Yesterday i spend a few hours at Becky's home photographing the eggs of the Australian Walking Stick (that is pictured in the first post). Trixie, the AWS's name, literally drops eggs 5-6 times a day as she moves around the house. They are about pin-head size and very hard. Brown and white striped, they initially appear slightly oblong like a football. However, we found a variety of parts and protrusions that are not visible without magnification.

The images below don't have anything in the photo to compare them with such as a penny or dime, etc., so there is not reference but i'll add some when i do additional shooting today or tomorrow.

The assumption is that the brown band is sealing the egg; we don't know what the lighter color protrusion on the left is nor what the horse-shoe shaped relief is on the band. One theory for the horse-shoe is that that is where the egg is attached to the Walking Stick which allows it to hang out of the birthing canal (that is not the correct terminology) and when ready, it can be pushed off allowing it to drop. Please know that is just an idea of the use of the horse-shoe and may have nothing to do with that idea in reality.

Pretty neat photos and about 4-5 times the actually size of the egg.

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Pt. Reyes 

Most of Friday i spent at Pt Reyes heading from the main office towards the ocean. It was a bit over a six mile walk to get there and my friend, a fellow photographer, and i turned around at about the 4.5 mi point. Mostly 'cause that was far enough for the day for me and we still had to return to Richmond and traffic was building as we decided. We went for the photographic opportunities. And there were many. The best was the series of the bobcat who sorta put himself on display for the camera.

At a distance, he seemed maybe a house cat:

And there was a longish discussion with a passerby and my friend about it being a house cat that lived in the woods. But taking photos and looking at the in the viewfinder up close soon showed its heritage:

And then as it walked across the field it found a small log that it proceeded to scratch it chin on and then mark it as it left:

And then he walked off into the long grass:

I don't know how this looks to you, the viewer, as its rather small on my monitor taking only about a third of the screen. I'd like some feedback from whom ever may be seeing this blog as to the size and view ability (seems that should be one word but not according to this computer's dictionary) of the images.

It had rained earlier in the morning giving a light glistening to the shrubs and trees and leaving puddles waiting to be walked in.

Seeing the clouds reflected in the puddle reminded me of the line in Carly Simon's "You're So Vain", ...clouds in my coffee ...

I like earthy tones with reminders of recently fallen rain ... there's a kinda of richness that gives me a fresh and renewing feeling.

It is Saturday morning here and the sounds in the kitchen following on the heels of the coffee grinder and the subsequent aroma remind me that it is time to put together the market list for the shopping we will do in another hour or so.

May your day be mindfully peaceful.

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Am taking a photography class with Becky Jaffe (http://beckyjaffephotography.com) which is about basics, a form i can certainly return to as that is what these images grow out of. Below are some images from yesterday's class on light:

Tilted Keyboard

Peppers

Tilted lens

Well, its probably not possible but the image above has a sharp G and a soft J as the lens was not flat when the shot was done and i rather liked that - that's part of what i'm learning about this blog ... the image needs to be 12-15" across on your monitor to see that detail, oh well.

Insects, brrrrr

In many ways i'm not really a fan of bugs and insects (they may be the same) and once took a good photograph of a relatively large spider in its web which gave me such creeps that once i looked at the image i immediately closed it and have never gone back to it. And, as a photographer and fairly inquisitive person, i find that pretty strange. So, when my Creative Photographer teacher brought her pet Australian walking stick (Extatosoma tiaratum) to class, i shivered a bit as i looked at it and decided i wasn't going to take any photos of it. Still, that was the assignment later in the class and so i ended up with this shot which is a fairly good portrait of Trixie (because she is tricky, says the teacher).

This is my first post in this new blog and about which i know almost nothing in terms of how to use it but assume that as i use it more often, i'll become adept at the different possibilities.

I think that for the time being i shall limited its use and posting to photographs and how i may or may not be struggling within that area called "art." And no, i don't know what art is ... isn't everything a kind of art? Or at least can be view as art?

Some years ago i was working on some macros of String of Pearls when this very small spider jumped up the side and quickly made its way to the top of the blooms. I tried, many times, to chase it away but to no avail and then i realized what an opportunity was being presented to me. This was the resulting portrait of this very tenacious small spider. 

Wed, Sep 24th, '14

On Sunday, i spent the day at GGF going 'tween listening to a on-site talk about the changing creek bed to accommodate the possible growth of salmon over the coming years (fingerlings had been found in the creek over the past decade) and visiting with a friend at Muir Beach who was having a 'Parting Party' for her friends as she prepared to take a different path in her life and was moving to N Arizona to begin work as a women's health worker to the Navaho. This was the fire in the firepit they were cooking over.

It was a wonderful gathering of family and friends and while there was some sadness at the parting of ways, there was much greater happiness for her as she began a new journey into a newer life. I wished her well on her journey and hope to visit her in Arizona some day.

The creek bed changes were awesome. In very raw form, the land had been dug, the channel taking shape and redwood logs were being placed strategically to allow shade and shelter for the fish. This is the form it currently is taking:

  

The photos seem awfully small and i'm very much still learning how to work this blog ... just a minute ago i clicked on a photo to see if it'd appear larger and the whole blog disappeared and i couldn't find how to get back to it - sigh, i'm sure its all very simple, just gotta learn how.

The top creek photo's blue line shows the path of the future creek bed and the two photos of the redwood logs show both how they are arranged and how they are bolted (you mean they bolt logs into a creek bed??) together which seems to be an art unto itself. Much more work is to be done on the creek but the speaker thought they would be through by the end of Oct in time for whatever rains we may get this year. Regardless, there is water running in the creek now although it is sidelined so the work can be done in the dry. I'm looking forward to see the water flow and spent sometime looking for a place to take photographs.