The End of Summer is Near!

Today’s post features a few images I captured over the weekend while working in the church butterfly garden. Once you see Monarchs arriving in numbers, you know summer is coming to an end!

An adult Monarch collecting nectar from a Mexican Sunflower:

Monarch butterfly

A Monarch laying an egg on a milkweed leaf:

Monarch butterfly

A Monarch laying an egg on a whorled milkweed plant:

Monarch butterfly

A couple of Monarch caterpillars checking each other out:

Monarch caterpillars

Photographic Equipment Used:

  • Canon 5D Mark 3 camera body
  • Canon 100-400mm IS lens
  • Handheld, with IS “On”
  • ISO 400 and ISO 500
  • Aperture f/5.6 and f/11
  • Shutter 1/90 sec. to 1/2000 sec.
Posted in: Butterfly Photography, Nature Photography | Tags: ,
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The One That Didn’t Get Away!

Today’s post features an image I captured a few years ago, near Port Aransas, Texas.

Whooping Crane with crab

Photographic Equipment Used:

  • Canon 5D Mark 3 camera body
  • Canon 500mm IS lens + Canon 1.4x TC
  • Bogen 3021 tripod and Wemberly gimbal head
  • ISO 200
  • Aperture f/5.6
  • Shutter 1/160 sec.
Posted in: Bird Photography, Nature Photography | Tags: ,
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A Stick that Walks

Today’s post features an insect I have always been interested in … the Walking Stick. Every time I see one, I am amazed at the camouflage ability of this guy in the garden. I was lucky this time … as he moved across the mulched garden bed, it was easy to see him as he rested in my cast shadow on the bed!

Walking Stick

Photographic Equipment Used:

  • Pixel 3 phone’s camera
Posted in: Insect Photography, Nature Photography | Tags: ,
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A Tiger in the Garden

Today’s post features a beautiful Tiger Swallowtail butterfly that was busy collecting nectar from some of the zinnia flowers in the church butterfly garden recently:

Tiger Swallowtail

Tiger Swallowtail

Tiger Swallowtail

Tiger Swallowtail

Photographic Equipment Used:

  • Canon 5D Mark 3 camera body
  • Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-f/5.6 IS lens
  • Handheld, with IS “On”
  • ISO 800
  • Aperture f/8
  • Shutter 1/1500 sec. and 1/2000 sec.
Posted in: Butterfly Photography | Tags: ,
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A Touch of Egypt in the Midwest

Today’s post features some images I captured over the weekend of a White-lined Sphinx Moth, in the church butterfly garden. While weeding and deadheading the flowers, this rather large guy flew in and worked on the cascading butterfly bush for some time, allowing me to grab the camera out of the car and catch a few images.

The Sphinx Moth is also know as Hawk Moths, and there are about 50 species found in Missouri. Sphinx moth caterpillars are often called hornworms, because they usually have a stiff, pointy horn on the rear end. They often rest with the thorax raised into the air and the head tilted downward, which reminded people of the posture of sphinx statues from ancient Egypt and elsewhere.

Here are a few of my favorite images:

White-lined Sphinx Moth

White-lined Sphinx Moth

White-lined Sphinx Moth

White-lined Sphinx Moth

As I await the Monarch migration (should start soon), I’m enjoying all the other nectar-seekers that are visiting!

Photographic Equipment Used:

  • Canon 5D Mark 3 camera body
  • Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-f/5.6 IS lens
  • Handheld, with IS “On”
  • ISO 800 and ISO 3200
  • Aperture f/6.7 and f/16
  • Shutter 1/1000 sec. to 1/3000 sec.
Posted in: Butterfly Photography, Nature Photography | Tags: , ,
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Clearly, Joy in the Garden

Today’s post features three images I captured a few days ago in the church butterfly garden.

Clearwing Hummingbird moths have been busy collecting nectar in the butterfly garden, and often there are several moths in the garden at the same time. Here are three images I collected recently:

Clearwing Hummingbird Moth

Clearwing Hummingbird Moth

Clearwing Hummingbird Moth

For those of you who read the entire blog post, I survived last week at church camp with the high school kids! It was rough … temps around 100F and with heat indices of about 110F. Thank God for air conditioned cabins for sleeping!!!

Photographic Equipment Used:

  • Canon 5D Mark 3 camera body
  • Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-f/5.6 IS lens
  • Handheld, with IS “On”
  • ISO 500
  • Aperture f/5.6 and f/8
  • Shutter 1/3000 sec. to 1/6000 sec.
Posted in: Butterfly Photography, Flower, Nature Photography | Tags: ,
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