Steven Helmer Publications

I didn't get an opportunity to get out late last week because of a modeling-related road trip with my wife. So, even though it was a bit muggy out, I went for a walk with my camera.  It was fairly active out there today and I didn't need to rely on tracking down some dragonflies this time around. I even spotted a mystery bird (see below) that required some sleuthing from my wife to back up my first thoughts. Here are some of the photos: There are a lot of these late summer/early fall flowers out, so I figured I'd try to get some photos of them. I got one with and one without a bee. This was a pretty large moth. I spotted it from some distance away. This pelican pod wasn't the most cooperative. I had to zoom in to maximum just to get this photo and they immediately started swimming away from me despite quite a bit of distance from the shore.  This guy (or girl), in comparison, was very cooperative, giving me multiple photo opportunities so I could choose the best one. I...

I took the garbage out to the dumpster on the other side of the parking lot and, on my way back into my office, I noticed a moth flailing around on the ground. I wasn't sure what was going on at first but soon realized it was being attacked by this black-and-yellow devil. I'm pretty sure it was eating the moth too, which is not something I would expect to see.

I saw this web while on my walk this morning and decided to grab a photo of it. I'm not sure if it was spun by a spider or if it belongs to some other kind of bug, such as a gypsy moth.

There's no special reason why I took a photo of these flowers. I just thought they looked pretty and, since I wasn't sure if I would find anything else worth taking a photograph of, I took a pic of them. I've been getting a lot of photos of dragonflies lately because they are beautiful to look at (and have quite a few varieties) and because they are fearless. I can walk right up on one, take as many photos as I need and it won't budge. I got somewhat lucky with this goldfinch photo. I didn't see it at first and was only able to take one shot before it flew away. I saw this little guy flying around as I was trying to catch my breath after climbing up a hill (I'm not REALLY that out of shape, it's just very humid out right now). I tried, several times, to get a photo of a bee on a flower but failed each time because they simply would not hold still long enough to get them in focus. I did, however, get a photo of this one on a leaf....

Some other pics I took while out walking at lunch today.