Bring on the Dragons…

© jmillerphoto.com - Eastern Amberwing

I didn’t get to do quite as much shooting as I wanted to this weekend.  Okay, if truth be told I never get to shoot as much as I want to.  I had made plans for Saturday and Sunday but only managed to get out Sunday.  Professional obligations clouded my Saturday, but that’s okay–it worked out for the best.

I found myself at Mitchell Lake Audubon Center this morning.  Really I was there about 2 hours later than I wanted to be, but all worked out well as I struggled with a warm morning and a battery that was on the edge of being depleted.  About 430 images made it onto the memory card.  I’ve only done a cursory glance through them, but there are about a dozen that I’m really happy about.  I may go into more detail later, but professional obligations seem to always get in the way between getting something posted and maintaining some degree of timeliness…  Dragons and damsels are starting to make their triumphant return and it was about an 8 dragon species day.

It unfortunately looks like a wicked week in front of me.  Membership has its privileges.  I’m hoping to at least get a From the Archives post in before the weekend rolls around again.

About the Image:
This Eastern Amberwing (Perithemis tenera) dragonfly was part of the 8 dragonfly day that I had at Mitchell Lake Audubon Center near San Antonio, Texas.  This is a fairly common dragonfly, but not one that is often seen at Mitchell Lake.  It originally was going to be displayed as a horizontal image with it looking into empty space, but then I changed my mind and put it into a portrait format for this crop.  When I turn it into wallpaper it will return to that format.  Tech details are ISO 200, 1/125th @ f/14.  As always, Canon 60D, 300mm f/4 L IS USM lens + 1.4x Canon Extender.

Nobody Rides For Free…

© jmillerphoto.com - Powdered Dancer Damselfly

The blog has been conspicuously quiet of late.  Sorry about that.  Work has been very busy.  New position, more responsibility, more thinking.  This is to be expected–my employer invested a lot of money in my in the last few years and with an investment there comes an expectation to receive a return on that investment.  Being a family friendly blog, I cannot recite the entire phrase that includes “No Gas” and “Nobody rides for free,” but the folks in my generation should know the phrase well

The couple of days that weren’t overly busy at work were occupied with tasks in the evening that has kept blogging to a minimum.  I’m hoping to get at least a couple of things written this weekend to keep the conversation going next week.

I did get out last weekend and did something I hardly ever do:  Almost nothing.  It was just a quiet weekend on a smallish lake in the heart of Texas.  I did a little photography out there, but honestly not much.  And that was really by design.  It was a weekend about relaxing, taking a load off, forgetting about work, and forgetting about hobbies.  And did I mention I got to relax?

I’ve posted a couple of those shots to Flickr, along with a number of images from my Easter Sunday trip to Medina River Natural Area.  I’ll blog a little bit about Medina River Natural Area along with hopefully making a trip out there.  I’m hoping to make it somewhere outside of the greater San Antonio area on Sunday, weather and time permitting.

About the Image:
Medina River Natural Area was the source of a large number of Powdered Dancer (Argia moesta) damselflies.  Technical specs on this one: ISO 400, f/13 @ 1/320th.  The smaller f-stop opening was needed to get ample depth of focus with the damsel.  The fast shutter speed was needed for the small creature and the shaky guy behind the camera.  I might have been able to drop it back to ISO 200, but all things being equal it turned out pretty good.  All things considered it was a very minor crop–just taken down to 4×5 format and a little off the top and bottom.

From the Archives – New Garðarskagiviti

© jmillerphoto.com - Garðarskagiviti

From the Archives is back this week after a short break.  As I was thumbing through images I realized that I hadn’t posted a lighthouse in this series.  And with the unfortunate and untimely passing of Thomas Kinkade this past week I thought it was appropriate to bring out one of my favorites.

This is the new lighthouse at Garðarskagiviti, just outside of the village of Garður on the southwest coast of Iceland.  I shot this lighthouse many times and at many times of day, but this image may be my favorite.  It was made at 20 minutes to midnight less than a week from the Summer Solstice.  Tech details are ISO 100, f/2.8 at 1/250th.  Camera and lens combination was the Canon 10D with my 50mm f/2.5 macro lens attached.  It was almost certainly shot hand-held as I had not yet relied on tripods for more steady shots (and my wrist still worked almost perfectly).

Must Every Week Start With a Monday?

© jmillerphoto.com - Plains Clubtail Dragonfly

I had some hopes I’d be able to talk about my two trips to Medina River Natural Area (MRNA) today.  And then Monday happened.  Hard.  So instead I will have to submit yet another I.O.U. and let you look at one of my dragonfly life list adds from Sunday.

Those of you who do a good job of observing things will undoubtedly note that I’ve been busier than normal lately.  Maybe that’s some foreshadowing to the news that I plan to uncork soon.  Or maybe it is just that life is what happens when we’re busy making other plans (with a nod to the late/great John Lennon)…

About the image:
One of my two life list adds from Sunday was this Plains Clubtail (Gomphus externus) that I saw just about a half hour into my two hour walk through MRNA.  Technical details are ISO 400, f/18 @ 1/200th.  If I had it to do all over again I would have closed down my f-stop maybe one more click (1/3-1/2 of an f-stop) to ensure I got more of him in focus.  But all in all he turned out okay for a first brush with the species.

Wrapping Up a Decent Weekend

© jmillerphoto.com - Clouded Sulphur Butterfly

To my friends near and far I wish to you a Happy Easter.

My Easter Sunday turned out very well.  After taking care of morning family obligations I went back out to Medina River Natural Area (MRNA).  Truth be told, if I was certain that Mitchell Lake Audubon Center were going to be open today (which I found out later that it was), then I would have gone there rather than going back to MRNA.  I had been out to MRNA Friday afternoon and I had thought that going back might be a waste of time.  Wrong again…

As it turned out it was a 2 dragonfly life list add day and I came away with at least a dozen images that will be used again for different purposes.  For all of the fun I had with the insects, I had far more fun with the reptiles.  Three different species of lizards dominated the 600 images I made with over 100 frames being of one specific specimen of Texas Spotted Whiptail.

© jmillerphoto - Whiptail Profile

A far more complete rundown of the day’s events are hopefully forthcoming this coming week.  If not then these two images will have to do.  But if I get some time I’ll go into a little more detail on the trip and I might even let the cat out of the bag on news of coming events…

About the Images:
Top image is a Clouded Sulphur Butterfly (Colias philodice) feeding on purple wildflowers.  This of course is not my first encounter with the Clouded Sulphur nor with one feeding on purple wildflowers–my photo shoot report from Spring Valley Wildlife Area in Ohio led with an image of a Clouded Sulphur on a purple flower.  But this one had very intense colors and made for a nice shot as I walked down the Nogales trail. Technical details are ISO 400, f/11 @ 1/1000th on the tripod.

This particular Texas Spotted Whiptail (Aspidoscelis gularis) was patient enough to allow me over 100 frames before it headed off in the brush. It allowed me to get very close as I lowered my tripod as low as it would go to get the best angle on his profile.   To give you an idea of how close, the long edge on the full size image is 3700+ pixels long.  For this particular image the technical details are ISO 400, f/7.1 @ 1/1250th on the tripod.  

Wildflowers Everywhere

© jmillerphoto.com - Firewheel

Those who have followed this blog for a while know that I’m not a big flower fan.  Don’t get me wrong–I love looking at them.  I just don’t always do a very good job taking pictures of them.  This was probably illustrated best by the fact that I would go to the San Angelo International Water Lily Collection to shoot dragonflies instead of the water lilies.

But this was a good winter for rain thus it has become a good spring for wildflowers.  I am particularly fond of Firewheel (Gaillardia pulchella) and I found this one while I was walking around Medina River Natural Area the other day.  Not a perfect flower, but a pretty one.  Tech details:  ISO 200, f/9.0 @ 1/160th, tripod mounted.

No photography today for reasons too irritating to talk about.  Maybe tomorrow after the obligatory family time.

So Much for Finding Balance

© jmillerphoto.com - Rose-bellied Lizard

I’ve been really busy over the last couple of weeks.  Saturday morning was a 10K event of sorts to ensure that I am staying up with staying in shape, as well as giving the foot a really good trial run.  It passed.  Saturday night was spent with medical personnel with family members (all are well–it was a planned thing), but it meant very little sleep and with little rest I didn’t want to take the chance of wandering around with a few thousand dollars worth of equipment.  So I stayed home.

Knowing that this is a holiday weekend of sorts, I took advantage of some late afternoon shooting today at Medina River Natural Area in the southern part of San Antonio.  Many damsels, a few butterflies, and a couple of photogenic reptiles made for a fun afternoon.  I will try to post more images later, but for now this Rose-bellied Lizard (Sceloporus variabilis) image will have to tide you over.  For those who care about tech details, it was ISO 200, f/5.6 @ 1/160th on the tripod.

My hope is to keep it relatively local again tomorrow.  Maybe Mitchell Lake, maybe someplace else.  Somewhere minimizing the driving and maximizing the photography.

Yes, the being really busy is related to the news I still haven’t shared.  Perhaps while I’m taking it easy on Sunday I will do a post on that as well.