Daddy Longlegs
Bozeman, Montana
2016

Another visitor to the sunflowers I was photographing.

Somehow I think the Chinese use the term “famous” more loosely than Americans do. (I’m not saying that to disparage any of the other artists in the exhibit–it’s only meant to be a comment on my own reputation!) Nonetheless, I’m happy to be a part of this exhibition in Tsingtao.

This is actually only one of two exhibitions in China I will be a part of this month. The other is West on the Left, East on the Right, the 2016 version of the event I participated in last year. As was the case last year, after the reception for the show, 188Art (the show sponsors) will be taking the Chinese and American artists on a 10 day tour. This year we will be vising a number of locations in Gansu Province, with a short trip into Inner Mongolia as well. If the tour is anything like last year, it’s going to be a great experience. The folks at 188Art are very generous and thoughtful in their treatment of the artists.

Commanding View
Bozeman, Montana
2016

I was working on a little project involving some sunflowers in our garden when I noticed this guy taking advantage of one of my subjects.

Sedges
Bozeman, Montana
2016

Another convenient pond-side subject, easier to shoot than either birds or dragonflies (although the breeze created a bit of a problem).

Foraging
Bozeman, Montana
2016

Frustrated by the difficulty in capturing the non-stop dragonflies, I turned my camera momentarily on this finch foraging its way through the grass around the pond. Of course the minute I did that, it decided to fly off. Still it was easier to track and I got this interesting action shot.

Never Stop
Bozeman, Montana
2016

We have a lot of dragonflies flitting around our ponds these days, so I thought I’d try to get a few shots of them. It turns out these critters never stop flying, at least anywhere that I can see them. They might hover in one spot very briefly but before you can get the camera pointed at them, much less get it focused, they have usually moved on. So it turns out it was a pretty effective way of burning through a Sunday afternoon. Of maybe 500 shots total, I got only a couple of good, well-focused images. (Thank goodness I wasn’t using film!)

I’m afraid there is more than a little Mr. Toad in me sometimes.

Empty Nest #6
Bozeman, Montana
2016

I thought I’d try one in this series in monochrome. I believe I like the subtle color images better. This is actually two old robins nests.

Empty Nest #5
Bozeman, Montana
2016

House wrens build interesting nests. They pile up these big piles of rough twigs and then line a small depression in the very top with nice soft material. This one only started to get past the rough twig phase when the builders for some reason abandoned it.

Empty Nest #4
Bozeman, Montana
2016