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Flowers, Droplets, and Filters!

Posted Thursday, March 4, 2021Saturday, February 13, 2021 Jess YarnellPosted in Digital Art, Flower Photography, Macro

It’s been a while since I played with Rainex and water droplets. Daisy-like flowers are really well suited for water refraction, and I had some African Sparkler Daisies blooming in the backyard, so I put two and two together and got…purple! (Jaime, are you reading this? :)

If you’re not familiar with the technique, it’s easy. Grab a piece of clear plastic or glass. Wash it with Rainex, that stuff you put on your windshield to make the rain droplets bead up. It works nicely to make the water droplets that you spray on the glass bead up in nice, photogenic circles. Then put a flower underneath and spend a few hours finding patterns. It’s fun!

Except on this particular day, I didn’t stop there. :)

Different flower this time – it was a pansy under the glass. Also there were tiny annoying bubbles in some of my water droplets. I decided the image needed a little something to make it pop, so I added some color in Color Efex.

One of my images was noisier than I liked, especially after I added the color and sharpened it a bit. So I started playing with some more filters and stumbled onto something that made me gasp…

That would be bubbles with a twist! :) This one got a Wow from Rich. Frequent readers of my blog will know that a Wow is high praise indeed from my hubby, who doesn’t always appreciate my “artsy” attempts.

I really liked this image, but the noise still bothered me. So I took another photo and tried again, choosing more purple colors this time.

Not a bad way to spend a rainy afternoon, huh?

Mixed Flock of Warblers at Oakland Nature Preserve

Posted Monday, March 1, 2021Saturday, February 13, 2021 Jess Yarnell1 CommentPosted in Backyard photography

Finally! I finally saw the Yellow-breasted Chat at Oakland Nature Preserve! But I didn’t get a photo. That bird is very good at hiding in the vegetation. I thanked him for being so elusive, since he forced me to visit often and explore the surrounding area. I found a mixed flock of birds that was such fun to photograph!

As the chat rustled in the trees, I heard another bird rustling closer nearby. A few minutes later, this Downy Woodpecker popped out very close to me. He posed for a moment to say hello, then continued to search for his breakfast.

I found a mixed flock of warblers and sparrows at the end of the Red Trail. They darted in and out of the trees, giving me lots of opportunities for flight shots and quick focusing. This was my favorite Pine Warbler image of the day.

An Orange-crowned Warbler peeked out from between the acorns.

Then I spotted the Blue-eyed Vireo across the trail. He blurred a little in my photo as he darted from branch to branch. The light was very low that day, making it harder to focus. But since there was limited sunlight, I could point the camera in any direction I wanted without getting harsh shadows.

Off in the distance, a House Wren sang from his perch on top of a pile of brush. This is a great “bird in environment” viewpoint.

I saw at least three Eastern Bluebirds that morning. Their happy chortling calls echoed as they went from electrical line perches to hunting for worms in the grass. One pair of birds seemed to be a mated pair. It won’t be long till they are nesting.

The last bird of the morning was a Red-bellied Woodpecker. He flew into his favorite tree carrying an acorn, which he proceeded to stash in his little hole. Then he posed for the camera and told me not to post the location of his stash on the Internet! A bird has to have some privacy, you know. ;-)

Whiskey’s Monarch Butterfly Garden Hatches New Generation

Posted Friday, February 26, 2021Saturday, February 13, 2021 Jess Yarnell3 CommentsPosted in Butterflies

Regular readers of the blog may remember Whiskey’s butterfly garden. Throughout the pandemic, Whiskey has kept careful watch at his window, looking out for the Monarch caterpillars on the milkweed below.

In early January I walked outside and gasped with excitement. Our caterpillars were turning into chrysalides, and I finally found where! Tucked into a sheltered cove under the bay window was a line of chrysalides…

Chrysalis-Row — Monarch Chrysalis Row (Red circles are chrysalides)

There actually weren’t quite that many chrysalides when I first noticed them. So I set up to stalk the remaining caterpillars, hoping to catch their transformations from black-and-yellow caterpillar into green chrysalis. When I spotted a caterpillar hanging upside down, I programmed the intervalometer in my 7D Mark II and periodically took photos. Then I stitched them together into a time-lapse, chuckling at the moment that a caterpillar crawled past his hanging brother.

Time-lapse of Caterpillar turning into a Chrysalis

A few days later, I got to repeat the experience, this time with full video on my Sony mirrorless camera. It did a better job of keeping the wiggling bug in focus! This video really shows how the caterpillar sheds its skin as the chrysalis form emerges. You can see a fully-formed chrysalis in the background to the left.

Video of Caterpillar turning into a Chrysalis

A few days later, I went out and saw this same chrysalis covered in dewdrops. Pretty!

Monarch Chrysalis — Monarch Chrysalides covered in dewdrops

The chrysalides hung under Whiskey’s window for a couple of weeks. We kept a close eye on them. As the days passed, the green color faded and you could begin to see the form of the butterfly inside.

202101261_copyrightJessYarnell — A Hint of the Monarch Butterfly inside the Chrysalis

The next morning, the green color was gone entirely. The skin of the chrysalis was completely transparent, showing the black and orange colors of the adult butterfly.

Not sure how long it would take for the butterfly to emerge, and annoyed at the 30 minute Sony limitation for video, I set up the Canon time-lapse again. It didn’t take long for the butterfly to emerge, stretch its wings, and begin flying around the yard.

Now we see multiple Monarchs flying around the backyard each morning, nectaring at the salvias and flowering plants. It’s fun to realize that these butterflies are likely “ours!” :)