Actually the previous season, since I am almost a year behind in processing pictures.
Last April, the photography season began for me with this European paper wasp (
Polistes dominula) that emerged from hibernation on the front porch. It was still quite cold, so she was motionless most of the time. I was very glad to see her, although the species is invasive and problematical in the U.S. I even broke out the tripod and Helicon FB tube to do some serious stacking under diffused natural lighting (under the porch). This picture was made from over 100 pictures, and for me that is a lot. The olde 100mm macro lens was boosted with a Raynox diopter lens.
An early spring focus stack by
Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr
Another stack, assisted with gentle use of a flash. I rather like this one better. Its from over 40 pictures.
European paper wasp by
Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr
The first outing from that time brought a few finds. The most interesting was this ground spider (Gnaphosidae), which is a family of free roaming spiders that include some ant mimics, although I am not sure if this is one of those. This is
Zelotes fratris, and the picture is from a hand held focus stack of maybe 6 or 7 pictures. Note the velvet mite photo bomb.
Ground spider by
Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr
I will allow myself one non-macro. Here is what I think is a very young bullfrog (
Lithobates catesbeianus). There is also the closely related green frog in my area, and I am not 100% sure what this one is. Bullfrogs have a distinct ridge that comes from the back corner of the eye and wraps around their ear, like this one, while in green frogs the ridge continues down the back. Both become very large "I'm going to
eat you" sized frogs. But this little one was barely an inch long.
Young bullfrog by
Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr
I was rather hoping to find Michigans' rattlesnake in the park I was in, but no luck yet. Every person I meet on the trails will say "yeah, I see them here every year", and seriously it should be my turn! I did see a lot of garter snakes, though, but could not get decent pictures.
Thanks for looking!