This is my preserved female scorpion fly that I staged for a focus stacking session using a 5X magnification Nikon Measuring Microscope objective as the optic for the camera. There were 222 images processed in Helicon Focus to produce the final posted image.

I placed a "free" sample paint swatch a distance behind the specimen to create a color background rather than my typical black. The paint and hardware stores are a great source for these sample paint swatches that can be had at no cost.

Scorpion flies thrive in a damp environment. They are harmless and many do not feed as adults. They earned the name "scorpion" due to the protrusion on the male's reproductive part that resembles the tale of a scorpion.

We got to kitten sit while Jasmine was part of a medical mission to Costa Rica with others from Medical School and some professors. They got back the 6th. We don't even have to take Persephone back to her since she will be coming back to So Cal to do her residency only 50 miles from home.
Taken April 13th with my phone, if I had tried to get a camera she would have vanished on me. She still has two bedrooms unexplored(doors kept closed), about half of the garage and all of the family room to explore. The family room is "dog" territory but she does go to the toddler gate that keeps them out of the main house to tease them.

I have been looking for this photograph in my file for a long time I still have not found the original slide, However I did find a print that I had put into my portfolio a long time ago (1977).
Anyway I was invited as guest to the first Formula One Gran Prix in the streets of Long Beach CA. I was given a complete pit pass to do some photography for my friends who invited me. This was the year of the great battle of the Championship between John Hunt and Niki Lauda. They have made a movie about this battle between these two amazing drivers. Also a race between Ferrari and McLaren motor cars.
However I was always a fan of Mario Andretti and his style of driving. My favorite shot of him sitting ready in his race car waiting for the go ahead to enter the track. These were taken during the qualifying stages to determine what positions the drivers would have on race day. I was very exciting...

I will add a couple of shots of Hunt and Lauda as well as their cars.

Enjoy this blast from the past...

Bob

We took a tour of Colon, Panama and came across this old building which we thought might be an abandoned textile warehouse or something. Not abandoned at all. It is a fully functional 3rd world prison. You can bet there are hard core cases here and there are no extra creature comforts to spoil the dregs of society in Panama. If you zoom in on several windows you can get a feel for the prisoner life and some of the dwellers visible. The nicest part of the place seems to be the high tower for guards to draw a bead on escapees.