Collecting the Sweets

By Jim | Published June 1, 2018




Last week, when photographing some of the prairies in southern Missouri, I captured this nectar-hungry fly working on an Ox-eye Daisy wildflower: It’s always amazing to see what and how many different types of insects depend on our natural prairies. Photographic Equipment Used: Canon 5D Mark III body Canon 180mm, f/3.5 macro lens Bogen 3021 […]

Posted in 2018, Blog, Insect Photography, Macro Photography, Nature Photography, Travel Photography, Wildflowers | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Common Milkweed Lovers

By Jim | Published February 11, 2016




As a followup to yesterday’s post of the Common Milkweed wildflower, today’s post contains some of the prairie critters that are attracted to this lovely plant: A Green Lacewing, searching for small insects: A pair of love-struck Red Milkweed Beetles mating: Two fly species )unidentified): And two different (unidentified) moths: Noticeably absent was the Monarch […]

Posted in 2015, Blog, Insect Photography, Macro Photography, Nature Photography, Wildflowers | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Too Close For Comfort

By Jim | Published September 20, 2014




A couple of weeks ago, I took my camera gear out to my wildflower garden to photograph some caterpillars that were feeding on my wildflower plants. On the way to the garden, I ran across a large Robber Fly that was sitting on a large rock with a grasshopper. I carefully set up my tripod […]

Posted in 2014, Blog, Insect Photography, Macro Photography, Nature Photography, Photography Tips | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Corn Lily

By Jim | Published July 31, 2014




One of the unique wildflowers of the San Juan mountains (southwest Colorado) is the Corn Lily (Veratrum californicum), also called False Hellebore. These plants tend to grow in clumps, or colonies, with each plant growing from 3-6 feet tall. The Corn Lily grows at altitudes of 3500 feet to 11,000 feet. I also found that […]

Posted in 2014, Blog, Insect Photography, Macro Photography, Nature Photography, Travel Photography, Wildflowers | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Not Your Average ‘Fly on the Wall’

By Jim | Published June 10, 2014




In between rain showers at my home in rural Missouri (yes, we’re finally getting some very much needed rain! In fact, we’re making some nice headway on our deficit … maybe I can extend my kayakable time for another 2-3 weeks!), I captured some macro insect images in one of my gardens. In today’s post, […]

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Just Hangin’ Out

By Jim | Published September 6, 2013




Today’s post features what I believe to be a Robber Fly, hanging upside down from the underneath side of a wildflower leaf, at the local Missouri prairie. I’m pretty sure this is a Robber Fly, but not totally sure. It was very difficult to see the entire insect, underneath it’s foliage cover, but I have […]

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Q: When Is a Small Critter Too Large? (Re-post)

By Jim | Published October 28, 2012




A: When you can’t get the entire critter in the frame! While visiting the local prairie meadow in June, I saw this adorable Mayfly. With such delicate structure, I wanted to get the entire specimen in the frame, especially to show off his extremely large tail, but I also wanted to be able to capture […]

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Little Giant (Re-post)

By Jim | Published October 20, 2012




(This post originally published in July 2010) Last week I ran a private, in-the-field macro workshop for a photographer that had taken one of my digital photograph classes last fall. We went to the nearby prairie meadow that I have published posts on several times, knowing that there would be ample opportunities for macro photography […]

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