Sporophyte from a fern

For me, as well as for Frikosal, plants are a difficult subject to cover. When we capture animals, experience tells us that the eyes need to be in perfect focus, and this rule works as well for humans as for ants. With this in mind you only need to concentrate to get a good frame.

Plants and flowers are totally different beasts. This fern was easy because it was clear that the sporophyte was the topic that matter, but most plants require art, a magic intuition with no written rules that genious like nomesploraria have learned from masters like Nino di Salvatore. For the rest of us, poor mortals, it's a hard stressing job.

Jumping in motion

Photo taken at 1/60 f5.6 I followed the subject with the camera so the background got moved while the subject ended relatively in focus.

Introducing Channing Johnson

Let me introduce Channing Johnson from Boston, Massachussets. Channing is a young photojournalist that has a photoblog that I like to visit from time to time. I can't say why I like his pictures, they don't brake nothing. He even has no insect on it. But when I watch it I see harmony, I see a style, a way to look into photography and the most important, it inspires me to keep taking pictures.

My picture above was inspired by some of his 'low light' 'difficult to meter' photos.

Ant's Jaws

I don't know to what particular specie belongs this ant, but looking at this older post of a wasp's jaw it's easy to understand that both ants and wasps belong to the same Superfamily: the Vespoidea from the order Hymenoptera.

La Mola and Montserrat in one image

This picture from Montserrat's monastery comes from the combination of the two pictures you can find below. To get it I used a photoshop gradient mask to softly transition from one image to the other. This allows me to preserve the best exposed areas from both images.

This picture is taken at 1/100 and f7.4 and gets the monastery's details but burns all the clouds

This picture is taken at 1/320 and f13 and gets all the rich details from the clouds but underexposes the monastery

Wind mills seen from Montserrat

In solidarity to this post I decided to put this picture from Montserrat were you can see at the end, between clowds, a wind mill farm delivering precious green energy.

To escape from green house effect we can't accept nuclear power as an alternative resource. Governments should penalize nuclear energy and promote R&D investment into solar energy and other green energy sources. Let's ask parties what they have to say on that topic.

Wild Clove Pink

Yesterday (Nov-11th) I was walking with my friend bufaforat (now we call anyone a friend) between Montcau and La Mola. We both got attracted by this small Clove that was blooming at the shadow of an oak. Through the oak some sun light was reaching the flower making it magically shine.

I read that this wild Clove blooms during spring and summer around the Mediterranean. So, can we call November a summer extension? Let's make us a favor: consume less!

-th

Find flower location in google map below:


Mostra un mapa més gran

Head or tail?

Nature is full of surprises. This curious caterpillars were ending with a wild rose, like a pest, they terminated with tho thirds of it's leafs. But what really draw my attention was the capacity they had to confound it's tail by it's head. It took me a wile to realize that what it seemed a threatening head it was in fact a floating tail.

Do predators get confused by this tail's shape and color? did this triggered a genetic advantage?

Mediterranean Tarantula

Lycosa tarentula ?

Tarantulas don't eat tomatoes. They don't wait for a pray there too. I artificially placed this beautiful specimen over this red pair of tomatoes. Is there something more Mediterranean?

Err... didn't tomatoes came from the new world? then why they are so linked to the Mediterranean diet?

Grasshopper, Walking Stick or something in between

This, even if it looks like a picture, in reality it's the combination of four pictures in one. Yes, I love pictures with a tight depth of field and this has a price to pay: most of my best shoots don't have some key details in focus. To solve this I typically take my best shoot and I crop some details from different pictures.

Is this a 'hideous fake' or a better way to reflect the photographer's vision?

But still, some of them survive

This huge butterfly, maybe 10 cm tail to tail, I believe is a Papilio Machaon. The butterfly that comes out of the pupae made by the Caterpillar I've been talking in last posts.

Even with a huge base of predators some of them survive to pass the genes to the next generation.

Picture was taken in Cadí-Moixeró Natural Park

Osmeterium, a caterpillar weapon

See in this picture the Osmeterium of the papilio machaon. We found by chance about this fleshy organ when with my brother we wanted to place the caterpillar of the picture on a fennel branch. The caterpillar quickly bended back and opened this antenna that include 'gland cells'. No wonder why it grows that much!.

I know the picture is really bad, but I didn't want to bother the poor caterpillar just that an amateur insect reported could capture a perfect shoot.