Grasshopper

• Series: Photo of the Week • Tags: insects

A photograph can capture a scene, an image, a fleeting moment, and transform it into an object of study.

Macro photography does this, but like super hardcore. By definition, macro photography is a 1:1-scale reproductions, where an object should be captured at life-size relative to the camera’s sensor. The lens needs to be able to focus quite closely on the subject, and it should be able to capture as sharp and distortion-free an image as possible.

Macro grasshopper!

A steady hand is needed, because shake can easily blur an image taken so close-up. Having a lot of light and a wider aperture can help cut down on shutter speed, but due to the closeness of focus, the focal plane also becomes quite narrow, such that you can only focus on a single facet of a complex surface.

With all that technical description provided, I invite you to instead picture me hopping around shoving a camera as close to a grasshopper as possible, framing photos poorly, and having it jump around.

From farther away, the grasshopper on top of an outdoor footstool. This, then is what I was dealing with...
From farther away, the grasshopper on top of an outdoor footstool. This, then is what I was dealing with...

Island: Years of Anticipation and a Review of Music

✍️ 🕑 April 2017, July 2018, and August 2020 • Tags: musicmusic reviewsconcerts i've been toOwen PallettCanada • Places: Toronto Calgary

The stage awaiting Owen Pallett & the Calgary Orchestra, July 2018. Remember concerts?
The stage awaiting Owen Pallett & the Calgary Orchestra, July 2018. Remember concerts?

Not too, too long ago, I was having a great conversation with Sepi in which the topic of what we really cared about came up.

Music was among my answers. My friend was a tad incredulous.

How much did I really care?

Indigo Bunting & Friends

• Series: Photo of the Week • Tags: bird photographytelephoto

It was a little bit of a hectic day.

I needed to mail a relatively bulky package, and being without a car, I needed to walk it to the post office in the early afternoon.

This is a time I’m not usually out. I was sure to bring my camera, because you never know.

And it was a great day for photography, particularly because I got to see this fellow.

Indigo Bunting, from a distance...

It’s unusual around this area to see a bird of such a vibrant blue color.

He was also quite small in size, and pretty skittish and distant from me, which made the photography more challenging.

No matter. There’s always cropping in post-production, right?

Growth and Decay

Eastern PennsylvaniaCOVID-19plant lifeinsects

Many, many moons ago in a parent-teacher conference, a teacher told my parents that given the opportunity, I would always choose to stop and smell the roses.

Strictly speaking, that’s not true.

I think my mother’s more recent observation that “no grass grows underneath my feet” is probably more accurate, especially given my tendency to sometimes not spend as much time visiting a place, or appreciating things as I should.

Let’s hold that thought for now.

Well, it is true that very little grass grows on this macadam road I'm walking down...
Well, it is true that very little grass grows on this macadam road I'm walking down...

Abandoned Factory

• Series: Photo of the Week • Tags: urban explorationEastern PennsylvaniaSchuylkill River Trail

For those who know me, like my sister, my transition to becoming more of a nature photographer is an odd change.

“I’m used to seeing your Instagram filled with pictures of graffiti, and it’s very strange that it’s all pictures of flowers.”

Well, this then is the closest I can do insofar as a return to my old ways is concerned (for now at least.)

Abandoned factory -- as promised