Missouri Orchids – Purple Fringless

macro, Missouri's Orchids, native plants
Purple Fringless Orchid (Platanthera peramoena) 234 mm focal length equivalent, f/6.3, 1/125 sec. ISO-160, focus stack of four exposures
Purple Fringless Orchid (Platanthera peramoena) 234 mm focal length equivalent, f/6.3, 1/80 sec. ISO-250, focus stack of five exposures
Purple Fringless Orchid with Eastern Pondhawk, 234 mm focal length equivalent, f/6.3, 1/160 sec. ISO-125

Eastern Collared Lizard

herps, WGNSS Field Trips, wildlife, wildlife photography
Eastern Collared Lizard – female. 520 mm focal length equivalent, f/11, 1/160 sec. ISO-200

These photos were taken on a WGNSS Nature Photography Group field trip into the St. Francois Mountains in early June, 2019.

Eastern Collared Lizard – female. 520 mm focal length equivalent, f/8, 1/200 sec. ISO-160

Along with a couple of female eastern collared lizards, we found quite a few other herps of interest.

Eastern Collared Lizard – female. 406 mm focal length equivalent, f/6.3, 1/320 sec. ISO-200

These lizards are really great photographic subjects. They are relatively easy to photograph, allowing for watching while they bask in the sunlight of a clear day without much manipulation or interference necessary.

Tingler Prairie Conservation Area

coleoptera, herps, insects, location spotlight, macro, native plants, Orthoptera
Claytonia virginica – Spring Beauty

These images were taken during a trip with Ted MacRae and Chris Brown this past April at Tingler Prairie Conservation Area in Howell County, MO. The first shows an exceptionally colored spring beauty (Claytonia virginica) in peak bloom.

Elaphidionoides villosus (oak twig pruner)

This beetle larvae was something I had read about for years. Ted found several oak twigs that the mother beetles prune to serve as safe nurseries for their developing offspring as they rest on the forest floor. Ted delicately opened up the gallery to expose its occupant so we could take some photos.

Metallic Dung Beetle (Canthon viridis)
Buprestidae – Acmaeodera sp.

These Buprestid beetles were gorgeous as they foraged in the wood sorrel. Once in a while, they would stand still long enough to let us photograph them.

Arphia sulphurea ??
Black Rat Snake (Pantherophis obsoletus)

Finally, we found this black rat snake as it attempted to climb a tree near the trail. Maybe caught a whiff of something higher up?

-OZB

MayPOPS!

Backyard Gardens, macro, native plants
Passiflora incarnata (passionflower, maypops) Image composed of a focus stack of 27 exposures.

Recently, I’ve taken the plunge and given some serious efforts into focus stacking in macro photography. This method allows the photographer to increase the depth of field in a scene by combining multiple exposures, each focused on a separate plane of focus. Afterwards, the different exposures are combined using powerful processing software on the computer. This particular image was built from 27 photos all taken at an aperture of f/8.

I will definitely miss our yard full of native plants when we make our change in residence, including the passionflowers. Maybe I’ll get to harvest this year’s crop of fruit one more time to make my own juice.

Although I don’t share in these beliefs, I really can appreciate the connections and story that the Christian thinkers put upon the Passiflora when they were introduced to these new world plants. Here is the story they used to connect this interesting group to Christian symbolism.