8 Dec
Activities slow as winter approaches. The spiders still let out silk for webs later in the day.
The transparent “line” is a strand of silk let out by a spider. The spiders usually don’t widen the silk strands like this one did. The back lightning highlights the colors.
10 Aug
We live on the east side of the highway,
with a large field across the highway in the west.
We’ve practically had large billowing clouds almost daily for several weeks.
Most lingered into the evening.
They constantly changed shapes and reflected the colors.
The changing colors put on a dramatic show.
I took all these (and more) pictures from our front yard.
I wonder what to expect this evening.
22 Jul
The four following pictures were taken a little before sunset.
The sun reflected off the “ribbons” of the spider’s silk.
It also enhanced the colors,
giving them the beginning colors of dusk.
The silk strands moved just enough to “widen” the appearance of their silk and also change the reflecting colors.
Notice the small bands of colors lined up on the silk. The movement of the silk created the tiny reflecting blocks of colors.
17 May
I went out early the day before yesterday to take pictures of spider webs.
Music won’t come from this “record,” mainly because it’s a spider web.
A light breeze would flatten the web, which then reflected the colors.
Obviously, this web isn’t flat like the one above. It does reflect similar colors when the positions are right.
26 Jul
So few butterflies have visited our backyard this summer. Their numbers have been the lowest I’ve ever seen.
So, I got excited when a spicebush swallowtail flew across our backyard on its way south. It didn’t stop.
Our yard’s been full of them at times over the years … them and many other butterfly species too.
A butterfly in an odd position usually means it’s in the clutches of a predator.
In this case it was a female crab spider.
Females are much bigger than the males.
Crab spiders have the ability to change color to match the color of the flower they’re on. Obviously, this one hadn’t changed yet. I have no idea how long the change takes.
14 Jun
Our house faces west, and there’s a garden site and a large farm field across the highway.
So, we can see the sunsets when they aren’t clouded over. The lower the sun gets, the more vivid the colors turn.
The shadows intrigue me and
my moving rearranges them into another composition.
1 Jul
Widow skimmer dragonfly
The combination of colors, shapes and the backlighting creates an interesting abstract design.
7 Dec
I know these pictures are a tad strange and suggest leaning back to view them.
Back in the early 90’s I wrote and illustrated weekly nature articles for several local newspapers. This meant I spent a lot of time hiking and camping in nature. I illustrated each article with an ink drawing. I also own 33 acres that is now a registered land and water reserve, translating to one step below a nature preserve.
My goal was to see the different plant communities in different weather, at different times of day and in the different seasons.
One winter full moon started out cloudy, and I had planned to go to my land and paint small watercolor pictures by moonlight. The sky partially cleared. I suited up and hurried the seven miles down there.
Water ran in the creek, and snow blanketed the ground.
No flashlight was used. This first picture was viewing across the creek, with moonlight hitting the water, and trees casting their shadows across it.
This was painted after I crossed the creek and where a trail started up the hill.
I painted with colors I couldn’t see.
The night was humid and the paint didn’t dry.
I became immersed in the night, the full moon … heard a barred owl hooting and coyotes calling.
My last painting was of the grassy barrens with the wooded ravine in the background.
That night stayed with me for a long time. These pictures hang in my bedroom, and occasionally take me back to that special night.
5 Dec
I came across these fall pictures while looking for other pictures. They were taken the end of October.
The combination of the colors, patterns and backlighting of the sumac leaves
created dramatic results.
I admired them for several days then,
and felt like sharing them today for a pick-me-up on this a cloudy, rainy, cold fall day.
11 Dec
I have a new and exciting hobby … taking orb pictures.
My first experience with orbs was in this picture that I used in my “Lazy Hike” blog. I saw the orbs while taking several pictures. These were the first I’d ever seen. Both orbs moved around slightly while I photographed them. If you look close, you can see that the left orb is behind strands of the spider web. The sun was behind me too, so there couldn’t be any glare involved from it.
A blog site “Orbs Delight” found my blog site, and then I found her blog site. Information in her site said to go outside at night and take pictures using a flash. I did and it worked. I’ve taken pictures most nights since November 18, and each night has been different.
Orbs are now thought to be “emanations of spiritual beings,” according to Dr. Klaus Heinemann in the book he co-authered titled, The Orb Project.
The first nights of my taking pictures found varying numbers of orbs. They varied in size, location and intensity. On the overall average, most were too dark. Then I had a break-through last week when looking up orb colors and just happened to see a sentence that said, “Be sure to use your nighttime setting.” I didn’t even know my camera had such a thing. Now my pictures turn out much better since they gave more light.
Now I take pictures during the in the morning when it’s just beginning to get light, during the last light of the day and after it’s dark. These first pictures were taken on the moist hazy morning of December 8.
The long orb resulted from its moving when I took the picture.
It was a humid morning, and I think the teeny tiny “sparks” are from the flash hitting water particles close to the camera. I could see them when the flash went off. According to Dr. Heinemann, particles must be within 4 inches of the lens to make an orb.
This picture baffled me when I took it, and it still does. This picture was taken from the backyard looking toward the house. I pressed the button to focus. Suddenly the image on the display went way out of focus and the camera went off. This resulted in the picture above. If you look close, you can see a thin red ring around the orb.
I immediately took another picture of the same view, and this is what I got.
This picture was taken a few mornings before when I aimed the camera overhead at the sky. The orange orb is the only orb in the picture, and there was nothing in my surroundings that would’ve caused it. I didn’t see it on the display until after taking the picture.
When I’m taking pictures, I just walk around our 2-acre yard. Some are taken closer to the barn or certain trees. Others are longer views. If I’m too close to an object like the barn, the flash overpowers too much of the picture. Buffy (large female chocolate lab) is the dark brown shape below the lowest orb. A picture of her in the same area a few nights ago ended up with an orb right above her and another one to the left.
This was the last picture before going in the house.
It was dark when I went out in the evening. There’s also an orb near the ground beside the little table and other small faint ones.
I try different angles and different distances from the subjects. It’s exciting because there’s no way to predict the outcome. I’m getting more colored orbs like the one above for some reason. I’ve also gotten pictures of faint green ones, turquoise, orange, pale pink, and violet ones.
Orbs can position themselves with a background that creates a face in the orb. Orbs also occur in shapes beside round. I even have captures squarrish ones. They can be variations of out-of-round. So every single picture produces a unique arangement of orbs, according to the orb’s purpose for being in the picture. They offer messages by their strategic placement. Nothing is random.
My biggest frustration right now is my night blindnessthat keeps me confined to the yard. There’s so many places, like cemetaries, that I’d like to check for orbs.
Seems like the more I’m out taking orb pictures, the more questions I have. Do things like the moon phase affect their numbers and their characteristics? Is the color of the orb associated with a certain angel? If I talk to them, invite them to join me in the yard, offer them gratitude for coming, will that affect the numbers that are present?
There’s a lot to learn with my new and exciting hobby.
naturesnippets 