spontaneous nature photography, or ... have camera, will snap



To do nature photography you don't have to be in a garden, park or the bush. Just make sure you have a camera and keep your eyes open.

A spider has already spun the silk using the spinnaret glands at the top of its abdomen. It holds the silk using several legs - a bit like holding them in its lap. At the same time, it uses one leg to hold one end in a kind of lasoo, while feeding the silk out using another leg.  The tensile strength of spider silk is greater than the same amount of steel.


A suburban shopping strip, a street with no trees or gardens ... but vases of flowers on the pavement tables allow for a nature photo op.



I'm late for a meeting, but I stop to admire the clever combination of flowering Banksias and Gastrolobium celsianum in a little church garden fronting a busy suburban street ...



A fig tree grows out of a crack in a wall under a busy road.  Recently it disappeared. The local council tried to remove it, but it's back. I regularly drive past it. It's a reminder of the tenacity of nature in relation to the built environment.


Early in the morning, waiting for the kettle to boil,  I notice the changing colours of the sky through the window as the sun rises.

Lit up by the sun, this might be something belonging to a fairy. Released from the seedhead of a dandelion, carried by wind, this is how the dandelion disperses its seed. Called a cypsela, it got stuck in a cobweb on a window.


Poor beetle fell into a bucket of water and drowned. The bucket contained plant cuttings destined for the compost. Here is the resulting series of photos ...  entitled Still Life with Floating Beetle.




Comments

  1. Beautiful pictures and wonderful sky, Sue Catmint! Btw that fig amazes me. Hope it will have a chance to bear some fruits this time :-)

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    1. no fruits for this particular tree, it's planted itself in an inappropriate place.

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  2. The beauty and wonder of nature is everywhere for those who have eyes to see it. Thank you for capturing the magic we too often ignore in our day to day lives as we rush from one thing to another!

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  3. Nature is all around us, even in towns and cities, we just have to keep our eyes open. Your photos of the poor drowned beetle are so beautiful, almost like Japanese water colours.

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    1. thanks, Pauline, I thought that too, they have a Japanesey look about them.

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  4. Thanks for the informative lesson on how spiders spin their webs. Was intrigued with the Banksia and Gastrolobium, neither of which grow in the U.S. Your close-up of the purple flower was good - I always forget to crop flowers like that.

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    1. Hi Linda, it was cropped a bit, but mainly I got very close to it.

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  5. I agree...have camera and you can take pictures of so many interesting things...love this and especially the beetle!

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  6. Still life with floating beetle. Beautiful! Like a painting.

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    1. Hi Denise, I have recently become aware of how you can do different things with the camera, like painting, even abstract painting. It's very exciting to think of all the possibilities.

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  7. Lovely photos! Our lives are greatly enriched when we train our eyes to catch fleeting beauty or when we pause to appreciate the little things. I was struck by your description of the little spider holding the silk in its lap. That is exactly what it looks like!

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  8. Marvellous stuff. Love the beetle.

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    1. thanks, Rick, I so appreciate your commnent.

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  9. You're an early riser! Seeing plants grow where we don't think they would is always a reminder of tenacious life really is. You just have to respect a plants determination even if you don't appreciate the location. The photos of the beetle look like antique botanical art. Beautiful!

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    1. not usually an early riser, unfortunately the light seems best early in the morning to take good photos. Thanks for the comment, Tammy.

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  10. I agree on keeping your eyes open for the unexpected or the hidden treasure of something beautiful but small. Very fine composition on your series on the beetle. It makes some nice art.

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    1. thanks, Donna, I am becoming more and more interested in photography, and very pleased at how the beetle series worked out.

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  11. Dear Sue,
    I love the pictures on your blog! They are beautiful and - at least - they show me plants we only plant inside - for sure in a smaller eddition :)))!!!
    Thank you so much for your sweet comment and your lovely visit!
    Have a great time
    Elisabeth

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    1. Hi Elisabeth, I understand your comment. I see plants in tropical gardens that I know as indoor plants. It's all relative!

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