Macro Monday

This isn't technically a macro photograph, but I did use my zoom lens and worked hard at setting it up. Humor me.

We had a full moon on Halloween night, and I wanted to get a close-up of it for my scrapbook pages. So I set the camera on "auto" and took some photos. The result was too solid, meaning I couldn't see the craters on the moon like I could with my naked eye. So I tried again. Same result. I thought I must be wiggling my hands and blurring the moon, so I set up my mini tripod and used my camera remote. Still the same. Blurry:

Then in occurred to me that the moon was so bright it was blurring itself out. That lost shot was an exposure of 1/4. So I cranked my shutter speed up as fast as it would go to 1/4000, and got this shot, which is unedited, straight out of the camera: (Can you see the dark moon?)

Then I played around with the shutter and tried all different speeds. This is my favorite shot, at 1/350:

I learn something new every day. What a great life.

Macro Monday

This was from our apple picking trip a few weeks ago. Ladybugs must really like apples, because they were all over the orchard.

Macro Monday

Took this at Grant's Farm last month. Can you see the butterfly's proboscis unfolded so he can suck the nectar from the flower?

Macro Monday - Cicada Wings

Here I was, all ready to post a set of photos I took this past weekend of a butterfly and a bee. I'll save those for later, because I have a fun little friend to share instead.

I found this dude about 30 minutes ago as I was trying to hang a swing from a tree in our backyard. I saw something tremble out of the corner of my eye and discovered a cicada shell. I've seen those before, but this one had a whitish looking thing coming out of it. Since I know nothing about cicadas, I thought maybe it was one that died while he was trying to molt. And then I saw it tremble again and realized it wasn't dead. Oh, no! This baby was reborn! So I quick grabbed my camera and took about 60 photos of him from every possible angle.

The ones I want to share here are the first one I took, where his wings are all shriveled up and stumpy.

Then as he emerged and the wings dried off, they spread into a pretty glorious sight. (As glorious as a bug can get, for me.)

The wings are so thin and gossamer, and truly beautiful. God's handiwork.

Macro Monday & My Excuses

Yes, I've been an absent blogger for a little bit. It's just been a crazy few weeks! My family reunion in North Carolina (aka my adrenaline rush weekend of Harley riding and skydiving), then Camp Grandma at my Aunt Lucy and Uncle John's in Virginia, then a weekend at the Lake of the Ozarks, then desperately trying to get the kids back on a normal schedule. Which brought us to this past weekend. It was full of parties: the birthday kind and the pool kind. Not to mention paying the piper finally at Weight Watchers (I did some damage the past few weeks), then a nice leisurely three hour training walk with my half-marathon team. (We did ELEVEN miles!) And to nourish my soul, I finally got to go back to home, I mean church. Which is like home to me. I had missed two weekends in a row, and was starving for it. I think that was evident by the virtual dam of tears that were unleashed by the final song, It Is Well with My Soul. Wow.

Now I have to admit one more lame excuse. The few times that I DID have the ability to blog, I chose not to. Is that rude of me or what? Well, I have a good reason. I was determined to catch up on my scrapbook. I hadn't finished 2008 and therefore wasn't even close to starting 2009. I am proud to say I finally finished 2008 and have cleared the way for 2009. I think that deserves a pat on the back!

So, enough of my ramblings - just be glad I'm not posting ALL the details I could!

Let's move on to today's Macro Monday post. I found this little fella last week hopping near our outdoor trash bin. I grabbed him and went to show Jackson, and he peed on my hand (the frog, not Jackson). After releasing him, washing my hands, and grabbing the camera, that's the photo I got. For the rest of the day, Jackson told everyone about the "proggy" he saw. (He has trouble pronouncing Fs. Today he told me, "I don't peel so good." That's the new phrase he uses to catch attention, and I'll admit it does grab my attention to hear my toddler say he doesn't feel good! Then I find out he's just playing me.)

Happy Macro Monday! I'm going to go relax on the couch while my body heals from the abuse it took yesterday. (176 laps on the indoor track. Ugh!)

Macro Monday

I took these photos last night. My plan was to get a close-up of this stalk of grass/wheat thingy, then I noticed a tiny spiderweb built right on it in the curve of the stem and the grass head. This is the last shot of it before Katie so nicely tried to help by holding the stalk straight... and put her hand right in the web. Oh, well.

Then I looked down and a skeeter was getting my ankle! I shot this photo quickly, then killed him. So this is his memorial photo. RIP, skeeter! Good riddance. As Jackson would say, "Go away!" (That's become his catch phrase lately, so I have told him he can say it only to bugs. When he says it to Katie or me or whomever, I ask, "Is Katie a bug?" He says, "No. Sorry, Katie.")

Macro Monday

This is a photo of Jackson's favorite toy right now. Countless times every day he says, "Where's my bouncy bouncy ball?" I have no idea how two "bouncys" got into the name, but that's what he calls it. The fact that I was able to use macro mode AND that he didn't move for this shot is amazing. I love that I can even see the ridges and whorls of his prints on the skin of his palm.
Go check Donna's blog for her Macro Monday shot.