Nikkico — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:47:05 +0000

I still haven’t posted photos taken on Vancouver Island during July, but here are some of them. Arbutus trees, first photo, only grow in the Pacific Northwest, particularly on Salt Spring Island, B.C. and in parts of China, nowhere else in the world. They are a popular carve-your-name-in-the-trunk tree because the bark heals into a soft clear scar. A few trees on the island have been abused like this. Still, they couldn’t take the beautiful away!

Groups of three and four Fluted Swallowtails spiraled in and out of the sunlight as I walked down the mountain road on Salt Spring Island. I tried very hard to photograph them dancing around like that – so pretty – but their flight pattern was too rapid and unpredictable. Got lots of blurs if you wanna see ‘em! Fortunately one settled on a fir tree.

For the next two weeks I’ll be stopping to photograph every interesting tree between here and the Giant Redwoods then back. I’m so thrilled to go see them. My pal Chris says Pray for Peace, and that’s what I think of every time I see the fourth photo here.

Camouflage

Nikkico — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 15:12:33 +0000

While tidying the garden today I picked this up, and for a split second I wondered how a dead leaf could be so soft and powdery…and fluttering! If my camera would cooperate I could have taken a great macro because the moth let me get as close as I wanted. So pretty!

My old Canon AE1 would snap pictures no matter how close I got to something, but even on ‘manual’ the Canon EOS 20D will only allow me to get about 4 inches away before the shutter refuses to close. I miss my old fashioned (1980) Canon sometimes, and even the new Canon AE1s cannot compare to it. I don’t miss developing though, and the other restrictions.

Nikki's Photography » Moths and Butterflies

Camouflage