Last Days of Summer

(August 31st) By the end of August, there's not much of summer left in Michigan. One of the things this summer has meant for me is macro photography. I just love to bring the small world we rarely see to the forefront. I headed out to my favorite macro location in town. Not many butterflies around here anymore, but there are still some flowers and lots of bees and wasps. One of the first subjects I found was this grasshopper on a milkweed leaf.

You normally think plants don't move, but your opinion changes when you take macro photographs. Plants move a lot then - mostly due to the least bit of wind. Combined with an extremely narrow depth of field and manual focus, it means getting sharp images is tough. It's a fun challenge though as the subjects are generally plentiful and you can try many times. This aster was one of the prettier flowers remaining.

Bees and wasps were everywhere today. I saw over 10 species in a small patch - of all sizes, shapes, and colors. Of all my shots of the day, this one of a Honeybee was my favorite. Although it wasn't one of the unusual species, the composition just came together perfectly and the image sharpness was spot on. Insects are an essential and fascinating part of our ecosystems - pollination is just one of many of the roles they play.