11.18.2009

Tidbits From My Day

My camera and I are not getting along. For some reason it is refusing to focus as well as I would like. Perhaps it is feeling neglected of late or is experiencing a mid-life crisis. Whatever is going on with it, the bottom line is that it just isn't giving me the results I am after. That being said, here are a few images of some of the critters that shared my space today...

Lead phase red-backed salamander

young pine woods treefrog

swallowtail chrysalis - not sure which swallowtail...probably tiger

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and lastly, a camel cricket -- again, I have no idea which species, heck I don't even know which genus. We'll just call it a "hoppy bug" and leave it at that.

I hope your Wednesday was wonderful. Mine was pretty darn pleasant.

10 comments:

Sally said...

N-I-C-E, Swampy!! Great photos. I would be delighted to get anything like that, especially with such tiny critters.

What's weird is I can't see your photos for Not a Dog and Sauratown Mtns at all! Then the "rock" ones are fine again. Wonder what's up with that...

Speaking of rock, I'd trade a few of ours for a glimpse of your tree frog or salamander.

Garden Lily said...

Wow, what a great collection of creatures to "share your space" with. I love the little salamander, his toes look so delicate.

Ditto on the can't see the photos on the 2 previous posts.

swamp4me said...

Sally,
Thanks. It's just that the camera used to do a much better job of focusing up close -- maybe I've just worn it out!

As for the pictures in the previous two posts I'll just chalk that up to Blogger weirdness. The pictures were there earlier.

Garden Lily,
It always amazes me that salamanders can walk with such tiny feet!

Now I'm going to see what I can do about the photos in the previous posts.

Jacqueline Donnelly said...

Even with my bum eyes, I can't see anything wrong with the focus on these wonderful photos. Cool critters! But I know that sometimes my camera just refuses to focus on what I want it to, especially in the macro function. I often have to try 10, 15 times, or stick my finger where I want it to focus. For some reason, it will almost always focus on my finger. Of course, if you stick your finger on a bug, it flies away! My camera has a manual focus function, but I've never mastered it. I can't figure out the instruction book. One of these days I will find a teacher.

swamp4me said...

Woodswalker,
I've used the finger trick a time or two myself ;) As for figuring out all the features of my camera...hopeless!

jason said...

I love the salamander and the frog! Aren't they cutest little things...

These are delightful images, Swampy. If you're having trouble with the camera, it's certainly not obvious here.

denapple said...

Your fall leaves are terrific! The perfect photographic subject.

swamp4me said...

jason,
Frogs of any kind delight me, but I particularly fond of any of the treefrogs. As for the salamanders, they are sort of like a present when you roll a log and discover one underneath.

denapple,
Thanks. They had arranged themselves so prettily I just had to take a picture.

Randy Emmitt said...

Hey loved these photos! The chrysalis is one a wild cherry so it is very likely it is an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail.

swamp4me said...

Randy,
Thanks for stopping by. The chrysalis was a beautiful shade of green - very noticeable against the cherry bark.