2025-12-29T10:32:21.347084-05:00 urn:uuid:36cd94ee-21fd-342c-a9ea-9cdcec59e129 Kelsey Wellons urn:uuid:37960113-59db-360c-b6f5-26641ec554c22025-01-22T14:29:00Z<p>American Lady at Elkhorn Garden Plots on July 8, 2024. The local gardens have several patches of Zinnias in both private and open plots. As summer approaches, more vibrant and larger butterflies start to show. I attempt a visit at least once a week between Elkhorn, Long Reach, and the West Side plots. Some of the private plots still had Zinnias into October, which made for good photo opportunities with Monarchs passing through.</p> <p>I am slowly working on my photo culling backlog. July 2024 is my current month. 120k photos are still left between then and October.</p> <p>Lens - NIKKOR Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR @ 600mm on Nikon Z8</p> urn:uuid:09d62327-488b-3c03-83f0-58edce56e17a2023-09-16T19:29:00Z<p>Green Tree Frog (GTF) on August 30, 2023. Most of my photographing this summer has been at Huntley Meadows due to the variety of wildlife that can be found there. Despite having to leave somewhere between 4:30 and 5:30 AM depending on the time of year for both sunrise shots and to beat traffic on 495, it is well worth my 45-minute drive. August and September are the best months to get GTF. On this particular morning, the sky was slightly overcast after a rainy evening prior. This GTF was surrounded by my favorite fall-colored leaves. I positioned myself low, shooting between the boardwalk fence for the pink and yellow foreground colors. Not only is this one of my favorite GTF shots I've taken this year, this is in my top shots I've taken in 2023.</p> <p>I have taken nearly 120k photos in 3.5 months with my Z8. I've been slow to sort through them and have had my hand forced to start culling as my hard drives are nearly full.</p> <p>Lens - Tamron 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 @ 600mm on Nikon Z8</p> urn:uuid:a5b048d6-70fd-39d3-9b4d-846ac57b80ff2021-04-19T21:29:00Z<p>Bumblebee on a Virginia Bluebell on April 19, 2021. Not being satisfied with my last set of Bluebell shots, I took advantage of the sun today to go photograph them again. Many birds were seen along the way, including a cooperative Nuthatch and a female Cardinal building her nest. The Bluebells were further along and many more were in bloom. There were several bee species feasting on the plants. These plants are along a path in the woods and it can be difficult to get a higher shutter speed in the shade. I tried my best to quickly photograph them in the sun. They don't stay on a single plant long so you have to be quick or anticipate their next flower.</p> <p>Although I took my macro lens, it remained in my fanny pack. My bug shots are kept in my macro category despite being taken occasionally with my telephoto lens for easier finding, both here and on my computer. This photo is less sharp than I would have liked but the colors were nice.</p> <p>Lens - Tamron 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 @ 600mm on Nikon D500</p> urn:uuid:4eb46cfd-6df4-3137-9aa2-9129ffaaed4f2021-04-12T00:29:00Z<p>Paper Wasp on April 11, 2021. Spring is here so many insects and bugs are now out and about. With it being in the mid-70's this afternoon, I walked the neighborhood treeline looking for birds. The bees were busy pollinating and the Paper Wasps were flying around. Despite being wasps, I find them enjoyable to photograph due to their coloring.</p> <p>A scratching sound was coming from my location and I was unable to locate a creature that would be making that noise nor did I find anything in the trees above. A lone Paper Wasp was in front of me on a stem and the scratching sound mystery was solved! I didn't understand the scratching and noted that it had material in its mouth when it flew off. I witnessed several other wasps doing this for extended periods. My research later when I came home said they mix the dead material with their saliva and carry back to the nest for construction.</p> <p>Paper Wasps are generally docile as long as you haven't threatened them. They have a highly painful sting and are at a pain level 3 out of 4 on the "Schmidt sting pain index".</p> <p>Lens - Tamron 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 @ 600mm on Nikon D500</p> urn:uuid:011e3246-5e2a-3d2c-9b2e-99f81d7b13242020-10-17T22:29:00Z<p>Spotted Cucumber Beetle on October 14, 2020. With fall here, my itch to photograph something other than the occasional bird from the balcony was growing. I took my camera out around the neighborhood on a slightly chilly day for leaves and insects. My neighbors across the road have a small garden at the front of their house. I stopped over early afternoon while there was still light coverage on the entire garden. This particular beetle was climbing on a yellow flower. My concern with photographing bugs on flowers with similar colors is that they will blend in too well with each other. I was pleased with how this turned out.</p> <p>While my neighbor and I were talking, a Monarch showed up on their butterfly bush. I walked home to get my 100-400mm lens but the butterfly was less cooperative upon my return several minutes later.</p> <p>Lens - Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM Macro Lens on Nikon D500</p> urn:uuid:2963bbc8-eac3-35c1-aaa1-d65613464bf42020-08-22T17:29:00Z<p>Jumping Spider on the balcony on August 22, 2020. Many of our spider webs had blown apart between wind and rain the past few weeks.</p> <p>I was focused on the juvenile Eastern Bluebirds still searching for meals around the complex earlier in the morning. I swapped to my macro upon discovering this spider and another larger black one on the banister. This particular individual blended in well. Both individuals jumped on the front element of the lens, with me managing to get this one off with a leaf. It was moving fast so I placed both leaf and spider on the corner of the railing. With the speed it was moving, it was hard to get (and keep) focus.</p> <p>Jumping Spiders are adorable and my favorite to photograph, as long as they are willing subjects.</p> <p>Lens - Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM Macro Lens on Nikon D500</p> urn:uuid:44e88b61-b094-33c0-a90e-95558404c18c2020-08-08T16:29:00Z<p>Common True Katydid on August 8, 2020. My husband found this bug on the screen door. I grabbed my macro lens and had quite the morning! I keep broken branches on the balcony for a nice prop for cooperative bugs. I don't mind shooting on manmade items (plastic railing, chairs, etc.) but prefer them in a more natural habitat. I carried it through the house on one of my branches and shot on the living room balcony for 45 minutes.</p> <p>This particular Katydid fell off my stick when I adjusted the stick near the balcony and fell to the grass. I wish I had let it crawl around the balcony until the sun was out, as it is while writing this. It was missing one of its hind legs so I suspected it had a broken wing. I learned after finding the specific type of Katydid that these ones do NOT fly.</p> <p>My biggest amusement coming from this insect was that it looks like the Grinch and looked grouchy the entire time I was shooting it.</p> <p>Lens - Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM Macro Lens on Nikon D500</p> urn:uuid:52e9f33b-7e7f-32f2-bd59-6c231134a0302020-07-16T21:29:00Z<p>Honey Bee at Patuxent Research Refuge on July 15, 2020. Last summer, I spent a bit of time at Patuxent Research Refuge - North Tract photographing hummingbirds and butterflies. On this visit, I found no butterflies and just a few hummingbirds. Due to the pandemic, there are far fewer hummingbird feeders at the contact station at the refuge. I had realized that I was a month early from my shots last year and August would be the month for that. My macro lens is always with me on these trips so I decided to focus on flowers and bugs around the contact station instead.</p> <p>Many bees were gathered in the butterfly garden nearby. I find bees harder to photograph than birds. The depth of field is so razor thin with a macro lens that even the reasonable fast focusing of the D500 can struggle. Bees are constantly moving so I do shoot at 8 to 10 frames per second for flying bugs/insects.</p> <p>While I have labeled this as a Honey Bee, my confidence on this ID is not 100%. I read that there are over 20,000 known species of bee in the world. Honey Bee was the best match I could find through commonly named bees in Maryland though Mason Bee was a contender.</p> <p>Lens - Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM Macro Lens on Nikon D500</p> urn:uuid:a68a3185-54cd-339e-9c68-322fd77ae9a22020-06-27T20:29:00Z<p>Orchard Orbweaver in Columbia, MD on June 27, 2020. Since starting macro photography this year, I have noted how many spiders are taking up residence on our balconies. Most of the ones I see are this particular spider. The size of them has varied greatly. This one in particular was rather large. I plan to do some research to determine if the different sizes indicate different sexes or it just comes down to randomness.</p> <p>The web of this Orbweaver was of interest due to how large it was. The silk was spanning several layers with a height of about 1 foot. I had to intricately position myself below to get a good view. I was careful to not disturb the main web but it noted my presence once or twice by scurrying closer to me. I did get caught in the bottom layers once but tried to be careful on my next attempt. Their webs are occasionally attached to places I am unable to see and I accidentally destroy the webs shifting a chair or walking through it.</p> <p>Currently we have several webs on each balcony of 3 different spiders but no sign of babies yet. I have only seen one spider wrapping a meal up so far.</p> <p>Lens - Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM Macro Lens on Nikon D500</p> urn:uuid:7d3fa17b-495b-3677-b626-9b087fe314dd2020-06-23T21:29:00Z<p>Crab Spider along the Patuxent Branch Trail on June 23, 2020. We went out on a short macro walk this afternoon hoping for interesting bugs or flowers. On the way down to the trail, we saw some flowers still in bloom and many bees. There was nothing of note down along the river so we continued down towards the bridge.</p> <p>I noticed these flowers, which I do not have the ID of, were still in bloom and stepped into the grass to take a few photos of them. I noticed this bug on top of the flower and my husband noted it looked a bit like a tick, which would be highly likely down there in the woods. My intuition didn't think this was a tick as it didn't have the right colors. The front legs were also much too large. I presumed spider while I was checking out the shots on the way back home. By using a spider identification guide, I am confident this is a Crab Spider. Just looking at the front legs of this spider provides some insight as to why it is named what it is (long legs that look like crab claws).</p> <p>Lens - Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM Macro Lens on Nikon D500</p> urn:uuid:80007103-897d-3f31-a512-f342913219992020-06-22T22:29:00Z<p>Cuckoo Wasp on June 22, 2020. While there were strong storms heading into the area, I was outside on the balcony to bring the chairs in. I looked into a bucket that had water from the prior rain and noted a larger green bug swimming around, not knowing the ID. I used one of the small sticks I keep outside for scooping up bugs to fish it out of the water. I brought the formerly unidentified bug in the house briefly to show my husband how rich and beautiful the colors were. I set it back outside and attached my macro lens to get some photos of it.</p> <p>I had forgotten how humid it was outside and needed to keep wiping my lens off due to condensation. This wasp was getting ansy and I knew I didn't have much time to get some photos of it. As mentioned in my <a href="/birds/greenheron07/">prior article</a>, I don't often shoot a high ISO unless I would miss the shot otherwise. It came out well despite that. I was able to get a couple minutes photographing before its wings were dry enough and it flew away pissily, not listening to my pleas to hang around awhile.</p> <p>This is not the first wasp that I have rescued from drowning. I did the same down along the Patuxent Branch Trail last fall with a different wasp type and it also did not stick around after its wings were fine to fly.</p> <p>Lens - Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM Macro Lens on Nikon D500</p> urn:uuid:08e2c8ef-5f94-3835-9b3e-0c0c48f4c7392020-06-17T17:29:00Z<p>Asian Lady Beetle taken on April 29, 2020. This image had been sitting for over a month on my desktop. In my de-cluttering of my desktop, I had decided to finish some minor edits on it. Earlier this day, I was down at the retainment pond with my telephoto lens and noted that I was finding many bugs on the branches and plants. Since it is hard to shoot incredibly small bugs with my telephoto (~6.5 feet minimum focusing distance), I wandered the few minutes home and swapped lenses.</p> <p>With the focal plane for a macro lens being thin (several millimeters), it can be difficult without a flash to shoot moving bugs while keeping them in focus. While most of my shots of this beetle were out of focus, I had nailed this one by chance. I have come to appreciate how efficient (and fast!) bugs are in learning how to shoot macro. It is still a bigger learning curve than wildlife in my personal opinion and I am learning more about getting in-focus images as time goes on.</p> <p>Lens - Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM Macro Lens on Nikon D500</p> urn:uuid:7b5e1ba9-9bcd-3985-8070-51a4b0e3da992020-04-20T22:29:00Z<p>Jumping Spider on April 20, 2020. I have been spending more time shooting with my macro lens recently. While my Downy Woodpeckers are still working on their nest hole, I haven't photographed any other birds that aren't in view from the balcony. To keep busy with photography during the pandemic, I have been spending more time around the neighborhood scouting for small bugs on the dandelions. It is also nice when interesting subjects show up on the balcony.</p> <p>I already had my macro lens on while shooting an unidentified bug on the balcony screen this afternoon. The Downies had just returned to their nesting hole and I swapped to my telephoto lens. A small spider climbing up the plastic railing caught my eye and I swapped back to my macro. Glad I did! This Jumping Spider was a real thrill to shoot for 45 minutes. I had stopped when I got too close to the spider, it climbed on my lens and subsequently fell somewhere I couldn't find. I figured it was best that it went on its way.</p> <p>I have no way to know whether this particular spider is male or female.</p> <p>Lens - Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM Macro Lens on Nikon D500</p> urn:uuid:f93effa2-e0d4-35f6-8e0e-6ef935393fb72020-04-13T23:29:00Z<p>Pink-spotted Lady Beetle on April 13, 2020 in Columbia, MD. I have had my macro lens since early February but have not used it to date. I only tested it when it arrived and back into the box it went, awaiting warm weather. With the current pandemic happening, I have not been traveling and my bird photography has been minimal. While I have a pair of Downy Woodpeckers that have nested right outside the balcony, I had decided to take my macro lens out after the rain today to get some water droplets on dandelions.</p> <p>I only went across the street to a patch of grass that has many dandelions and small miscellaneous flowers. I found many small bugs over there including spiders, ants, flies, mimics, and beetles. I initially thought this was a pink ladybug but learned this was actually a beetle. It wanted nothing to do with me and was displeased with a camera 8 inches from its face. It was already almost 6 PM and I was losing my light so I left it be.</p> <p>This image is actually rotated as having it climb vertical made for a less appealing image in my opinion.</p> <p>Lens - Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM Macro Lens on Nikon D500</p>