Anya found this pretty little lynx spider for me the other day... Striped Lynx Spider (Oxyopes salticus). I've seen other lynx spiders before, but they usually are not very cooperative with the camera; this one gave me a good series of photos from different angles and magnifications.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro, 1/250 sec at f/16. Canon Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX in ETTL mode. ISO 100. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw.

Thanks for stopping by!

- Bill

Ok - I know you arachnophobes out there are going to hate this post as I put something super cute right next to something you probably think is disgusting, but I'm just so amazed by this that I have to share.

So spiders are obviously nothing new for me here, and to be honest if I was able to see them with more frequency, neither would frogs. I've always loved frogs, they fascinate me - when we owned the pet store, I had a field day buying and selling so many exotic species of frogs! I've seen some tiny frogs (breed poison dart frogs and you'll see TINY!), but I wasn't expecting what I found the other day when Anya and I took the dogs to the park for a walk.

Hopping across the path were these absolutely tiny frogs - so small that at first glance, I thought they were just crickets. However, upon further inspection I realized my error and was floored by how cute they were. We returned the next day with a couple collection containers so we could catch a few to bring home to photograph in a more controlled environment (and to not be in the way of other folks trying to use the path).

So where does the spider come in? Well, earlier in the day, Anya caught a jumping spider (a Phidippus audax... yeah, I know, I've gotten to the point where I actually know some of them by their scientific names by heart now) in our kitchen and trapped it in another one of the collection container.

Here are some photos of both the spider and the frogs at equal magnification...

1x magnification	1x magnification	2x magnification	2x magnification

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro, 1/250 sec at f/16. Canon Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX in ETTL mode. ISO 100. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw. (for all shots)

I know - your first reaction is going to be that these photos are just on different scales and it just appears to be that they are so close in size (honestly, I think the spider is actually a tiny bit bigger), but trust me - these are accurate depictions. In fact, the lens I was using will only focus at specific magnifications, it doesn't work any other day... so if I set it to 1:1 magnification, I can only take photos at 1:1 magnification.

So I have to ask... what is your reaction to this? Answer the poll below and let me know what you think!

- Bill

Our Red-winged Blackbirds are growing quickly... it might be tough to get too many more photos because I don't want to scare the babies and cause them to try and leave the nest before they are quite ready, but for now we've been trying to document how quickly they are growing...

Six Days Old

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/160 sec at f/8. Canon Speedlight 580EX II flash in eTTL mode. Image Stabilization on. ISO 100. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw

Eight Days Old

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/250 sec at f/16. Canon Speedlight 580EX II flash in eTTL mode. Image Stabilization on. ISO 100. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw

I never thought about the benefit of getting to experience more stages of the life cycles of the various wildlife we get to see on our new property, this is rather fun to be honest!

More coming, so stay tuned!

- Bill

Since I've been sharing photos of various bird nests, I think it is only fair I share a photo of some spider eggs...

The white ball behind this spider is full of thousands of tiny spider eggs. This mother wolf spider will carry it with her until they hatch, at which point the spiderlings will climb up on their mother's back to hitch a ride for a few days until they are ready to spread out on their own.

I've never managed to find a wolf spider carrying an egg sack before, so this was a bit of a treat for me. We stopped our work in the yard so I could get my camera and take some photos. I only managed to get three frames off before she bolted for cover and I lost her in the undergrowth, but luckily the shots I did get off turned out to be nice sharp images.

Technical Data: Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/250 sec at f/16. Canon Speedlight 580EX II flash in eTTL mode. Image Stabilization on. ISO 100. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw.

I'm trying to get caught up with processing photos, so hopefully I'll be able to continue sharing more springtime photos.

Stay tuned!

- Bill

So far this spring, we've seen nesting robins, geese, brown thrashers, phoebes, and red-winged blackbirds. I haven't been able to get photographs of all of them, but here's a series of a couple different red-winged blackbird nests...

Thanks for stopping by. I'll try to keep them coming.

- Bill

Ok - quick post tonight to share one of the more intimidating insect faces I've seen in a while... I present to you, the Six Spotted Tiger Beetle (Cicindela sexguttata).

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro, 1/250 sec at f/16. Canon Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX in ETTL mode. ISO 100. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw.

Thanks for stopping by!

- Bill

Back to the macro lens for today with a tiny jumping spider about to make a death defying leap...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro, 1/100 sec at f/8. Canon Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX in ETTL mode. ISO 100. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw.

Hopefully all the spiders and some of the bugs (not mosquitoes and ticks and such) found somewhere warm to bunker down through this stupid last bit of really cold weather we got.

- Bill

Ok - I'm not entirely sure if it is because I really want to go diving, or if my standards were just too high before, or what... but back when I took and processed these photos, I felt they just weren't up to par and was pretty disappointed with them. To be entirely honest, they're still not top shelf, but I certainly think they're better than I felt about them back then.

I remember this dive vividly. As usual, I was one of the last divers in the water (not sure why that seems to always happen - perhaps a method to help me conserve a little air instead of using it waiting for the rest of the group), and as soon as we dropped in there was a bit of a commotion. Suddenly, the shapes of around ten squid came into view and it became clear what everyone was excited about. The squid hovered there, seemingly motionless, in front of us. Luckily I had the camera rigged for wide-angle photography because they just weren't letting us get close enough for any kind of macro work. I started firing off as many shots as I could while slowly trying to inch my way in closer, knowing that the closer I got, the better the images would be. Unfortunately, the squid seemed to just stay out of reach, and after a few minutes, the rest of the group tired of them and start to move off. Reluctantly, I tried a couple more shots and then followed along.

Back home, I remember going through these and being fairly disappointed with the bluish colorcast, the heavy amount of backscatter, and the general blurred look to the photos. They just weren't the clean, crisp, beautiful images I was hoping to have captured of my first real encounter with squids.

Original	Cropped	Additional processing

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II at 55mm. 1/300 sec at f/13. ISO 320. Ikelite Housing and Port with dual Ikelite 161 Strobes in eTTL mode. Raw conversion in Adobe Camera Raw.

What do you think?

- Bill

It's been cold recently....

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/160 sec at f/11. Canon Speedlight 580EX II flash in eTTL mode. Image Stabilization on. ISO 160. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw.

I believe that this confirms that ice spiders exist.

- Bill

Ok - a couple more angles of that pseudoscorpion...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro, 1/200 sec at f/16. Canon Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX in ETTL mode. ISO 100. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw.

- Bill