Blossoms and Bugs

An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.
- Henry David Thoreau

Saturday mornings we go to the farmers market, but I left the house early and walked down to the weir with my camera to get in a bit of photography beforehand. I had a limited amount of time, but that was just as well because I've been taking a lot of photos lately and it's hard to keep up with the processing.

The peak of the flowering trees has passed (the photo above is a week old), but the Caragana bushes are still colorful. They're not native but they're still pretty.



There were a surprising number of spiders around. This guy seemed a little gangly with his long legs pointing every which way.



This next one was a fluke. I saw the bee and went to photograph it, but when I realized it was dead I stopped after taking a single shot. But viewing it on the computer I understood why it was dead. Even in this closeup the crab spider is well camouflaged. (see The Spider and the Fly for some previous crab spider photos) I was lucky that the single shot turned out reasonably well.



What I'd actually come to photograph was the flowering wolf willow (the background for the last few shots). It was a hard to get good photos since most of the bushes were covered with spider webs (or tent caterpillar web?). And it was quite windy so the bushes were waving around.



Wolf willow (or silverberry) isn't actually a willow at all. It's related to olive trees. The fruits and seeds are edible and quite nutritious, and a food source for birds and deer, elk, and moose.



I took a few more dandelion photos. At first glance I was ready to discard this one as out of focus, but I decided I quite liked the effect.



For more of these photos see all 15 as a slideshow or overview

Birds on the River

We got out on the river in our kayaks last weekend. I had already taken lots of photos over the previous few days and was still behind in processing them so I didn't grab my camera. But Shelley immediately said, "Where's your camera? You'll be sorry if you don't bring it." She was right, so I ran and got it and the big lens (since birds were the most likely subject). She probably regretted it shortly afterwards since she ended up having to wait around while I took photos! We spotted a pair of Canada geese with goslings as we were paddling upstream, so it meant paddling past them, drifting back taking photos, and then paddling back up stream to where Shelley was patiently waiting.



The goslings are always such cute little yellow puff balls.



I didn't identify these American Wigeons until I got home and looked them up. (The mallards, of course, were familiar.)



The male didn't have as much green on his head as most of the bird guide photos.



The mallard male, on the other hand, had plenty of green on his head!



We spotted another family of Canada geese, this time on the water, going downstream with us and easier to photograph.





These were shot with the 7200 and the 150-600 (225-900 equivalent). It's a little challenging to hand hold, especially in a rocking kayak, but do-able with a high shutter speed and the stabilized lens. The thought of dropping that expensive setup in the water makes me a little nervous, but there's no point having it if you don't use it. And I love the eye level shots you get from the kayak. (Photo of me thanks to Shelley)



For more of these photos, see all 19 as a slideshow or overview

Flowers of the Day

These yellow ones are the first of the irises to bloom around the Innovation Place pond. The sprinklers run early in the morning so the flowers are shining with water droplets when I arrive. Hard to resist taking a few photos :-)



The flowers are beautiful as a whole, but I also love some of the details.





And from unusual angles, like straight above.



The normal way to take macro (closeup) photos with a small cameras like the ZS100 is at wide angle and very close. But the wide angle takes in a lot of background. Sometimes that's good, but sometimes it's distracting. The ZS100 will actually focus reasonably close with the lens zoomed to the maximum telephoto. With the narrower angle of view, you can often get a less distracting background. That's what I did for the first shot above. (The rest were wide angle closeups.)

Birds in the Yard

Saturday morning I looked out and there were 10 or 12 white-winged crossbills on the ground under the bird feeder. Since they've been hanging around I figured I'd take the time to put the long telephoto lens on the camera and set it up on the tripod. Sure enough they were still there when I was ready. But as soon as I came around the side of the house they all took off and disappeared. Figures! I sat for a while hoping they'd come back but eventually I gave up. I left the camera on the tripod though in case I saw them later.

A bit later I saw they had returned. I moved very slowly around the corner of the house and this time I didn't spook them. Here's one of the females:



Previously the male I had been seeing was more orange than red. That confused me when I was trying to identify it. But most of the males this day were the standard red. I'm not sure why the orange. A juvenile? Or a different diet? Here's one of the red males:



And one of the orange ones for comparison:



Again, some of them were feeding up in the tree.



While I was at it I also took some shots of robins and chipping sparrows:





These were all taken with my Nikon D7200, Sigma 150-600 Contemporary lens, Really Right Stuff tripod, and Jobu Designs gimbal head

For more of these photos, see all 13 as a slideshow or overview

Fishing Spiders

The fishing spiders are back at the pond at Innovation Place. You have to approach the water slowly, without any sudden movements or else the most you'll see is one diving underwater to hide. Although that in itself is pretty cool. They tend to stick to where there are plants for cover.



This next one is looking quite fat, I'd guess getting ready to lay eggs.



These ones are relatively small, with bodies about 3/4 of an inch long, but it's still early in the season.

While I was looking for the fishing spiders I saw a struggling fly caught in a spider web. As I was watching, a spider ran out, grabbed the fly, and disappeared again. It was smaller, not a fishing spider. I didn't get a good enough look (or know my spiders well enough) to identify it. The fishing spiders are hunters, not web makers, although they do make a protective web for their offspring.

These photos were taken with the ZS100.

Friday Photos

After a rainy week, Friday was finally clear. I decided to carry the big camera (Nikon 7200 with 18-300) for a change. As usual, I didn't make it half a block before I had to start taking photos of yet another sign of spring - lilac blossoms. We had a big lilac bush at the house where I grew up and the smell of the flowers always reminds me of it.



The sun was glinting off the river brightly.



The new leaves are still such a bright green, especially after the rain.



The Canada geese have their baby goslings out and about on the river. This family passed right underneath me on the railway bridge.



I'm always amazed at how prolific some of the seeds are. Although when they cover our car and get in all the vents I'm not so impressed!



I usually go for sharp, clear images but occasionally, as with these flowers, a soft treatment seems to match how I saw them.



The native crocuses are pretty much gone by now. The ones in the gardens last a bit longer but even they are going to seed.



The dandelions have also passed their initial peek and are going to seed. This was a pair of handheld shots focus stacked with Photoshop. For one I focused on the outside edge, and for the other on the (nearer) center.



There are lots of spider webs around and I liked the dew drops on this one.



The fruit trees are still in flower, although the petals are dropping and littering the ground below.



I can't remember what these plants are. They keep their large leaves over the winter and are one of the earliest to flower. Both the leaves and flowers tend to be somewhat ragged, but I caught these flowers while they were still in good shape.



And I couldn't pass up a few more lilacs on the way home.



For more of these photos, see all 28 as a slideshow or overview

Print of the Week

This was taken in Austin, Texas on our last trip, at the Zilker Botanical Gardens. It was still a little early in the spring for most of the plants, but warm enough for a few lizards to be out and about.

I managed to approach quite close to this little guy. I liked how he was peeking out between two leaves. Shallow depth of focus but managed to get the eye mostly in focus.

It made a good print because the light and dark and color form shapes from a distance, while the details of the lizard are interesting close up, particularly the colors around its eye. The eye looks like it can be pointed in different directions like a chameleon.

Printed 15 x 20" on 17 x 22" Exhibition Fiber.

More Spring Photos

With the recent warmer than usual weather spring has been advancing rapidly and the apple and cherry trees are blossoming.



The white ones are always a bit of a challenge to photograph, a bit like taking photos of snow. To the eye they look so bright in the sun, but if you're not careful the camera will make that gray, or too bright and you lose the highlights. Here's a high key (bright) treatment:



I'm not sure what these next ones are, but they have interesting flowers. Ants (another sign of spring progression) were visiting these.



These ones almost look like miniature roses.



The leaves are progressing well and the trees are turning green.



A male mallard seems to have taken up residence at the pond at Innovation Place. He likes to sit on the grass in the shade under the tree. But spring is the start of wedding season and that patch of grass is also a favorite with the wedding photographers. Every time he's chased from his spot he jumps in the pond and complains loudly. Once the intruders are gone he returns to his spot.



And another final shot of low sun through new leaves and seeds on the walk home after work.



For more of these, see all 15 photos as a slideshow or overview

White-winged Crossbills

We've had these birds around the feeder for the last few weeks. At first I thought they were Black-headed Grosbeaks, but they don't have black heads or conical bills. But they do have crossed bills and they were feeding in the conifers. Although most of the pictures show them as more red or pink whereas these ones are more orange. They are common but I don't recall seeing them before.



They eat the sunflower seeds, but they aren't very patient. If they can't crack the seed right away they throw it out of the feeder and take a different ones. Luckily we have a couple of pigeons that come and eat the seed that's fallen on the ground.

One of the first times I saw them at the feeder I grabbed my camera to see if I could catch them. (Leaving a pot to boil over on the stove!) Moving slowly, I managed to get quite close, which was good because I hadn't taken the time to put on the big telephoto.

As I took photos of the one at the feeder, I felt bits of vegetation falling on me from the tree above. At first I just thought it was from the wind but it seemed a little much for that. When I finally looked up, there was another of the same birds feeding in the tree. The following photos were taken looking straight up.



It looked down at me curiously.



It was a little hard to tell what it was feeding on. I'm guessing the buds for the new needles?



These photos are all of males. The females are less colorful. There are at least two males and two females around. I've also seen them in the back yard. Perhaps they have nests nearby?

Trying to Run

I had a pretty good summer of running last year. By the end of the season I was doing a 20 k run most weekends, and a couple more 10 k runs during the week. My 10 k time was down to 47 minutes which I was happy with.

So this summer I was keen to get out there and do even better. As usual I hadn't done a lot of running over the winter, but I'd managed to get on the treadmill fairly regularly.

But when I went out for my first outdoor run of the season I barely managed a few kilometers before my knee got painful enough that I walked the rest of the way home. (I'd been running farther on the treadmill, but for some reason that hadn't been a problem.)

The symptoms were classic for IT band problems, a common issue that affects roughly 1 in 10 runners. My right IT band had been a little sore last summer but it hadn't developed into a knee problem like now.

I crossed my fingers that it would go away once I got back into shape. I'd run as far as I could until it got painful and gradually worked up to 10 km. It was better if I ran fast, which is typical for IT band problems.

When I headed out this last Sunday I was keen to go longer. It was a beautiful day and I felt good. I was sure I was improving. But when I reached 6 k the pain started to come back. I made it through 10 k but no more, and afterwards my leg was pretty sore.

I've started doing exercises recommended for IT band problems. Apparently it can be a tough, slow process to get rid of it. I've still got my fingers crossed.

Today was another beautiful day and I was determined to get out for a run, but I knew it couldn't be a long slow one. So hills it was! Running uphill didn't bother my knee at all. Normally I would jog slowly down, but that did bother my knee. It was either walk or run fast downhill. Running was more fun :-) The good part is that the workout didn't bother my IT band at all, so at least I can stay in some kind of shape.

I'm really craving a nice long run, but I have a feeling it will be shorter workouts for the next while.