Meet My Litle Friend

So this week at I Heart Faces is pet week. We don't really have a pet unless you count the stray cat who has adopted us but isn't into being cute or posing for pictures. Mostly she just wants you to give her food or she'll try to trip you coming down the front steps.

I do however, love animals. I love going to the zoo and shooting. The birds are big favorites of mine. And I love insects. Ladybugs, and grasshoppers, bees and butterflies. I've showcased them all a time or two here. Ooh! Or there's Assateague and the wild ponies! I love those too.

So. You can imagine my difficulty in choosing a picture to share for this week's challenge. I finally decided on a shot from this afternoon. I really couldn't resist. I love the colors and the bokeh. I only wish he wasn't so shy and would have shown his face more. He's a beauty, though.

Enjoy!

Cue the hate mail. ;) (The brave may click for a larger view.)

Oh, and just in case you're wondering. He was in the middle of lunch and was less than thrilled with my taking his picture at such an inopportune moment. He did not eat my face though. And he cleans up after himself, so bonus!!

First impressions and second looks

Anytime I shoot, I come home, upload my pictures, and immediately weed out the ones I hate, and choose my favorites to edit. The rest usually languish in their folder never to be looked at again.

But lately, I've been going through those old shots and giving them a second look. And I've been surprised to find some were better than I initially thought.

This butterfly is a good example. At first glance I thought it was underexposed (fixed!) and the composition was weird. It's not tack sharp, but it's not horrible either. In the end, I like it.

I like the colors. I love the bokeh effect. I like the moment I captured.

Taken Yesterday

Yesterday I babysat my nieces and nephew. Luckily, we were all at my MIL's house so all five kids went swimming (and so did I. It was hot out yesterday!).

I got out my camera with the intention of taking some pics of the kids but became distracted by this butterfly. I love bugs and especially butterflies. They are so beautiful and so much fun to photograph.

The bee was just a lucky bonus. :)

A Visitor

I'm going to share some more before & afters of the ugly house today but first I thought I'd share a fun shot I took yesterday.

I found this praying mantis wandering along outside my front door yesterday and had to run inside to get my camera. It was in quite the hurry though, so it only stopped a moment to pose for this picture. :) Unfortunately, I didn't get a full body shot so I haven't been able to figure out if it's a boy or a girl.