Found this colorful little  critter scoping out the orange tree.
Was hoping for a little better focus on the eyes, but I think the shot came out OK as is. Besides, he did not give me a second chance.

    On our return trip towards home, we came to a vista point and the kids stayed in the car while I found a river to shoot. I tried the longer exposure on some of them, but didn't quite get the effect I wanted.
    Heavy criticism welcomed here. Please advise in any way. Most were shot on AUTO, a couple on AV. No tripod ( yeah, I know,...that wouldv'e helped.)

River 1
  River 2
    River 3
      River 4 Still
        River 4 Moving
          River 5
            River 6
              River 7
                River 8 This would've been good for the Double challenge.
                  River 9 B&W  

    Getting gas was a normal part of the trip(no, Loweho...gasoline...!) and at one of the stops, I got out and was paying for it. Matt got out and said Look, Dad!!! . What was he talking about, I wondered. I looked down and saw a big bug. He was about 2 inches long on the body alone.  What Is It? Matt wanted to squish it... I told him no; I didnt want the guts on my carpet in the van!
    Coming home, we again passed by  Mt Shasta, and it looked like it was erupting!! What a great trip. Thanks for coming along!

There is a half acre dedicated to native plant species.They do not mow,or spray.
Yards from an asphalt jungle,complete with traffic, and noise,is an oasis.DESCRIPTION_HERE DESCRIPTION_HERE DESCRIPTION_HERE

  The other morning when I got to the car had a vistor waiting for me, don't know what it is, thought it was a praying mantis but don't believe it is,Critter
  Everything has texture, all different, there is a helicopter at the museum that saw time in Vietnam, thought I would show a small portion of it with Bullet holes not covered up. It amazes me the number of rivets that are in a plane/chopper.
   What you are about to see now is somthing a lot of women wish we had.. ~~~ , this belongs to my daughter.
        Have a good evening!!

Sunflower Pod
Sepia
B/W

Bonus Bug

This one got inside one of the tents.  This poor thing was holding on for dear life, because of the wind.  We left the camp and came back to find...   someone not happy to see us.

Bonus shots:  1 & 2

While the site was down last week I worked on some storyboards and other photoshop stuff.  
Hosta flower 2
Katydid Nymph Returns
Lilies of the Field
The Richness
Twin Mushrooms
I have taken to haunting my neighbors green areas - and these pictures were all taken in our condo section.  Our development has four sections.  Almost all of the neighbors have caught me outside taking pictures and have stopped to see what I am doing.  Now they are starting to tell me about sights I ought to look at.

Yesterday I showed the work I did catching drops of water.  I also did this story board of some of the shots.
After an evening shower
The next two are shots that I took after dark for the bi weekly challenge.
Geraniums after dark
See the moon in the distance
Next are shots of insects that I found in the yard that I tried to capture in shots.
Spider dangling
This Tasty Morsel

I was taking some pictures of my neighbors lilies again and saw this insect playing on one.  I have no idea what it is.
On Top of His World
Another Angle of Him
Remains of a mushroom 2

I found this little guy visiting our garden yesterday.
Dragonfly 1
Dragonfly 2

And the sun lit up just a small piece of the  Dames Rocket.

It is another hot and humid day in Northern Michigan. I went insearch of Pink Lady-slippers this morning before it got to hot....
Two Slippers
Canon EOS-1D Mark IIn 28-105mm ISO 50 f5.6 Bogen Tripod.
Pink I
Canon EOS-1D Mark IIn 28-105mm ISO 50 f2.8Bogen Tripod.
Pink II
Canon EOS-1D Mark IIn 28-105mm ISO 50 f5.6 Bogen Tripod.
Pink Close-up
Canon EOS-1D Mark IIn 105mm Marco ISO 50 f2.8 Bogen Tripod.
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Here are a few other shots of insects.
Soldier Beetle
Canon EOS-20D 28-105mm ISO 100 f5.6 Handheld.
Blow Fly
Canon EOS-20D 105mm Macro ISO 200 f5.6 Handheld.
Soldier Beetle
Canon EOS-20D 28-105mm ISO 100 f5.6 Handheld.

Here are a few photos that I took today in my garden.
Blue
Iris Close Up
Iris Close Up
X-Rated I had time for only one shot and it was handheld...they were quick to fly.
Funnel Web Spider With Egg Sack
Mud-Dauber Wasp

These two guys showed up on one of my Praying Mantis egg sacs today. Does anyone know what they are? I cannot find them in my insect book. I have the feeling they are waiting for the hatching.

Unknown Beetle

We, me and my wife, were inside the house, making some preparations for the coming baby, when we heard a strange sound from outside. It almost sounded like a bird in distress, trying to fly, but unable to do so. I looked outside and indeed, something with wings was trying to get in the air, but it was no bird although ithad the size of a small bird. It was a butterfly.The rear side of the wings clearly show some damage. I took my camera out and took some shots of the struggling insect. After een struggle of at least fifteen minutes, finally we had a lift off. Finally, lift off.

  For the past couple of weeks have not had time to visit much and when I did, seemed to have a problem..Don't know if it has something to do on my end or if it is the site...the site would just shut down on me and then the few times I was able to sign in..would not last long..there were a couple of times that I was in then when clicking on sign out the site would just go away so there have been times that has shown I have been on all day and I thought I was "out".
  Enough of that..here are a few blooms in my yard..a couple of them were taken with Kay's lens and the others with my lens....it will be a while before being able to purchase anything else but one of these days...
  1 2
 3  4
     Enjoy!  :)

Yesterday evening I saw this big moth on my bug zapper.  Then I walked around and noticed the clematis are blooming and this one is almost ready to smile.  My iris are blooming and so are the  Silver Dollars.  This is what the  sky looked like when I went in.  Do you see a face in the sky?

More....
B U T T E R F L I E S!

Here is a  Bonus shot Notice that the pollen on the honey bees legs is blue.  I know it isn't the greatest shot.  But my son wanted me to post it.  Plus I thought it was something a little different because usually it is yellow.

WASP