MORE bugs, bugs bugs!!! (and other animals!)

I'm back again with some more macro/micro shots!

Last summer it was sunsets I was obsessed with and this summer it was bugs I was chasing down! This cool rainbow bug was super skittish, but I got some nice shots whilst hiking to the Tadake Falls (which I loved apart from getting chased gangsta style by horseflies)

One of my favs of the rainbow insect! He's up in lights!

Look closely and you will see the babies. Ughhhhh. I can't believe I actually get this close to spiders. I've come a long way over the years (1st San Diego and black widows and now here and all kinds of spiders!) and saved myself a ton of money in Psychotherapy flooding techniques! (Apparently this spider is known as Oxyopes macilentus!)

This blue and orange eyed guy was down by Toguchi, the same day April got stung (through diving gloves) by a fireworm that we thought was the leg of a brittlefish! (OK: it was me, I thought it was a brittlefish. Bad Mum!)

The one-eyed hermit crab. Wasssssup! Everyday he's shuffling!

Caterpillar somewhere!

The cute lizard that followed us along a fence at Ryukyu Mura.

Poser.

The giant spider (AKA Banana spider, golden orb weaver, giant wood spider). They are everywhere. In fact, this weekend, whilst geocaching I very almost walked right into one (eye level). SHUDDER!

Not a great shot, but cool coloured beetle none-the-less!

Now these dragon flies were right in the empty lot next door to my house, but they were really small and very shy so these aren't great pics. I tried!

I love the 'bug' eyes!

Here's me going bug crazy. Messed around with some textures, colours, etc!

Some more craziness! I LOVE playing with textures!

This was taken at the Fukushen Gdns, the same day as April's Sari shoot that was actually meant to be a bug hunt!

Now this dragonfly stayed still long enough for me to get a shot of it at the end of the river trekking!

Until next time...

Schedule for Winter/Spring 2012

Summer flew by and now it's mid Oct! Sessions are in full swing despite this crazy weather we're having! I wanted to let past clients and future potential clients know that I am now booking for January onwards...(I MIGHT have a couple of mid Dec spots open if anyone is interested)

A couple of personal shots: My friend, Amanda and I went bug hunting in the summer, we didn't find much in the way of bugs on that particular day but we were fortunate enough to have a very-in-the-mood-to-be-photographed April with us! Funnily enough, a few days later right outside my door in an empty lot I found these 2 butterflies mating. Pretty cool...

It was def. my summer for macro bugs! There's this posting here and one more coming!
There will also be a session fee increase, this will go into affect Jan 2012 and will not effect currently booked clients even if the website reflects the new prices! Thank you for your support x
(or is it effect then affect or both affect or both effect, agghhh, I struggle with this one!)

I Heart Faces - Pets

Who knew?...

That flies blew bubbles?...I certainly didn't until I saw this geezer early in the summer. I know it's not a pet, who in their right mind would keep a fly as a pet, even a cool bubble blowing one, but it is an animal! I was going to post a pic of my dog, but he was in 'pets' a while back and this fly is pretty cool with his super bug eyes too! More happy pet photos at I Heart Faces!

Bugs, bugs, bugs!

The micro madness all started in Feb when I got my Nikon Micro 105 VR lens (Macro)...

Not only is it a fantastic portrait lens, but it has allowed my to further open my eyes in a different kind of way when looking for things to photograph. So, if you see me crouching down, staring into a bush, I haven't gone crazy, I am looking for bugs! This tiny butterfly was up at Ryukyu Mura. They are very flitty, so I was lucky to capture him! I Love the striped antennae!

I never imagined I would find so many cool creatures to capture photographically out here. It's a new passion (along with the sunsets, the people and oh, just about anything!!!)...One of my fav's so far, the bubble blowing fly...

This wet butterfly was actually in this position all night and I got the image in the morning up at Okuma. This was Feb.

Here's another of the rained on butterfly...

Oi, what's all that noise out there. Yep, summer is here in Okinawa when the cicada's start singing! It's loud, but I kind of like it!

Punk Rocker Caterpillar...This guy was on the move! My neighbour brought me another (bigger) one over in a jar, but before I could photograph it, it had made a cocoon! Texture courtesy of the brilliant Skeletel Mess!

These guys are really cool. They are black and white polka dots. It was funny because the day I took this photo (at the start of summer), I had bumped into a friend and said I want to take some bug pics, and this thing landed right on the wall as we were coming up the stairs to the house. April kept watch on it as I instructed her to 'not let it fly away' as I ran in the house to get the camera!!! I just found out it is called an 'Asian longhorn beetle' Thanks to PhotOkinawa! Come on in if you are in Okinawa!

This next one was at Okuma too. The kids found him for me. I think this was the first macro use of my new lens! Sometimes I feel like I've walked into an Eric Carle book!

Front view! Wassssup!

More bugs coming in a later post. I am super behind on all the blogs I want to get done! The Nikon 105 isn't cheap. Before this I was using my 55-200 VR zoom (about $200 but IMHO a decent lens) with a nikon 'close up lens' attachment (about $20). I have gotten some great images with that combo too, especially of sakura. So, even if you can't fork out $800 plus for a lens right now (trust me, it took me a while to save and DECIDE) you can still go macro/micro for less and if you have a passion for macro you can finally get a dedicated macro! These are all handheld in good light and zoomed to 200% on the computer for sharpness in the eyes. Trust me I got lots of blurry shots! Thank God for digital! One day I will go out with the tripod!