Sirius Imagery

I guess this week is turning out to be a spider filled one. This is possibly genus Xysticus which is a ground crab spider. Very interesting little creature and very quick. The color is unlike the “typical” crab spider I am used to seeing in NM.

How nice it was to see the little jumpers out yesterday. Boy are these things fast and hard to get pictures of! As soon as I would get focused to take my shot boing it would jump!

I love taking pictures of old cars. So much character can be found from the weathered years. If cars could talk imagine all the adventures they could tell. This one reminds me of old Mater from Disney’s Cars.

This rose is from last year. I cannot wait for spring to offically get here and for the roses to bloom in the yard.

I’ve had the pleasure of working with this lovely model several times. You can find more of my work on ModelMayhem and Flickr.

One of my favorite insects. You would be amazed at how many species there are and how very different some look. Typically we are used to seeing the green ones but did you ever stop to notice the difference between one and another. This one for example has 3 simple eyes between the large compound eyes. I have another green mantis is my shop that does not and the face is much different. Some Mantids looks as if the stepped off the pages of a Dr. Seuss book with purple wispy crowns on their heads. Others looks as if they stepped right off the mothership and into your yard.

Stop and look around your yard and see how many different looking mantids you come across.

Melanoplus Splendidus aka Juniper Grasshopper

This female beauty was found outside Capitan NM. Oddly she was off the Juniper and very much alive even though this species is usually dead by October. This photograph was taken on October 12, 2009.

The Melanoplus Splendidus was discovered in 1920 by Morgan Hebard. To my knowledge there are no other photographs currently available on the web or in publication for this fascinating grasshopper. It is believed that this species is typically nocturnal (which explains why no documentation by photograph). So why was it off the Juniper tree and out during the day? Well maybe she just happened to hear the strange human talking to her grasshopper friends and wanted to get a closer look. Or maybe she decided it was time for her species to be seen and photographer by the strange human who talks to bugs? Whatever the reason I feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to photography such a wonderful creature!