My friend, Ernie.

Let me introduce you to my friend Ernie. He is a young one, but already hard at work eating aphids and such. While he may look large in the photo, he's just over an inch long.
This year has been the year of the aphids - with sparrows and ladybugs eating them off rosebuds. Now comes the next wave, the praying mantis.
Interesting what you see when you look close, isn't it?

How many ways?

Sometimes I see something that I would normally photograph and think "I already have enough of those", as if I had seen them every way possible. Then I remember that today is today and I haven't seen them today. (That make sense?).
Here's some very familiar subjects with some presented in a different light/view/looking. As I look at photographs from around the world on the internet, I am struck by the different views each of us have of our world and how we present them.  Looks like a life-long opportunity to me.

This day lily has a double blossom, unusual among day lilys.

You have seen this rose many times.

For those of you that want a Murphy fix!

Sunflowers galore - fascinating plants.

Friends

Diana and I talk to our plants as tho' they were/are our friends - and they are. As I sit on the deck and watch the billowing dark smoke from the newest fire I think of our friends and what a loss it would be for us if our garden burned.  Translating into what a loss many people have experienced this year due to fires.

Sharing the beauty of our friends:

Smoke Tree flower

Depth of Field - a.k.a. DOF

Depth of field is sometimes a mysterious discussion, and many articles and books have been devoted to explaining it. Adding to the noise is the concept of 'circle of confusion' - google it!

Being a rather simple boy, here's a couple of photos that may help understand it. Recognize that each lens performs a bit differently, and to get the best results one needs to experiment with each lens to best understand how to use DOF to your best advantage in photos.

Both of these were shot with a 105mm lens, one at an f/3 and one at an f/14.  Study the differences, they may make your next shot the one that you are trying for. BTW, they are both directly out of Lightroom, nothing done to them.

Shadows

Sitting on the deck yesterday morning and enjoying the sunrise.  Waiting for the hummingbird to come to the feeder when I was ready with my camera! He's quite observant these days, and rarely visits when I am in the area. Unlike most summers, when there are a larger number of hummers around, this year only the one family with an occasional interloper.
Shadows appear on the grill cover and ask to be photographed.

Thinking of the ocean

During hot weather we often reminisce about cooler places, often places by water. Sitting in my work-cave, I look at these photos from Hawaii and good memories flood back into my mind. Our friend Carey is on the big island now, and both Diana and I would love to be there with her.


These are sunrise photos that were taken on 1/1/12.

One more day of Lilys

Actually, with the heat, the lilys are blooming and dying at an incredibly fast rate.  There may not be any to photograph next week! And this is the end of June, not the end of July!

At any rate, here are some of the beauties in our yard.  Many of these were introduced to us by Katy Nicolich, who publishes the blog, New Utah Gardener. Katy is an experienced and knowledgeable gardener and has a lot of great advice and tips for us.

Normally we would have one 'Primal Scream" open at a time, thereby getting to enjoy the flowers over a longer period of time. The photo below shows at least 4 open, making a wonderful but short-lived bouquet.