Two afternoons in eighty-degree heat with a Godox AD200Pro and a 40-megapixel Fuji taught me that the shutter is not what freezes a bee. Here are the long-horned bees of Oaks Bottom, and the field guide all of this is building toward.
Five eyes, two sets of genitalia, wings with no pigment in them, and a childhood spent underwater as an ambush predator. Fourteen photographs from the lake shore, and how to tell one from a dragonfly.
When people picture a bee, they picture a honeybee — hive, queen, honey, the whole operation. But most of the bees actually working your garden aren’t honeybees at all. Oregon has hundreds of native bee species, and the great majority of them are solitary: no hive, no queen, no honey. Just one female, running her …
Between the birds, a bit of drifting color. Swallowtails are the big kites of the butterfly world — broad-winged, unhurried, and impossible to ignore when one comes tumbling through on a summer afternoon. They take their name from the slender tails trailing off the hind wings, and those tails may be more than ornament: many …
The other day a tiny gray butterfly landed on a cosmos bloom in my garden, and I was lucky enough to get a macro shot of the moment. Up close, the little visitor was exquisite: soft gray wings with a delicate white line, a small orange spot near the tail, and those thin “tails” that …
Today, I made another excursion to Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge in Portland, Oregon, and I was captivated by the diverse array of bee species that call this lush habitat home. As I wandered along the trails, my camera in hand, I encountered some remarkable pollinators that are not only vital to our ecosystem but are …
Leaf cutter bees are remarkable solitary pollinators known for cutting precise circles from leaves to build their nest cells. They’re significantly more efficient pollinators than honeybees per insect, and they’re easy to attract to your garden.
Are you seeing delicate white butterflies fluttering around your garden lately? Chances are, they might be the charming cabbage white butterflies (Pieris rapae) paying you a visit. I had a graceful cabbage white visit my garden and was able to capture some close up images. These beautiful insects are a common sight in many gardens …
Praying mantises are considered beneficial insects for gardens because they eat many types of insect pests that can damage crops and plants. These pests include flies, beetles, moths, grasshoppers, crickets, and true bugs. By eating these pests, praying mantises help control their populations, which can prevent damage to plants and increase biodiversity. The 1/2-inch-long immature praying mantis …
Pollinators carry pollen from flower to flower, enabling plants to produce fruits and seeds. This post explains which species are pollinators, why pollination matters, and what we can do to support these crucial creatures.
The yellow bumble bee is one of the most recognizable native pollinators in the Pacific Northwest. This post covers its identification, habitat, behavior, and crucial role in pollinating gardens and wildflowers.
The zebra-backed jumping spider, scientifically known as Salticus scenicus, is a species of spider that belongs to the family Salticidae. As the name suggests, this spider has a distinctive appearance with black and white stripes on its back, resembling the pattern of a zebra. Here is some video footage of a zebra-backed jumping spider on …
Honeybees are an essential part of our ecosystem, and their importance cannot be overstated. These tiny creatures play a crucial role in pollinating plants, which is essential for the growth and survival of many crops and wildflowers. Without honeybees, our food supply would be severely impacted, and the natural beauty of our environment would be …
My backyard is home to a wide variety of plants and animals. I have planted native trees, ferns, grasses, clover, and flowers to attract birds, squirrels, cotton tail rabbits, chipmunks, butterflies, bees and other insects. I also have a bird fountain that is supplied with fresh water from a drip systems. Here are some images …
Today I had a cool visitor in my garden. This interesting bug is a bush cricket or Katydid. They have excellent camouflage. Katydid is an insect that belongs to the family Tettigoniidae, commonly known as the long-horned grasshoppers. It is a small, green insect with long antennae and large hind legs that allow it to …
This is my favorite bee to photograph. I took these photos inOaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge.
I have been enjoying photographing a variety of bees and dragonflies. Most of these photos were taken at Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge. Please consider becoming a member to support my efforts to bring these images to you. As a member you will be able to download these images. I will also make my music and …
This is the time of year when dragonflies are out in full force. I was able to get close to some cool dragonflies today with my 80mm macro lens with a 1.4 teleconverter.
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I recently have been using a photo processing technique called focus stacking. It is difficult to get the entire subject in focus when doing macro photography. The solution is to take multiple photos and then merge all the focused parts of every image. The image editing software, Photoshop, has tools to do this. My camera …