Winter Doldrums – Part 1

Such a productive year 2014 was. The Dead Presidents’ schedule created momentum for the entire year. Now we’re halfway through the second month of the new year and the post-holiday funk persists. Why Is that? Where has the discipline and productivity gone?

This three-part lament starts with the season. It’s February, the most hated month and it’s colder than a witch’s udder out there. There’s a reason they gave this one only 28 days.

The Woods behind the House, Winter 2002

Back in the film days, I started to shoot seasonal scenes

in the woods behind the house. Sometimes, when you

scan a slide and possibly over-edit it to punch up the contrast,

you get something that looks more like an animation

than a photograph. That’s why I like this shot.

This week here reminds me of my years in Wisconsin. The winters then were bitter. But the time there confirmed my commitment to biology and appreciation for living things…especially in February when every last one of them had migrated away, was hidden and dormant…or dead.

Well, you say…weather lousy enough to force you inside should be a fine incentive to crank out a few stories. One less excuse for your lame output. Can’t argue with that. That’s why this is a three-part series. There are better reasons for this creative torpor.

But I want to turn these lemons into lemonade and use this brooding and bitching to post some shots from more verdant and colorful…dare I say, ‘warmer’ times. I can throw on extra layers and feel warmer but my visual sense is too dominant. If I see lush and green or ‘alive’, I can transport the rest of me there and feel just as comfortable…for a while. For example…

Staring Down the Elusive Ebony Jewelwing (8 June 2010)

One good thing about living near a wooded wetland is seeing this most delightful damselfly. In the same order as dragonflies, damsels are for the most part, thinner and more delicate. Calopteryx maculata is the only common damselfly without clear wings. Their bodies are iridescent blue and green and they flutter about my front yard all summer long.

When I started shooting, the best photographs of bugs were made of pinned, preserved i.e. dead ones. Some photographers now make wonderful, close-up shots of live insects. Back in my day (says the old fossil), all important identification features of insects were depicted as line drawings. You seldom saw photographs unless they were of really small features that could be captured through a microscope.

Shooting close-up, full-frame images of live insects strikes me as a special skill that also requires better equipment. I have close-up lenses that will enlarge a small object but you have to get very close to make the shot. These guys have big eyes. They hunt other flying things and snatch them out of the air. They easily see me coming and fly away.

I took this one with a zoom telephoto lens. The 220mm focal length allowed me to get within 5-6 feet. Any closer than that, and he was off.

Two other things help to make this image. While not tack sharp, the most in-focus element is the insect. The blurry vegetation helps frame the subject. Finally, the dark subject is better displayed against the sunlit portion of the frame…dark against light. The contrast draws your eye to the critter.

What’s the line from ‘Taxi Driver’?
“You lookin’ at ME?”

Yes, there will be a Part 2.