JDW Photos and Life

These two butterflies looked to be unhappy with each other sharing this large field of flowers. I was down on my knees to get the angle I wanted making it a little difficult to see the specific action. They parted ways and all went back to normal. A close crop of the previous photo. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

Another photo of the Black Swallowtail on an Indian Paintbrush - this time in a nice profile view. The photos are essentially the same as shared yesterday - initial crop followed by a very tight crop. Again, the detail is surprising from this distance and cropping. You can see its proboscis extending into the flower. This butterfly was in really good shape with its wings looking fully intact. The third photo is just the tight crop of a third shot (hopefully not getting too repetitive). I'm guessing the wind knocked him off his perch and down into the flower a bit while he was eating. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

I was able to capture this butterfly spending a little time on an Indian Paintbrush. I believe this to be a black swallowtail. This camera (Canon R5) continues to amaze me in its ability to capture detail. The first shot is cropped to what I would normally send. The second photo is the same edited photo with no crop (as captured). The third photo is that same shot cropped to just the butterfly. You can see the hair on its legs and body! I was not very close to this guy and there was plenty of movement from me, the wind, and the butterfly flying. For the photographers asking details, ISO1250, 1/2000 sec, f/9, 70-200 at 200 mm. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

We have all seen the photo with a caption of "don't be afraid to stand out" or something similar. That comes to mind with this first photo. The "obvious" focus of the photo is the yellow  Coreopsis . Look a little closer and you see a single Indian Paintbrush next to it that is just as unique. I took a second photo to see a more expansive view of the scene and maybe that yellow flower wasn't really by itself after all. There are several flowers/grasses that have fewer similar stalks than that "lone" flower in the first shot. The third photo is a closer view of a  Coreopsis. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

Thank you for those that participated in the framing question yesterday. #1 was the most selected, followed by #2, and then #3. This actually matched my expectation (and my preference). Photographers have a "rule of thirds" and #1 and #2 followed that framing. #1 had 2/3's focused on flowers and #2 had 2/3's focused on trees. Your preference was based on what you thought the primary subject of the photo was. #3 was a 50/50 split for those that want both subjects. Just a fun question with no wrong answer. The photos today focus on some of the prairie grass in the field of color. Their delicate structure can be difficult to make the subject but I'm pretty happy with these. Cropping/framing is such a big part of photos. I usually don't put the subject in the center but that was the case in the first photo as the wind seemed to make it OK. The second photo is cropped in a wide screen TV format emphasizing the width of the scene. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchi...

In the world of cell phones with really good cameras, we all take photos. I use my cell phone also but I feel much more at home with my big camera and lenses. It gives me so many options to control what I'm trying to capture. When you see an field of color, how do you share the beauty with others? I also struggle with this question and framing the wide angle shot is the big challenge. There are all sorts of "rules" but my eye is the final judge - and then I get back home and see things on my computer and still struggle with which frame I like most. The photos today are three separate shots of the same scene processed/edited very similarly. Do you have a favorite? Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

More Indian Blanket. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

I was photographing a local horse event yesterday just outside of Independence, TX and decided to stop by Old Baylor to see if I could catch the Indian Blanket in bloom. It was a good side trip for sure. The colors were spectacular but the wind was not doing me any favors! The selected flowers were moving in and out of the focus point but I made it work as best I could. Bees and butterflies were also busy in the fields. This bee went from flower to flower fighting the wind as hard as me. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

Yes, I made another cutting board and do not ask me what I will do with it. I have no idea.....sit on a table I guess. I really had not planned on making any more cutting boards until I saw this piece of parota wood. It was a new species for me and it had a beautiful end grain pattern. The sap wood provided a nice color contrast that could be blended into the final product. I had seen a photo a month or so before of a similar board and liked its looks. Picking up the piece of parota told me to make, yet again, another end grain cutting board. The two slabs  (earlier photos/e-mail) were essentially identical to each other but I intentionally made the two pieces of parota to be offset from the center (gives the stairstep look). Each 12-1/2" wide slab was cut into 1-7/8" pieces - a total of 11 pieces from each slab - 22 pieces total. I then alternated the pieces from the two slabs while keeping the order of cut. The final board measures 12" x 17-1/2" x 1-7/8". Whe...

After we returned home from the trip to Brenham, I noticed a small stand of Wine Cup flowers in the ditch in front of my neighbor's house. I had the camera in hand, so why not take a photo or two. These little flowers remain a favorite of mine with their interesting interior. They must also produce some sweet nectar as I almost always see bees, bugs, and butterflies around them. I was able to capture a crisp photo of the bee in the first photo below. The second photo shows a group of three in various stages. The third photo is a close crop of the second photo showing more detail of the flower interior - one of the most interesting (my opinion) in nature. Wood project answers and photos tomorrow. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

This is the last of my bluebonnet photos this year. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

"Just" some more flower photos. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

Every spring, it amazes me to see weeds growing into blankets of color in ditches on the side of the roads. Flowers are everywhere in central Texas. Yes, the flowers are also beyond central Texas but the abundance seems different. This first photo is not very good since I really don't define a subject but I like the mix of colors. In the second photo, you see a partial answer to the wood questions posed a few days ago. The wood slabs are roughly 12.5" wide by 22" long by 7/8" thick. You see I used 4 species of wood. Jatoba, Maple, Parota, and Walnut. A total of 10 sticks were glued together in each slab. This is the first time I've used Parota. A local wood shop specializing in huge conference room sized epoxy slab tables had some off-cuts for sale and I picked up this new wood. It was 10" wide by 2" thick and 22" long. A small split in the wood was filled with epoxy. That part of the wood was not pretty. The Parota slab had sapwood providing the l...

The Bluebonnet gets most of the glory in Texas. Yes, it is the official flower of the state but the Indian Paintbrush is almost always the first to take full bloom and announce spring. These two stems were clearly at the end of their days for this year. They were nicely lit by the sun and the grass framed them to stand out. As I was preparing the photo to be shared, the small grasshopper became a bonus. I had not noticed it while taking the photo. No, I don't like grasshoppers and do not defend them but this guy adds a little something to the photo. I was surprised by the length of his antenna. I have included a closer crop of the same photo to see more flower and grasshopper detail. I received a few guesses to my questions regarding wood preparation (4/15 e-mail). No one has been very close on any of the answers other than identifying maple and walnut as two of the species. No, there is no cherry in this build. I will post first round of the answers (species and number of layers) ...

Central Texas had a very nice year for wildflowers. It seemed the bluebonnets came out a little early and stayed vibrant for many weeks. Though we enjoyed seeing them on drives and around town, I only stopped to take photos once. After moving to College Station and seeing years of wildflowers, I still enjoy them as they announce spring but my frequency of photoshoots has clearly decreased. These flowers were along a road leading into Chapell Hill during a late-season trip to Brenham for other purposes. You can see the Indian Paintbrush were clearly showing their age with lower leaves beginning to turn brown. If you look closely, you can also see several bluebonnet seed pods already formed. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

So, who has a guess what is happening here? It is not another set of trays like my 4/1 post. I would be even more impressed if you can name the wood species or even how many types I used. Why do I have two apparently identical slabs just slightly flipped? How many strips of wood in each slab? Questions, questions. Answers to be provided soon with the final product. The project is finished but I may drag out the answers a little. Who knows. Who even reads these notes? No, I'm not soliciting replies (though they are always welcomed) - just running out of photos again! Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

Small groups of waxwings fly out of the tree heading elsewhere in the subdivision - similar to how they arrived at this tree. As a parting shot, the lone robin decided to turn around and look at me as I was wrapping up my time with them. Must find a new subject starting tomorrow. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

After eating in our yard, the waxwings would head across the road to a neighbor's tall tree across the street. Every year we have seen waxwings, they have used this tree as their resting location. Groups of waxwings will fly to and from this tree as they scour the neighborhood in search of food. The first photo shows the tree with a light loading of waxwings. As these migratory birds move through the area, they upset the apple cart of the normal residents. With their late arrival, they were messing around with nesting season so I saw some irritated resident birds. In the second photo, you see a cardinal in the tree full of waxwings. If you look closely, you see the lone robin just to his right. Back on our side of the street, I had a mockingbird pair really unhappy. These two were giving those waxwings a piece of their mind. They would try to defend their territory but the waxwing numbers were just too large. Fortunately, the waxwings represent nothing more than a nuisance to the r...

This first photo just has a couple of birds in it but notice that there are still a reasonable population of the berries. In the second photo, the waxwing activity was reduced enough for the robin to come in and pick a few berries. The third photo is the bush picked clean after all of the activity. A feast was had in that short period of time (less than an hour). Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

There was another small group waiting in the top of an adjacent tree. They never came down and ate but they were there watching - maybe lookouts for their bandit friends. If you remember, I was lamenting the lack of robins also in recent years. Well I'll be danged if I didn't see this lone robin in the mix. Actually, there were 3 or 4 of them scattered around after I started looking closer. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/