Bugs and Buds

The photos of the flowerbeds in the previous post are OK, I guess, but to me they don’t have a high-impact score. Rather, I should clarify . . . they have a high impact when I’m seeing them with my own eyes, but as photos (to me) they seem lacking.

I suppose I could do some processing to make them dramatic . . .

I call that “Nuclear Blast” . . . but no; what I think works is the macro approach.

That is the flower of the Salsify plant. These flowers don’t stay open long, and this one is already closing. This is a weed, but one that I let grow in selective locations . . . you see, I want more photos of the seed ball (example – scroll down a bit once there). Dandelions are pretty quick to go from flower to seed ball . . . not so these guys; it’s been two weeks, and still no seed ball. No matter, I am patient.

However, as the title of this post indicates, ammo gonna show you some bugs. First I have to show you the conditions I often have to shoot in . . .

Still, I manage . . . so much so that this will be another of them sit-and-take-a-load-off posts.

As a reminder, you can click on the photos and a larger version will open in a new tab or window. You can also go explore the full size original at the Smugmug Gallery HERE.

It might not be evident there, but these bees really get in there . . . they’re working hard for their nectar.

I should mention that Salvia has interesting flowers worthy of looking at on their own.

But, on this particular day something new caught my attention . . .

This thing belongs to the Bombyliidae family of flies, and more specifically, it’s a Bombylius minor (Heath bee-fly), or at least that’s what I think based on my research. It could be the Black-Tailed bee fly (Bombylius major), but the marking appear wrong to me.

And here’s the interesting thing . . . I found the Heath bee-fly in many British references. I’m beginning to think everyone is looking to emigrate from their country of origin.

This fly can hover stationary much like a hummingbird, and does so even in a pretty good breeze. I tried catching one aloft, but I was not successful.

The interesting feature is the long rigid proboscis  . . .

It was not aggressive at all, but when one sees something like that, one starts to wonder if that’s ever used as a weapon, especially since one is shoving a big-ass lens in its face. Fortunately it paid no attention to me.

Hmm . . . those pictures look a bit ‘soft’. Let me see if I have better success with bees.

See, now, that looks sharper; better focus and all that. Let me imagine the fly is a bee.

In this next photo I almost caught it in flight . . . the wings were still moving.

But enough of uninteresting flies, and back to bees.

Those two shots are included because they have nice details of the wings.

This next shot is here because of the detail of the eyes . . .

Let me now switch to buds and flowers; we’ll get back to bugs in a moment.

Geraniums, as I often mention, are some of my favorite subjects.

But the new guys are also fun to shoot . . . here’s a trio with progressively closer zoom:

Here’s a couple of the same type of flower but with a different color.

I had mentioned before that we have Verbena plants in different colors (here; a “u” for British people to insert all willy-nilly in words they spell differently).

Here’s a zinnia trio, including two buds (hence the title).

And here’s two wildflowers  . . . Onesided Pestemons.

These plants were rescued from work a few years ago. The building had been bought by new owners who hired a crew to go out and cut down everything that grew. Over the year a nice selection of wildflowers had found purchase in the barren soil, but in about a half hour they were all wiped out, cut back to ground-level . . . bastards!

I like these flowers because even the larger bees get all the way in there.

I mentioned our front yard peony plant, but we also have a backyard one that flowered this year. Warning; this might be boring to some; it’s different shots of the same bud.

And no; ants are not needed for these flowers to open.

Getting back to the Salvia, it’s not only bees and flies that like hanging around its flowers.

That’s Irwin, looking at me all displeased-like.

That’s Guido. I hired him to keep the aphids in line. Yes, his methods are pretty drastic, but they work.

How about a couple of random flower shots? OK, you got it!

Here’s Moe. Him and Irwin are related via their aunt Cecelia who, unfortunately is vacationing out East (she likes the humidity).

As I was walking around I happened to spot the hover-fly from a few posts ago. And this is why I don’t like shallow depth of field.

The narrow focus locked onto the edge of the petal, and the fly came out all out-of-focus like. 

Ooops, I see by my clock it’s time for random flower shots . . . union rules; I have to comply.

I don’t know who negotiated these contracts but, mark my words, it will force all the readers to overseas blogs as US blogs will continue to get too long and bloated .

I like these flowers a lot, but they have long stems, and even breathing near them send them in motion. A pain to capture.

Here’s a tragic story unfolding . . . 

A rouge salsify seed is trying to strangle the flower . . . in these sad cases I try and remember nature is harsh. I suppose I could intervene, but I would be helping one organism at the expense of another.  

Best let nature take its course. 

I’m gonna wrap things up with a set leading to what I think is my favorite shot . . . 

Next, I will show you one of the many pink geraniums . . . 

And I’ll wrap up with red geraniums. 

Now, these are in full sun, and the red is really difficult to shoot . . . but then I noticed something. Note: you should look at at least the larger version of this if not the original.

The strong light of the full sun is making it look as if the back of the flower is a lamp. Both the lighting and coloring grabbed my attention. I’m glad it turned out halfway decent.

That’s it. This post has ended . . . except for the stuff below.

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Astute persons might have noticed these doodles, and correctly surmised they hold some significance for me, and perhaps for humanity at large.  

If you click on the doodle, and nothing happens, this is the link it’s supposed to go to: https://disperser.wordpress.com/2011/12/26/palm-vx-and-i/.

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. . .  my FP ward  . . . chieken shit.