signs of spring

[jonny_redhorse]

seemed like the woods came alive with insects today!......saw my first butterflies.... eastern commas(pic included here)...mourning cloaks...spring azures....also saw my first dragon flies darting around...."green darners"....first bumble bees....yuppers...spring is here and it sure feels good... jonny

[jonny_redhorse]

took a walk along my favorite woodland brook and came across some interesting subjects.....woods are alive with the sights and sounds of spring!.... jonny

the frogs were singing!

a lone waterspider

"bloodroot"...the first wild flower of the year that I saw

mushrooms

"mourning cloak"

"eastern comma"

[fishingmike0770]

i think that frog is awesome! I really like the close-ups, it really intesifies the colors and everything.

Not bugs but spring is coming with open water and migrators, i like the pic except for the neighbors house in the backround but i'll take what i can get.

[MuskyBug85]

thats a really cool pict man. nice work.

[Dbl]

Trademark jonny shots. Nice photos as always, I too like the frog.

[jonny_redhorse]

Thanks Dbl.......just enjoying spring! ...here's a few more from this morning........jonny

froggy gremlin....not sure what species of frog this is..I'm used to the green ones!...there were 2 "globs" of eggs next to this frog):

blood root:

another view:

my favorite brook:

giant false morel or "snow morel"

"Just some nice "round lobed hepatica":

[fishingmike0770]

What type of lens do you use for these close-up shots. I really like them, its a totally different way of looking at the simple things like frogs and flowers. Does this style have a name? I really like it!

[fishingmike0770]

Here are some more that i took today:

[jonny_redhorse]

Mike....from what I've seen,you have some wonderful photos for just starting out in the photography field...I'm just starting out myself if you consider 2 years of getting more "serious" ....you have a way of "putting together" your images that's really appealing....the turtles on the log(love those turtle shots myself!always have! ) you have here is a great example of your perspective and talents.......very nicely put together...and "cropping" to achieve that "certain" look and appeal...(I should crop more myself..lol)...at any rate I think you're images are really good..as for myself and what lenses and "style" for the photos I've posted here.....I'm using a "bridge" camera(Fuji s9000 9 megs) ...(not a full blown D-SLR that has a bigger sensor then mine) with a "fixed" lens (Fuji 28mm-300mm 10.7x wide angle- zoom)....I chose this set-up because of the moneys involved...it works for me but has it's drawbacks, by using this camera makes me "work a little harder" to get the results that a full blown d-slr would do easier ...I guess I'm used to it...I do have capabilities of my camera to get within 1/2 an inch to my subject(macro close up shots or "super macro" close-ups)...which I used on the frogs photos above(even though I never had to get that close for the frog shot,maybe 12" or so)..the flowers were taken at about 3"...I found a whole new world out there in macro photography...just as much "little things" out there to photograph as the "big things" ...I also use macro lenses (58mm) in various magnifications to screw onto the main lens to magnify the images even more...(55mm on my older fuji s5000)...they seem to "do the job" and quite well I might add......usually crisp, clear images....that "false morel" photo actually was taken with my "older" fuji 3.2 megs not the 9 megs fuji....I tote both cameras with me when I go out in the field....both have their perspective places for me...there's others on the forum here that I'm sure are more "well versed" on this subject and no doubt could add to your questions...some of these guys have posted some great macro images in the past...Tom certainly has if I remember some of his insect shots,Steve has...Buzz has and others....just keep on takin pictures..........you have a good eye Mike!........ jonny

my turtle shot from last spring:

[Steve Foss]

Mike, great shot on the turtles. Excellent composition.

Jonny, love those images. The ones in your second batch of images you have ID'd as bloodroot actually are anemone, I believe.

[jonny_redhorse]

thanks for the kind comments Steve!........I took and started examining in length the anemones in my "wild flowers of minnesota" field guide by Stan Tekiela.and compared the blood root photos and descriptions and the different anemonies and the leaf descriptions.........I see the wording still fits my bloodroot....to phrase the book..."one of the earliest plants,it emerges from nearly frozen soil,flowering well before the trees leaf out.it's flowers open on sunny days(which they do)closing tightly at night...(here's the clincher) "leaves unroll in full sun,curling up around the flower stalk at night and on cloudy days"the genus name "sanguinaria" comes from the latin word for "bleeding",describing the red-orange juice in the stems and roots,used by many cultures as a dye and "insect repellent(hmmmm.insect repellent )..anyway the dye thing is consistent after I squeezed the plant and the juice is red as indicated in the book......so....think it's still a "blood root"...plus the leaves of any anemone(rue,wood or canadian) are either pointed or sommewhat pointy and lack the "wrap around effect" of the bloodroots...here's a couple more macros, Steve, of what the wrap-around effect of the leaves looks like on the blood roots in comparison to the anemonies....jonny

here's a "canadian anemone"(I took this last year)(notice the "pointy leaves"and not the "single wrap around" effect of the "lone" bloodroot leaf(of course there's still the "rue"(more rounded leaves but more then one)and the "wooded".again more then one lone leaf

"wrap around" effect of the single blood root leaf with the ability to close in grey weather or at night:

and another view of the blood root:

the "red-orange" dye in the root-stem like iodine

[buzzsaw]

I really like Johnny's silhoutte turtles, nicely done!