Lilies, Hydrangea, Crawlers, and Fliers!

The rise of the lilies is here! So far, four types of lilies have bloomed and I'm expecting at least two more types to come out in the coming days.

While I'm outside photographing flowers, I always try to keep an eye out for the little critters that roam around. These little guys usually move too fast for me to capture but sometimes, they'll hang around for just long enough. We'll start off with flies, which are usually annoying as can; however as a photographic subject, they can be quite interesting. The first two flies were found perched on top of morning glory leaves, basking in the morning sun.

The next two flies were hanging out on some hydrangea bushes. These were smaller than the two previous flies and move quickly. Oddly enough, they seemed to repeatedly return to the same hydrangea flower or leaf that they rested on. The compound eyes of insects is mesmerizing and I hope to capture a close-up view of them this summer.

Speaking of eyes, this daddy longlegs also has two of them. If you're asking yourself "How come? isn't it a spider?", then here's the answer: no! Daddy longlegs are arachnids but not spiders. Sure they have 8 legs but they only have a single pair of eyes and two body sections (spiders have 8 eyes and three body sections).

Now that we've taken care of the insects, here are some pictures of various types of hydrangea around the yard. The first photo below has a "lacecap flower" arrangement and the fertile flowers can be seen on the right side of the photo. The other two appear to have sterile flowers only but are elegant nonetheless.

Mid-season Bloomers

Last week's heat wave has come and gone, culminating in a miserably gloomy weekend during which I experienced one of the most awkward encounters in my life. The weather is no less miserable this week as rain clouds loom overhead for most half of the week. (I love teh Intarw3b..."most" in the previous sentence has a strike through because the weather forecast has changed. The next two days will be only slightly cloudy.)

Today's entry contains 22 photos and we'll start off with the remnants of flowers that once graced us with their splendor and in their passing, continue to do so. The two photos below are of peonies that still retain a colorful elegance despite having withered away.

With the passing of the peonies comes the arrival of the hydrangea, which are as abundant in my yards as the peonies. We have several types and colors (actually depends on soil acidity/alkalinity) and here's the early bloomers:

The last post ended with a variety of roses, which are still going strong. Today we have even more photos of roses, some of which were taken under quite favorable lighting conditions.

Once numerous, nearly all of the clematis have retired except for a few late-bloomers. I don't think I've seen this coloration before until this year so it was a pleasant surprise to find the first flower in full bloom. The second photo below shows the seed head of a clematis that bloomed earlier in the season.

I'm not sure what the magenta flowers in the first photo below are but they are aplenty in the backyard, appearing in large clusters. It was particularly challenging to photograph them since they are perched atop long stalks that sway with the slightest breeze. The second photo is of honeysuckles.

I try to identify the flowers I've photographed and have had great luck with Wikipedia, to which I often link to; however, these flowers below escape identification. The purplish/bluish ones in the first three photos below open up during the day and close up in the evening while the white ones in the fourth photo are about a quarter-inch in diameter. If anyone knows what they are, do tell!

Here is a testament to the dedication that I've given to my hobby. This hungry mosquito was just one of dozens that have bitten me while I've been walking around the garden taking photographs. Luckily for it, I saw an opportunity for a photograph and allowed it to continue feeding off of me. I actually took an HD video of this mosquito and it's noticeable how its abdomen expands and grows reddish in color as its belly fills with my blood.

Finally, we have a couple of photos of what is either a butterfly or moth. Apparently it is quite difficult to differentiate between butterflies and moths. This little fella kindly landed several times onto a clay frog that happened to share its coloration. Perhaps it was not a coincidence and he thought it might offer good camouflage!

I'm asking myself the same thing, little fella...just what is it that lies o'er yonder?

Lately, I've been contemplating much about what I want in life and work. Like the butterfly/moth in the photo above, what lies in front of me is quite blurry at the moment. While I enjoy bokeh, the blurriness of uncertainty makes me uncomfortable and simply doesn't sit well with me. Hopefully, some more time thinking may enlighten me but along the way, I'll continue to capture these snapshots as I escape into the calm that photography and nature brings to me.

Food and Flora!

All right, guess who's back from traveling! The NY-MD journey took nearly 60% longer than usual both ways due to heavy traffic and road construction but being the mellow yellow fellow that I am, I actually rather enjoyed the drive. The past week was hot and stuffy but weather was soon forgotten once I was immersed in work, which in turn was forgotten once I was sitting in front of delicious food!

As hard as it is to believe, I didn't take photos of everything I ate because the food itself distracted me. What was captured though (with my phone camera), could be said to be the highlights of the week's dining experience. We start off with steak with macaroni and cheese prepared to perfection. I ordered the steak medium-rare, which was just right and the flavor really popped in your mouth.

On my last night in MD, we journeyed to a Japanese restaurant in DE. I've only ever had sushi in NY and wasn't sure what to expect down south but was pleasantly surprised. My order comprised of two rolls: a tempura shrimp roll with avacado, eel sauce, Japanese mayonnaise, and breading and a king crab roll topped with tuna. These two rolls, especially the tempura shrimp roll, easily rivaled the NY sushi I've had.

While the sushi was excellent, the dessert was even erm...more excellent! My coworkers and I each ordered a tempura brownie topped with coffee ice cream and caramel. I'm generally not a dessert-person but I'll be damned if I don't order this again! This dessert was so rich that it was effectively a second meal. 

All this talk of good food has me salivating so let's move on to the main event. I arrived too late Friday evening to take any photos so I woke up early Saturday morning and went to work. As with a lot of the recent photos, these were taken with the DMC-FZ35 configured with the DMW-LC55 close-up lens. I can't identify the flowers in the first three photos, so anyone who know what they are, please speak up!

A lot of hover flies were busy swarming these flowers as evidenced in the photo above. These little flies are quick while in-flight so I patiently waited until they touched down on the the flowers to gather nectar.

At night, these flowers actually close up and look as if they never bloomed until the next morning when they re-open to their full glory.

This year, I didn't take as many photos of peonies as I did last year. During my week away, a lot of them opened up and ran their course. A number did remain in-bloom so I seized the opportunity to take some photos. In the first one below, we have a mean-looking black fly perched on a pink peony.

I like the next photo below because it looks as if the peony in focus has a "tail" or "train" of peonies. In the front yard, we have an entire row of peonies that have dozens of flowers in peak-bloom.

 

  

The small flowers in the first of the next two photos are also unidentified to me. They are roughly one-quarter inch in width and grow in small clusters. Again, if anyone can identify it, please let me know what they are! The second photo is of a leek flower head in bloom. We have a couple of these plants growing in the backyard.

The multi-layered clematis that I fondly photographed and posted in the last couple of posts mostly lost their main petals over the week. Nonetheless, the remaining petals retained their porcupine-like spiky appearance.

 

The next flower is yet another one that I have not yet identified so please help me out! I've actually identified this particular flower with the help of Wikipedia. I have photos from last year that have an even closer view of the central structures of the flowers. Since the LC55 lens was attached, I have a longer minimum focusing distance, hence the not-as-close view as last year.

Rosa multiflora

To finish today's post, we have an assortment of roses (actually beginning with the previous photo). Red, white, pink, yellow, and purple - we have it all between the front/back yards!

The roses in the next two photos give off an incredible fragrance that wafted in the air as I moved around to compose the photos. I think they they, along with some other of roses below, may be cultivars of Rosa chinensis.

We're due to have weather above 90*F (32.2*C) over the next couple of days this week and I expect the heat to cause a lot of the flowers to wither quicker than usual. After the roses and peonies finish up, we'll see the hydrangea come out. In the mean time, I'll try to photograph as much as I can before the heat wave takes its toll so stay tuned!