Bookmark - Kemah Hibiscus (Flowers and Blooms Series)

Taken in Kemah with the Fuji 7000 point-and-shoot on May 13, 2008.

Bookmark - Houston Zoo Red-and-White Flowers (Flowers and Blooms Series)

Very cropped-in shot taken at the Houston Zoo on one of my first visits with the Bigger Cahoona back in 2018.

Bookmark - Church Flowers (Flowers and Blooms Series)

At one time I took pictures at events for the Jersey Village Church of Christ where we attend, such as the Annual Christmas party or Senior Sunday.  I was on my way into the building one of these Sunday mornings with the Fuji 7000 and happened by these flowers.  What a magical sensor those Fuji's had in those days...

Bookmark - Magnolia Bloom in Houston (Flowers and Blooms Series)

A magnolia blossom.  Saw a lot of these growing up in Orange.  In retrospect, would repair some of the damage and brown spots on the petals, something I might yet do one day.  An artist is never entirely satisfied with his work...

Bookmark - Arboretum Flower with Bug (Flowers and Blooms Series)

Captured with the Fuji 7000 - another one from the Houston Arboretum, the series of which was the first ever published by this blog back in 2008.  As stated then, didn't notice something until post-capture...some would consider the bug to be as much the subject as the flower that is emerging.

Bookmark - Neighboring Hibiscus (Flowers and Blooms Series)

It pays to have your camera handy.  Happened to have either the Big or the Bigger Cahoona in the car when we stopped by a friend's for a short visit.  Saw some potential in this guy so whipped it out and think I captured a keeper.  Even have some room for lettering there at the right.

Bookmark - Neighborhood Flowers (Flowers and Blooms Series)

Proof that some of the best images can be captured close to home.  Using the Fuji 7000 point-and-shoot, this was in a neighbor's garden right here in our Houston area neighborhood.

Bookmark - White Flower at Horsetooth (Flowers and Blooms Series)

Captured on the same hike as that of yesterday's post.  Honestly, the variety even among a certain type of plant is astounding!  There is a lifetime of work even if a photographer dedicated his or her career to shooting just flowers...

Bookmark - Horsetooth Bloom (Flowers and Blooms Series) / Estes Camera Comparison

This is sort of a bloom, I think.  Captured while hiking the trails of Horsetooth next to Fort Collins, back in 2011.

That was interesting trip, because it offered opportunity to compare the Big Cahoona (the Nikon D300s) with the point-and-shoot used five years earlier (the Fujifilm 7000) at the same places.  On one hike while there - on the Emerald Lake Trail in Estes State Park - I made a deliberate effort to capture the same scene, as can be seen below.

Which looks better?  At a glance either could win, but zooming in for a close inspection reveals the technical superiority of the DSLR.

Above: captured with the Fujifilm 7000 in 2006

Below: captured with the Nikon D300s in 2011

Bookmark - Flower at the Ross House (Flowers and Blooms Series)

Our friend Bob Ross from church wanted me to come over and take some pictures for insurance purposes after Hurricane Ike hit the area back in 2008.  For years Bob was the head administrator of the gardens at Bayou Bend, so can you imagine what his back yard looked like?  This little guy survived and caught my eye as we were surveying and capturing the damage left by the hurricane.

Sadly, it's doubtful that the lemon tree he helped us start in our own back yard survived the polar vortex freeze we had in Houston this winter.

Bookmarks - More from the Houston Arboretum (Flowers and Blooms Series)

Bookmarks- Flower in the Houston Arboretum (Flowers and Blooms Series)

 

Bookmark - Pink Blooms in Galveston (Flowers and Blooms Series)

 

Bookmark - Graveyard Flowers (Flowers and Blooms Series)

Captured on another site visit run...this time in Columbus, Texas.  As stated at times in previous posts, graveyards are great places to visit, and great places to take pictures.  Good way to get out of the hustle and bustle of everyday life, as it certainly offers a pocket of solitude and quiet no matter where you are.

Bookmarks - Bluebonnets in Bellville (Flowers and Blooms Series)

 

Bookmarks - Bayou Bend Blooms (Flowers and Blooms Series)

 

Bookmark - First in Flowers and Blooms Series

From creepy crawlies to flowers and blooms, this is the first in a longer series of bookmarks.

Bookmark - Fly Paper (Animal Series - Creepy Crawlies)

Somehow this one strikes me as being a favorite.  The randomness of the flies, the water droplets.  And the ickiness of the whole thing is somehow alluring, if not beautiful in its own way.  And how many of us wish this would happen to the mosquitoes or other pests around us?

Originally posted here in its greater extent.

Bookmark - Houston Zoo Spider (Animal Series - Creepy Crawlies)

Another spider - this one taken from the confines of a cage rather than out in nature.  Perhaps not this one, but it's amazing to know that some spiders can use their tiny brains to plan and exercise logic in capturing prey.

Bookmark - Praying Mantis (Animal Series - Creepy Crawlies)

As is the case with the giant wood spiders, praying mantises are easy to capture because they are slow-moving and not easily intimidated.  These guys, however, are so much more personal because of the way they'll turn their head and appear to be staring straight at you (which may be the case).  And knowing that the females eat their mates alive during copulation makes them all the more intimidating to us.

Must have been the right season (May) because we saw loads of these during this stay in Taiwan.  Big ones, small ones, brown ones.  Very interesting, and one could hardly invent a creature more exotic and monstrous.

Bookmark - Giant Wood Spider (Animal Series - Creepy Crawlies)

This begins the "Creepy Crawlie" section of the animal series.  These are all beautiful in their own way.

This species - and others in Taiwan that are similar - are fascinating because they are so, so big, as illustrated in this post.  Doing a search for the word "Spider" will take you to several other posts of these beasts as well, as they don't spook easily (surprised?) and are easy to get close to and capture in a photograph.

And, as stated before, in spite of their size and scary appearance they are not aggressive at all, and rarely bite people.  Wouldn't want to handle one, though, the way some do with tarantulas.

Bookmark - Camouflaged Green Frog (Animal Series - Reptiles and Amphibians)

Still on the same outing with Chenjean.  Small frogs caught my attention that day...

Bookmark - Yellow Frog (Animal Series - Reptiles and Amphibians)

Captured on the same outing with Chenjean back in 2018.  Very tiny frog, probably no more than an inch in length.  Had to turn the yellows down a bit to increase contrast.

Bookmark - Poison Dart Frogs (Animal Series - Reptiles and Amphibians)

This plus another shot of these critters was posted here, back in 2018 when the wife accompanied me on a trip to the zoo with the Bigger Cahoona.

Bookmark - Houston Zoo Colorful Lizard #2 (Animal Series - Reptiles and Amphibians)

Created from the same frame featured in yesterday's post, this one really turned out better than I thought it would.  The pic was captured with the Bigger Cahoona, my Nikon D850.

...which is a camera I haven't really touched in a while, due to the pandemic and our inability to travel and generally go places for more than a year now.  Looks like it's slowing down, however, and we're looking forward to yet another new normal on the horizon.

Bookmark - Houston Zoo Colorful Lizard #1 (Animal Series - Reptiles and Amphibians)

Zoos are great places to take animal photos, for obvious reasons: they can't go anywhere, and the exhibits are usually set up to mimic their natural surroundings, this and tomorrow's posts being cases in point.

The wife and I like to watch vet shows, and are surprised when a lizard or snake is brought in for treatment.  The owners at times act as if there is some sort of emotional attachment to the creatures, when common sense tells us it can't be possible.  Nevertheless, they are interesting to observe, and having one (or more) sets us somewhat apart from the general population.

Bookmarks - Navasota Grass Snake (Animal Series - Reptiles and Amphibians)

This was a rare find...a grass snake crawling around on the trunk of a tree instead of the leafy canopy or in the grass where it would be almost impossible to find.  This guy was captured when we went with some friends to the Navasota River, where we had a membership granting us exclusive access to a portion of the river.  The cost was $50 per year.

And we would have been happy to continue that membership in perpetuity, were it not for the fact that they didn't respond to their emails.  I sent some pictures with comments and gratitude for what they were doing, but nary a word of response.  So, sadly, we let it lapse and now they have a little less with which to maintain the environment.

Second bookmark of this beautiful critter below:

Bookmark - Brown Snake at the Houston Zoo (Animal Series - Reptiles and Amphibians) / Cecil

My brother Allan and I are both snake guys, so sent him all of these bookmarks.  He lives way out in the country where the internet is spotty at best, and besides is a technophobe, so still reads hard copy books and will use them.

Speaking of our affinity for these reptiles reminds me of a speckled king snake we bought together at the Snake Farm between Austin and San Antonio.  This was back in the late 80's before I got married.  We named her Cecil, and she was the best pet snake we'd ever had...very docile, in fact she seemed to enjoy being handled.  Lots of adventures with Cecil.  One time our son Andrew left her cage open during a Cub Scout trip and she escaped, but hung around Allan's Wimberley property for some six months before he discovered her back in her cage one day.  My brother simply shut the door and life went on as usual.

And neither of us expected her to be a part of our lives for the next 21 years, but that's what happened.  As a bonus, since snakes never stop growing she reached record length for the species by the time she passed away of egg retention syndrome. 

Cecil was a prolific snake, also.  Allan acquired another speckled king, but this guy was nervous and snappy, and a little insane...one time he actually swallowed most of his own body before Allan came to the rescue.  A good mate for Cecil, though, as he sired close to 150 offspring that Allan let loose on the property to keep the other snakes - including the rattlesnakes common in the area - in check.  Sometimes we kept those that inherited their mother's more docile characteristics.

Bookmark - Green Mamba (Animal Series - Reptiles and Amphibians)

...and while on the subject of green snakes, this scale pattern on a green mamba at the Houston Zoo made this a keeper.  The Bigger Cahoona got pretty good at capturing these reptiles, so long as the user (me) managed to hold it still while surrounded by a bustling crowd.

Bookmarks - Emerald Tree Boa at the Houston Zoo (Animal Series - Reptiles and Amphibians)

 

Bookmark - African Bush Viper at the Houston Zoo (Animals - Reptiles and Amphibians)

Anyone who's followed this blog knows that I think snakes are some of the most beautiful creatures on earth, and not creepy-crawly at all.  Yes it's best that you keep your distance, but they're beautiful nonetheless.