Nothing Much to See

I'm sitting here staring at the screen again. I had a blog post starting to come together in my head earlier... and now it's gone. On the other hand, I'm sleepy, and after not being able to sleep last night, that's a good thing. Ok, that's hyperbole. I did sleep. Just not as much as I needed or wanted.

I've been spending my evenings with family, photos (taking my daily photos) and art for a client's project. The art is making me very happy. I love what I do - taking a client's ideas about a book cover, the knowledge I have about marketing, and melding them into a marriage that will sell the book. Because that's what it's about. The more sales my client gets, the better. My job is to make their excellence in words visible at a glance. It's a pretty cool job, you have to admit.

For daily photos, I don't have the time to go out and find destinations for beauty and stunning compositions. So I usually head into the back yard around sunset and hunt for small game - with a macro lens. I've been using a weird rig- the 75-300mm lens, on a 31 mm lens extension. It's not, I think, a true macro, but it does allow me to get up close without spooking my tiny subjects. Like this dragonfly, who would fly around nervously anytime I moved, only to settle back in the same place.

female Widow Skimmer (Libellula luctuosa)

And as I explained to my son later, not all wasps are fully anger and rage and stings. This one is shy, quiet, and much more interested in nectar.

Thread-waisted Wasp (Ammophila sabulosa)

One good thing about my chosen subjects - there are always bugs to find. I'm unlikely to run out of subjects until it freezes up this fall!