August was a perfect month for insects. I was very busy with designing my new web-pages but I made a few
successful photo trips. On one of my trips to Mount Royal Hill I have discovered a 5 mm small leafhopper
(see photo# 1). Later I found out that it is Scarlet-and-green Leafhopper (Graphocephala coccinea) and
that it is one of few thousand species of leafhoppers.
This photo was taken on a Milkweed plant using a tripod. I took only about 10 pictures. The problem with
macro is always movement of your subject and getting it into a plane paralel to your camera.
Scarlet-and-green Leafhopper (Graphocephala coccinea)
August 10, 2003; Mount Royal Park, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
August is also good for bird migrations, especially shorbirds. I had a chance to visit
Lachine Rapids Park for the first time. I was lucky to find a juvenille Spotted Sandpiper feeding
on a rock near the shore. I quickly grabed my camera and tripod and slowly walked to get
closer. At the end I was about 30 cm in the water with my tripod. It was late afternoon and
the light was spectacular. The bird didn't care about me and was feeding just a few meter
in front of me. I took many images but this one is my favourite. I think that tha raised leg
gives it something special.
Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularia)
August 03, 2003; Lachine Rapids Park, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
The last photo for this month I would like to share with you here is the photo of a Blue-spotted
Salamander, which I found in the woods of Nuns' Island. I have been searching for Salamanders
and Newts there for almost two years but this is only my second one I found (the first one was
an Eastern Newt). So you can imagine how happy I was.
Photographing black salamander under tha
shade of the trees was challenging. I tried first a mossy rock, then a pice of decomposing wood
but finally was most pleased with the leaves. Determining the exposure wasn't easy either.
Under these conditions a digital camera is a must - it helped me a lot to determine the exposure,
to find out a correct composition, to check the correct flash/ambient light ratio, etc.
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