Sunday Stills - Going Buggy

It's time to get down and dirty with the insect world. If spiders and bees are not your forte try butterflies and lady bugs. :-)

Actually I do  like spiders and bees but I took these pictures a couple of years ago and am happy to finally have a good time to share.

A lovely big luna moth resting on the trunk of a black walnut tree about three feet off the ground.  What a treat!!

So. fuzzy.  Must resist urge to pet!

For more Sunday Stills.....

Sunday Stills - Clouds in Black and White

 Lets do something easy this week. Just convert or photograph some nice cloud pics.

I haven't had time taken time to play along with the Sunday Stills Photography Challenge for a long time.  I still need to learn more about my camera so I really should make the effort to use. it. more.  We had a storm go through the area in late afternoon and the clouds at evening chore time were dramatic.

Now that it's black and white I see a face in this one - kinda Jabba the Hutt with a big mustache.

But this one is properly cloud-like and the rays of shadow coming off it from the low sun are pretty neat.

More Sunday Stills.

Sunday Stills Photography Challenge - Sepia

For this week its an open challenge, anything will work just convert it to sepia....

So I know that sepia is a classy word for 'shades of brown' but I wasn't able to achieve that while fiddling with the Photo Editor on my desktop.  Android phone to the rescue!  They had an option called "latte" which looks awfully like sepia to me.  Maybe it's not quite kosher, but I think it's nice.

Sheep are pretty, no matter how they're photographed!

Sunday Stills - Face Time

This week its all about faces.

Most people think sheep all look alike, particularly if they are white.  Not true at all, anymore than all black cats look alike.  (OK, that comparison might be lost on non-cat people.  Trust me, it's true.)

Sheep faces.

"You locked us out in the rain.  All day."

Cotswold ewe 'Nancy'.

 

Flopsy

 

Fortune

Snubby

 

Bug

 

Snickers.  "All these white sheep - I really don't see the big deal."

 

For more Sunday Stills.........

Sunday Stills - The Letter B

Thought we would do a letter challenge this week, so things that start with the letter B.....
A "Big Girl Camera" - a Nikon D90.

Wheeeeee!

Bag of blue.....

.....wool roving.

Blueberries.

Bergamot.....

.... amongst the trefoil.

Burdock.

(Boooo!  Hissss!)

Bales.

Blooms.....

 

 

 

 

.....with bugs.....

 

 

 

a fly that's a honeybee mimic

A butterfly I didn't even know was there!  (bottom blossom).

 

 

 

And a real bee...honeybee, that is.

 

 

For more Sunday Stills........

 

 





Sunday Stills Challenge: In the Air

For this week we are looking for things...... in the air. If its not connected to earth it will work..:-)

This helicopter was very busy over our farm in June of 2007 when the gas company was using seismic surveys to determine the best places to drill for natural gas.  This 'copter flew all over ferrying bundles of cables and dropping them into inaccessible places for the ground crews to use.  I don't know what this kind of helicoper is called but notice that there is no tail rotor but there are two sets of overhead rotors which spun counter to each other (and timed so they didn't hit each other!) which stabilized the machine and kept it from spinning in flight.  The machine is also very narrow - just wide enough for the pilot and some instruments.

Here's a better picture of it grounded showing off the twin upper rotors.

We really enjoyed watching him buzz around!

Sunday Stills - Murals or Grafitti

"Ever since prehistoric times humans love to draw on walls, buildings, ect.... I'm pretty sure ya'll have some cool pics on this subject..:-)  "

This is a fun challenge and I was glad to know just what to capture.  This neat mural is on the side of a building in Naples, NY right across from a tackle shop.  It's quite large as one can tell from the windows in the building.  It faces a very small public park/sitting area.  Right now in winter it looks like a peek into a warmer climate which certainly cheers me up.   I'm not sure how it came to be but I enjoy it every time I roll through town.

 

More Sunday Stills.

Sunday Stills - In Your Hand

For this weeks it's anything you can fit in your hand and the pic must include......you guessed it......your hand.

Spinning Pearls' fleece into yarn

 

And plying it into a 2-ply yarn

 

The upper picture was taken with the flash.  The lower picture was done on manual.  On the camera display the second photo looked very similar to the first in color.  On the computer it looks much different even after I fiddled around to improve it.  Apparently a reasonably hale and hearty person is spinning and some old fart with crappy hands is plying :-/

 

At least the yarn is coming out nicely.



Sunday Stills Challenge - Pets

 Sunday will be our 5th anniversary of Sunday Stills and that means our anual pet challenge.

Here's some found treasure - while on walkies with Holly today I remembered that my camera came with a card that didn't hold very many pictures and that I had bought a bigger one which I use all the time.  (Walking is a great way to let your mind percolate and sometimes the stray thoughts that bubble up are useful!)  I was pretty sure I knew where the card was - wonder of wonders! - so I got home and checked it out.  There are only a couple of pictures on it but they are such welcome finds.

This is Molly, Holly's predecessor, and a bottle lamb.  I'm not sure which lamb unfortunately.  It might be either Mouse or Raisin who are both long passed.  The date stamp is 3/29/2003 !

 

And also dated that same day is a Cotswold ewe and her lamb.  Again, I don't know who they are specifically, but it still gives me warm fuzzies to see them. 

 



 

 I could do this challenge every week and not run out of material :-)

 

 

Sunday Stills Challenge: Night Shots

Any type of night shot.....

It's a bit grainy, but this was late last winter around 11 PM.  The moon was full, there had been freezing fog earlier and there was a fresh light snow on everything too.  The silo roofs looked like they were glowing so I thought I'd see what my point and shoot could do on a slow manual setting.  I like this especially since the two silos on the left are gone now. 

Sunday Stills - Landscapes

For this week its all about wide open vistas, mountains, meadows, canyons, seascapes.ect... baiscally its a chance to showcase the land in which we live.

At this time of year we see heavy mist in the valley to the south east.  We call it Lake Wheeler since the hamlet of Wheeler lies down there and the mist looks like, well, a lake. 

 

But under other weather conditions you just see pretty layers of hills, each a little more pale than the one closer to you.

Every day is different.  The sheep have the best view on the farm.

Sunday Stills - The Colour Red

Summer is a great time for seeing red even without tomatos or watermelon.

Bee Balm

Coral Bells

 

Farm equipment - this is part of the hay tedder

 

The old, original section of the barn

 

Currants

 

Sumac at the base of a silo

 

The flower part looks like cockscomb on steroids

 

This sumac is in the edge of a field.  I should look these fuzzy guys up to see what they'll become

Honeysuckle with berries.  Looks downright Christmasy

 

No red, you say?

 

Surprise!  (A handsome and docile Blinded Sphinx)

 



You never know where you'll find red.

Going Buggy

I love insects but was concerned that I wouldn't be able to find a subject that would hold still long enough for me to focus, fiddle with the lighting, etc.  And I didn't think dead bugs were a fair (or fun) subject.  Wendesday night was warm and damp and while there were a million fireflys out, there was no way I could do them justice.  But, at bedtime barn check I found not one, not two, but FOUR of these lovely Waved Sphinx moths clinging to the boards of the lamb pens under the night light.

I had to look him (or her) up as I thought I knew what it was but wasn't positive.  I love being able to find information so easily. 

The moths were so calm I lifted one's wing to see if there were bright colors on the body or underwing, but they were all soft shades of gray/brown. 

I've heard that a great way to attract moths if you want to see what species are in your area is to hang a white sheet between to trees in the woods, splash some beer on it and set a Coleman lantern near it or spotlight shing on it and moths will come from all over, settle, and you can ID them.  I have to wonder if it wouldn't be more sensible to put up the sheet and the lighting but then drink the beer while you wait for the moths.