Did you guys know that, in Ireland, this stuff grows outside of wreaths and not just around Christmastime?
So weird.
Category Archives: Uncategorized
HDR – Mountains
High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography is a way to deal with the fact that too much light in one area of an image (like the sky) can make the rest of the image too black. To do it, you need to take several photos together and then super-impose them.
This works better on landscapes than it does on animals.
Peru 2015 – Sky
The sky probably looks like this everywhere but I just don’t have my camera as often as I did in Peru.
Wall
Ben Grimm has left.
This joke demonstrates four things.
1) I am a comic book geek
2) I stay surprisingly current for someone as busy as I tend to be
3) Most of my friends either are not or do not and therefore will not get this joke
4) I don’t care about #3 and am telling the joke anyway, because I think it’s hilarious
Bark Scorpion (Centruroides exilicauda)
Bark scorpions fluoresce under ultraviolet light, so you can get neat photos like this with appropriate UV illumination.
However, when attending scorpion raves, it is best to avoid the mosh pits.
Storybook picture
Turns out the pictures in my storybooks weren’t lying to me.
It really does look like that.
Water
The line between bird and water is similarly fuzzy.
Pigeon
In Ireland, the line between fog and bird is less well defined.
Peru 2015 – Tarantula and Brother
One of these is my brother.
Robin … the real one
This is the real robin, not like those fake robins we have in the US. At some point in history, someone came over to North America, saw a thrush, and was so homesick, they called it a robin even though it clearly wasn’t.
We are now stuck with that name for the entirety of forever.
Peru 2015 – Sunset
Though I imagine it’s quite difficult to create a sky and river out of hammered gold and copper, it must be even more difficult to get them installed in the brief moment between when I return to the boat and get to the upper deck to shoot the sunset.
Ireland – Mountain Peats
On my first full day in Ireland, I miscalculated the timing (time zones suck) and went out on a countryside tour. While I feel bad about how long it took and how I kept my friends waiting for me to return, I got to see so many neat things.
This is a photo of a peat bog … that’s on top of a mountain (or what passes for a mountain outside of Dublin). It’s basically 3-6 meters of peat that just absorbs the rain and slowly releases it like a sponge throughout the day. It’s the Irish equivalent of the icecap, except that like everything in Ireland, it’s green.
Whooping Crane (Grus americana)
The crane foundation is responsible for much of the whooping crane rescue. In addition to the two they have on display, they also have a flock elsewhere that they are breeding to save the species. In 1941, we were down to 23 individuals. As of a few years ago, there were more than 600, with over 400 in the wild, relegating the group at the foundation an emergency backup group.
The concept of emergency backup groups may sound weird when it comes to animals, but keep in mind that birds of a feather flock together and, if they flock into a storm, they could all be wiped out.
It’s not just birds either. In May, 134,000 Saiga antelopes died over two weeks, halving the global population. Entire herds, just dropped dead. Whatever swept through had a 100% fatality rate. Since this species suffers periodic die-offs, several in the 1980’s, and one per year since 2010, there is some concern that the species may not survive another one. Think of everyone you know. Go down the list and imagine every other one of them suddenly dead. That’s rapid-extinction in action. That’s what’s happening today to other species.
An emergency backup group, in captivity somewhere, would help to shelter against pathogens or ruminal tympany (common causes of such die offs), and allow the species to regrow over time once the land has been determined safe for reintroduction.
Peru 2015 – Sunset
Clouds are clumpy and very hard to distribute evenly across the sky.
Garden
A normal-vision view of the same garden I posted earlier in infrared.
Black Widow Spider (Latrodectus)
She may not have the same superpowers as the rest of the team, but she can hold her own.
Sign
I stayed for a few hours, but the marshmallow never melted. :(
Knight anole (Anolis equestris)
Thankful for claws, not too pleased about gravity.
Peru 2015 – Sunrise
On land, where you can use a tripod, you can use techniques like HDR to make everything look nicely exposed. When you’re shooting from a skiff, you have to settle for just making things look pretty.
Peru 2015 – Moon
Turns out they have the same moon in Peru.