a smile and flew away.

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No, I don't have any witnesses that saw it smile. You'll just have to trust me on that.

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Here below is another attempt at photographing the stars. It was a small cluster that I zoomed into. I have no idea what constellation it is a part of. (I misplaced my star chart.) Look closely, and you will see the oblong effect from the earth's rotation. They make a device that attaches to a tripod to match the earth's spin for taking clearer photos... I don't have one yet. (sigh) Maybe some day.

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Addendum: Thanks Shoe and Fishing Guy! You're right. That star cluster is known as the Pleiades, a.k.a. Seven Sisters.