The Insecta Trifecta

First, it was ants. Then a butterfly. You probably know what's next to finish off the insecta trifecta! Just PRAY that this is the last of the insect photos!



I caught this photogenic little devil outside my office. He looked a little lost, and I've never seen a mantis there before. It was as if he knew I was trying to fill the third slot of my macro-fest.

The technique I recently learned about, that of cooling off cold-blooded insects for five minutes before photographing them, worked like a charm. They just kind of shut down, then as a few minutes pass at room temperature, they perk right up. This little guy was just so patient and cooperative.



There's something kind of weird that happens when you're looking insects like this in the eye, up close. Because of the view through the lens, they appear about the same size as a human being photographed.

You can't help but kind of talk to them. And you start to think they hear you. I'd talk, and this mantis would just kind of move its head toward me, like a model adjusting their position to get the most flattering angle.



The other thing that happens when you're in this close is that every movement, especially fast ones, make it appear as though your carnivore subject is going to leap through the lens and tear your eyes out.

I'm happy to say that no insects were harmed during the course of my recent macro obsession. They were all released into the wild, none the worse for wear.

Their live spans aren't that long, I've heard. But now these lucky few will live on. In my Flickr Photostream. In my portfolio. On this blog. We're all looking for a little immortality. And this is just that, I guess. A little.

Busy

Lately, I've been busier than a Band-Aid at a cactus tossing contest.

What in the World is THAT?

I had a little more modeling help last night...from a butterfly. It's kind of amazing what you can see when you get in close. For example, this butterfly had a kind of tonguey thing. At one point it curled up, and I snagged this shot.



What is that thing?



The tonguey thing appeared to be the length of the butterfly's body, or even longer.

All I can say is that lady butterflies must be very happy butterflies.

UPDATE: I figure one of my brilliant readers would just know this off the top of his or her head, but I had to look it up.

"Butterfly proboscises are slender, tubular feeding structures. Culminating in a sharp, beak-like tip, the proboscis works like a straw through which a butterfly drinks its food. When a butterfly finds food, it first unfurls its mouthparts and then zips them together to form a channel. The proboscis is particularly well adapted for reaching into flowers for nectar and for piercing fruit with its sharp tip. When a butterfly is not feeding, it keeps its proboscis curled between its palpi (which are a pair of organs located on the front of an adult butterfly face).

Josh Groban Officially Rocks

I think this is great, and I don't care who knows it.

A Gift From the Heavens

Today, I delivered sugar and crackers to an ant hill.



During my morning stroll, I saw a bunch of ants in the parking at work, and followed them back to their hill. I've been thinking about ants a lot lately. They are always on a mission. They work so hard. It's a labor of love, really, because the hard work they perform doesn't necessarily make their immediate existence better, I don't think. It just helps their fellow ants, and creates a place where more ants can be made.

And I'm watching these ants. And I'm thinking, "I've stepped on these before. Intentionally." And I felt kind of sad about that.



Living beings, even the smallest ones, are just that...living. They do things for reasons, and therefore they reason. Maybe not like us. But they reason, and live their lives doing what their instincts tell them to do. We kill insects so casually. But that's a life we're ending. Snuffed out in an instant. For no good reason, often. There was a lot of work that went into bringing that life into the world. The mating, the nest, the nurturing. Even on that tiny scale, they have a lot in common with us. That ant might not be a person, but it's a somebody.

So, I went to the lunchroom and poured some sugar into a cup, and crushed up some crackers, and I went out and poured the stuff next to the ant hill.

Can you imagine what that would be like for an ant? Earlier, I'd seen ants traveling the ant-equivalent of a hundred miles just to bring back a portion of a leaf or twig or crumb. Now, within just a few human inches of their hill, they have sugar and crackers, in quantities so vast, it would take them days or weeks to gather so much.



Maybe I made the burden of the ants just a little smaller for today. Maybe a few ants will have the luxury of not walking so far, across searing asphalt, to get what they need to live and thrive and satisfy those instincts to search and gather and build. Even if it's just for today. Maybe tomorrow the exterminator will come and wipes out thousands of lives in an instant, without really giving it a moment of thought.

But today, those are some happy ants.

UPDATE

Yes, those are my photographs! Rest assured that no ants were harmed in the making of this blog entry. I transported the ants in a roomy Ziplock bag, and they were given fresh water and sweets.

The images were captured after several hours of gentle ant wrangling, with the assistance of a macro lens, three extension tubes and nerves of steel.

Bonus ant!



These are maybe some of my favorite photographs ever. When you get this close to these creatures, you simply can't view them (literally or figuratively) the same way ever again.

Oh, and the images I posted aren't even the close-ups.

Flip. N. Hilarious.

Fork This

I'm in a photography Meet Up group that holds a photography challenge each month. This month's challenge had to be a "black and white abstract." I know about as much about abstracts as I do about urinary tracts. However, this is one of the images I'm thinking about submitting.

I Say Yay

I say yay for anything that makes me look like a better photographer than I am.



Yay.

I Can't Take Credit for This Find

This one was found by my mother. She's good. The story is even better. Worth reading to the end.

In case you are not sure how to use these newfangled "hyperlinks," here's the whole story:

Dog helps save elderly couple from Fla. fire

TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa fire investigators say an elderly couple's dog may have helped save them from an early-morning blaze. Authorities say 82-year-old Alice Ferrari and her 83-year-old friend Ted Kolanko were asleep around 4 a.m. Saturday when their small dog started acting up.

Ferrari thought the dog needed to go outside, but when she opened the door, he ran out and right back in. She then discovered there was a fire in the ceiling of her laundry room.

The occupants and their dog escaped without injury, though house damages are estimated at $50,000. A cat is still missing.

Today's Thing I'm Doing Obsessively

Gawd, I hope I spelled "obsessively" correctly. Anyway, here's the thing I'm doing. It's a technique in Photoshop. I do not know its name. But it has to do with simulating (sometimes called faking) what's known at a tilt-shift. You can get accessories that create tilt-shifts the old-school way, but I have no time for that. Here's my version.



Yeah, see. With this selective blurring technique, some things appear miniaturized! I like that. Even when things don't seem to be miniaturized, they still look pretty cool if you ask me. And you must have, or I would not have done this post.

Here's a covered bridge from Vermont that I don't think I ever posted because I thought it was kind of blah. It seems less so now.



Here's another shot that kind of seemed more interesting using this technique. If you don't agree, poop on you.



Here's another variation. Vertical, suckas! I don't know if this is any good, but Kevin said "wow" when he saw it. He either meant, "Wow, that's great!" or he meant, "Wow, it looks like a seagull flew over some pixels and left it's droppings!" Either way, you get to see it.



I'm quite sure I'll get beyond using this technique any day now. Quite sure.

I'm Liking This Photoshop Thing

I have a crush on Photoshop. It's not like the normal kind of crush, that passes after 20 years or so. This is a serious one. Because it does things like this.



From what I hear, this technique simulates a tilt-shift. I had one of those in college, but I went to a chiropractor, and the issue was resolved. More to come. Like it or not.

Just Ignore This Post

Sometimes, I'm going to post something just because I like it. You can skip it. It's OK.

I took this photo today for my favorite nonprofit, Kids to Kids. This pendant is going to be up for auction at the organization's gala next week. (Our friend Kit's in charge.)



I shot it on the fly. On a rock. With a macro lens (extension tubes, too). It was an impossible shot, impossibly close. And yet, there it is. I was down on the ground, on all fours, and shot close to 300 shots of this one, little pendant.

Sometimes, when you want to make a difference, you have to get your knees a little dirty.

This Was Interesting

Today I got a bee in my bonnet (metaphor) about taking a "morph." That's the fancy jargon photographers use to describe a photo that contains a sequence of images that simulate action. The sequence is made up of a number of photos taken in "high burst" mode.



Translation: Until I get a life, this is what I'm into. So sue me.

And, for good measure, another. Less basketbally.

Today's Random Kid

We had a yard sale today. This family shows up, and the kid is looking at the stuffed animals. Why are there always stuffed animals at yard sales, even if the actual people involved in the yard sale have no actual stuffed animals. Discuss.

Anyway, I says to the kid and her parents, "Hey, if she sits for me, she can have any stuffed animal she wants, free." So, I got me some free modeling for something we were probably going to throw out anyway. What a life.

I Love Las Vegas

I love this town. Just about every part of it. One of the places I like the most is downtown. It has a different vibe than the rest of the city. And some say a dramatically different fragrance. I don't care what some say. I love it.

Here are some photos I captured downtown.

Making Fun

Remember when we all would make fun of male cheerleaders for being kind of, oh, I dunno...gayish?



I mean everyone but me. Trust me, Theater Boy wasn't teasing anyone about being gayish.

Yay, Humans!

The end of the world is near, but "Yay, humans," anyway.

I'm just so darned proud of us right about now.

The High Art of Jowling

Oh, you know it had to happen. I joweled. That's right. I'm not proud of it, but there it is.



Extra points if you post a jowler photo somewhere.

Update: Jon has joined in the fun.

SRK

SRK: Some Random Kid.



This guy was walking around Bonnie Springs acting like he owned the place. So, I shot him. His folks only spoke Spanish, so they couldn't say "no" when I asked if I could shoot him.

And just so you know I'm not going to go on some kid-photo-posting-rampage, here's Some Random Swan. Who also couldn't refuse a photo.

Lynx

Caught this shot of a young lynx at Bonnie Springs. In the petting zoo. No actual petting of the lynx are allowed.

The cool thing about lynx, which I can only assume is the plural of lynx, is that they have "webbed" feet. I hear that's because it helps them walk on snow.



Note to photographers: This shot was actually not possible, without shooting through a fence, until my girlfriend caught the eye of the animal keeper. While he was chatting her up, he noticed me, and to impress her, he left the gate open, and bam. Unobstructed shot.

I swear the guy was 10 seconds away from letting me in to shoot the wolves. Into the actual pen. But I guess he likes having a job. Next time, the girlfriend shows more cleavage.

Hey, you either support a person's hobby, or you don't, right?

Red Rock

Had a cool adventure today. Went to a place called Bonnie Springs. I guess everyone knew about it but me.

It's this quaint little Old West town, with lots of great photo ops. Including this one, just outside the main tourist entrapment compound.



More to come!

Adultery

The adultery rate in America is at an all-time high. Don't believe it? Hey, the evidence is mounting.

Heaven's Gait

Not sure what to make of this one, but let's take a peek at this interesting article. (One thought comes to mind. Why do you never hear guidance counselors talking about the field of sexology?)

"A new study found that trained sexologists could infer a woman's history of vaginal orgasm by observing the way she walks. The study is published in the September 2008 issue of The Journal of Sexual Medicine, the official journal of the International Society for Sexual Medicine and the International Society for the Study of Women's Sexual Health.

"Led by Stuart Brody of the University of the West of Scotland in collaboration with colleagues in Belgium, the study involved 16 female Belgian university students. Subjects completed a questionnaire on their sexual behavior and were then videotaped from a distance while walking in a public place. The videotapes were rated by two professors of sexology and two research assistants trained in the functional-sexological approach to sexology, who were not aware of the women's orgasmic history.

"The results showed that the appropriately trained sexologists were able to correctly infer vaginal orgasm through watching the way the women walked over 80 percent of the time. Further analysis revealed that the sum of stride length and vertebral rotation was greater for the vaginally orgasmic women. 'This could reflect the free, unblocked energetic flow from the legs through the pelvis to the spine,' the authors note.

"There are several plausible explanations for the results shown by this study. One possibility is that a woman's anatomical features may predispose her to greater or lesser tendency to experience vaginal orgasm. According to Brody, 'Blocked pelvic muscles, which might be associated with psychosexual impairments, could both impair vaginal orgasmic response and gait.' In addition, vaginally orgasmic women may feel more confident about their sexuality, which might be reflected in their gait. 'Such confidence might also be related to the relationship(s) that a woman has had, given the finding that specifically penile-vaginal orgasm is associated with indices of better relationship quality,' the authors state. Research has linked vaginal orgasm to better mental health.

"The study provides some support for assumptions of a link between muscle blocks and sexual function, according to the authors. They conclude that it may lend credibility to the idea of incorporating training in movement, breathing and muscle patterns into the treatment of sexual dysfunction.

"'Women with orgasmic dysfunction should be treated in a multi-disciplinary manner' says Irwin Goldstein, Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Sexual Medicine. 'Although small, this study highlights the potential for multiple therapies such as expressive arts therapy incorporating movement and physical therapy focusing on the pelvic floor.'"

Puns welcome. Since it's early, this is all I've got: I guess women who are the most orgasmic would be considered master-gaiters?

I'm Back on the Fence

Jebus. I'm back on the fence again.

After seeing "America the Beautiful," I've been spending an inordinate amount of time thinking about the often subconscious and very often insidious nature of the images we see each day, especially of women, that have been "tweaked" with programs like Photoshop.

Well, today I saw this story, and it really brings home the point. Faith Hill is a lovely woman. She's 39, and I think most would agree, above-average (at least) when it comes to beauty. Yet she couldn't grace the cover of Redbook (a magazine for women, mind you) without a major going-over: Jezebel.com.

Here's a funny rundown of all the changes made to this image for publication.

Now that I've spent some time mastering these digital manipulation techniques, I feel like I have the tools to do all these "tweaks," but now I'm faced with whether I SHOULD do them when the situation arises.

I think the key may be to decide where the line is. If you soften crow's feet, that's one thing. Removing them is wrong. If you adjust an unflattering aspect of a photo, one the subject agrees is an improvement, that's probably OK (even though your subject is often the result of being bombarded with unrealistic images of beauty their whole life). But changing someone's physique to try and present an image that's closer to some "ideal," well, that's wrong. Right?

Engaged

No, it's not me that's engaged. Did your heart stop there for a second? Hork.

Actually, I was talking about a couple of friends, Christina and Eric. I was flattered to be asked to take some engagement photos for them. So, yesterday, we headed to Lake Las Vegas.

Blog VIP Chris and I have been meaning to get out there to take photos for some time, but this visit wasn't for pleasure. This was work. Hard work.

Doing photography is completely exhausting. At least for me. It's non-stop stress, especially when there's pressure to please a "client."

Anyway, thought I'd share a couple of images. Hey, it's easier than forming and articulating an opinion about something, right?



There's no bad location at Lake Las Vegas. From the water to the vegetation to the gorgeous architecture, there's a great new backdrop around every corner.



Aren't these two cute? Very romantic, too.



If only I were talented enough to really capture the beauty of the place. Sigh. Well, what I lack in photographic talent, I try to make up for with...oh, I dunno. A dopey animation?

Two of My Talented Friends

I'm really lucky to know so many talented people. Today, I'm mention two.

First, Kevin, who I've mentioned before, whose great photography blog just continues to stun and inspire, has launched his photography Web site. Impressive! Check it out. Leave a note. Let him know how talented he is.

Second, I'd like to trumpet the latest work of another friend, Kurt. He's mentioned second because he never comments on my blog. Loser. Anyway, my loser friend Kurt is an editor, writer, director. All that lame stuff. His latest film in theaters (after having struck out with his other recent editing stints, "Bowling for Columbine" and "Fahrenheit 911") is "America the Beautiful." Kurt's the editor and co-producer, and it's a great documentary.

"America the Beautiful" is a funny, sad, alarming documentary about America and our obsession with a certain kind of physical beauty (one that often doesn't actually exist...thanks, Photoshop!). It really was a wake-up call for me, because I kind of dabble in altering reality myself with Photoshop. Billboards, anyone? Portraits, anyone? Sigh.

This movie is thought-provoking, and highly recommended...and would be whether I knew the editor or not. I guess it's in limited release in four cities. If you're a Vegas resident, see it at the Regal Village Square.

One of the most surprising facts about beauty in America? That often designers hire rail-thin models because the material they use in their runway designs is so expensive, having a thinner model saves them money for the cloth. No kidding.

The most profound moment in the movie, for me, was when a playwright was talking about going to Africa, where she talked to a woman who had a very different view of her body than many American women do. She loved her own body. She said, "You see that tree? You think that tree is beautiful? How about that tree? Beautiful, right? Do you find that tree less appealing because it does not look like the other tree? Our bodies are like trees."

When you watch this movie, it is impossible to not become acutely aware of how we judge everything, everyone, by some arbitrary measurement of beauty. One that is far from universal. And one that causes young girls (and probably many boys) to feel ugly and fat and worthless.

Great movie.

Everyone should have such talented friends. Then again, if you know me, you already do.

Today's Portrait

Hey, they ain't cute kids, right?