As it neared bed time I realized I had not shot a single photo today. I had planned to go to a basketball game and a play but decided a night at home was in order after a long week. As I went into the game room I noticed the blooms on the Christmas Cactus. I’m not sure it if has just bloomed or if I have just not noticed it but it caught my attention. The shot above is an angle I took from below the plant and in macro mode.

IMGP6824, originally uploaded by GvilleRick.

I regularly read a website devoted to Pentax which includes a forum. It includes photos others have taken, reviews of lenses and equipment, and just general discussions of photography. One recent thread is a game where a photo is posted and folks try to guess what the subject is. Most of the photos are cropped from a larger photo showing just a portion of the object. Whoever guesses correctly posts the next photo and the game begins again.

After guessing correctly that a shot was a closeup of a cantaloupe it was my turn to post. I taped one lens so that the front of it was against the front of the lens on the camera and began taking photos of various objects in the room. I decided on this shot of the tuning gear of my charango, an andean stringed instrument with ten strings. Click on the image to see other shots at my Flickr site.

IMGP3265, originally uploaded by GvilleRick.

The weather is beginning to feel a little more like fall this weekend after a very warm week. I hope to make it up to Caesar’s Head State Park in the next couple of weeks as the leaves begin to change but this weekend we are staying home. I was looking at the flowers that are still blooming in our front yard and the orange on the legs of the bumblebees caught my attention so I took this shot.

IMGP1113, originally uploaded by GvilleRick.

In the last week or so I have seen an occasional Monarch Butterfly around the yard. I’ve tried a time or two to get a photo but they would fly off before I could get close. Today I saw a couple fly by and got my camera. After a few minutes standing near the butterfly bush I saw six or eight flying around the bush and got a few shots after they became used to me being there.

IMGP5149, originally uploaded by GvilleRick.

We continue to have a number of bumblebees attracted to the flowers around the yard. Most flock to the butterfly bushes but this one was on the lantana in the back yard. I like this closeup shot that I took this morning.

IMGP5124, originally uploaded by GvilleRick.

I saw this guy this evening on our butterfly bush in the front yard. While the Tiger Swallowtail that I photographed in the back yard was quite content to sit still and allow me to take multiple shots, this one was easily spooked and flew off and returned several times. I was able to get a few shots befire he flew away.

IMGP4955, originally uploaded by GvilleRick.

I took this closeup of a flower using a flash with a diffuser made of a piece of plastic from a milk bottle. I also got shots of butterflies and bumblebees using the flash.

Butterfly 7, originally uploaded by GvilleRick.

Sometimes being lucky and having the camera handy can result in getting a photo. I got home this afternoon after going to the school to get a photo and had my camera when I went to check on the clothes on the line. This Tiger Swallowtail was moving from flower to flower in the backyard. I took a few shots with the lens I had on the camera and then went in and got a longer lens to get this shot. The butterfly was not too concerned with me being there and even stayed on the flower when I reached out and moved it around. Other shots are on my Flickr page.