Photography
grrlscientist | April 18, 2010tags: Trilobiten Abdruck, Senckenberg Naturmuseum, museums, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, fossils, paleontology, image of the day, photography
Trilobiten Abdruck.
Senckenberg Naturmuseum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 13 April 2010 [larger view]
Impressions
by Ryan Jennings
A lifetime can be likened to a lonely beach of sand.
a stranger makes a mark one day, an imprint of a hand.
As time goes by the beach once clear is now a cluttered field
of memories and keep-sakes of the ones that we hold dear.
Time does its best to wash away remembrances of those -
the ones…
grrlscientist | April 18, 2010tags: African Spoonbill, Platalea alba, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] African Spoonbill, Platalea alba, photographed in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 22 January 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D300, 600 x 1.4, ISO 1000, 1/4000, f/9 Exp comp -1.3
As an added bonus, can you tell me about this bird's feeding habits, just from looking at it?
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | April 17, 2010tags: Lituites lituus, Senckenberg Naturmuseum, museums, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, fossils, paleontology, image of the day, photography
Lituites lituus.
Senckenberg Naturmuseum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 13 April 2010 [larger view]
If you were here today, I would show you this lovely Ordovician fossil shell. The Ordovician Period began with a series of major extinction events that ended the Cambrian Period roughly 488.3 ± 1.7 million years ago, and lasted for about 44.6 million years. Despite a world filled with destruction, death and mass extinctions,…
awild | April 17, 2010
Polistes dominula, the European Paper Wasp
captured with an iPhone
As an insect guy, the first question I ask about any camera is: Can I shoot bugs with it?
To my great disappointment, the answer for most cell phones is no. Cell phone cameras are normally fixed to focus at distances useful for party pictures and street shots. Fixed-focus simplifies the mechanics of the onboard camera, but it also makes close-ups of small subjects impossible. Even Apple's iPhone 3GS- which has variable focus- doesn't focus quite closely enough do anything but the largest insects. So when an aphid plague…
grrlscientist | April 17, 2010tags: King Penguin, Aptenodytes patagonicus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Immature King Penguin, Aptenodytes patagonicus, photographed in unknown sub-Antarctic island location. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: creative commons.
NOTE: PLEASE name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
NOTE: Opus the Penguin, a fictional character in the comic strips Bloom County, Outland, and Opus, is a king penguin and the most famous character of the comic strips.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | April 16, 2010tags: Fels, Senckenberg Naturmuseum, museums, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, nature, cities, image of the day, photography
Fels.
Senckenberg Naturmuseum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 13 April 2010 [larger view]
This is a close look at a large rock standing on the grassy traffic island in front of the Senckenberg Naturmuseum. The grain shows how tortured this rock was when it was still soft.
grrlscientist | April 16, 2010tags: Versteinerung Muschelschale, Senckenberg Naturmuseum, museums, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, nature, cities, image of the day, photography
Versteinerung Muschelschale.
Senckenberg Naturmuseum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 13 April 2010 [larger view]
This is a gorgeous fossil shell photographed at the Senckenberg Naturmuseum .. how old is this? What species is this? I don't know .. but I will return and collect more detailed information to share with you (this first visit was a quick pass through the museum to see what they have on display).
awild | April 16, 2010
Philothermus glabriculus (Cerylonidae)
Urbana, Illinois
A while back I noted that, at a rate of one beetle per week, I'd need about 10,000 years to get through all the described species. Since I made that comment we're getting closer to needing only 9,999 years, but if the Coleopterists keep discovering new ones I'm not sure what I'll do*. There are an awful lot of beetles.
In any case, this little Cerylonid is common under the bark of dead trees across eastern North America. Its diminutive size (only a couple millimeters long) makes it rather difficult to spot, so to find Philothermus you'…
grrlscientist | April 16, 2010tags: Brown Noddy, Common Noddy, Anous stolidus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Brown Noddy, also known as the Common Noddy, Anous stolidus, photographed on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, Midway Island, Hawai'i. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joe Fuhrman, March 2010. I encourage you to purchase images from this professional photographer.
NOTE: PLEASE name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | April 15, 2010tags: Wolkenkratzer, skyscraper, Zeil, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, photography, cities
Wolkenkratzer.
Skyscraper, photographed at Zeil, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 14 April 2010 [larger view].
Yesterday, I stood underneath a skyscraper! No, I was not inside the skyscraper, I was underneath it! I took this picture because I was sure you would never believe me.
grrlscientist | April 15, 2010tags: Koralle, Senckenberg Naturmuseum, museums, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, nature, cities, image of the day
Koralle.
Senckenberg Naturmuseum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 13 April 2010 [larger view]
If you were here today, I would show you around the Senckenberg Natural History Museum. During your visit, this is one of the many natural wonders you would see.
grrlscientist | April 15, 2010tags: Egyptian Goose, Alopochen aegyptiacus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Egyptian Goose, Alopochen aegyptiacus, photographed at the Main River, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: GrrlScientist, 14 April 2010 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
here's another look at this species, to give you an idea of the region of the bird that I was photographing (the wing, mostly).
Review all mystery birds to date.
awild | April 14, 2010...for no reason other than that I need something sparkly this morning.
Temnoscheila sp. bark-gnawing beetle, Trogossitidae
Tucson, Arizona
The reflective integument makes this beetle a real trick to shoot. It's like trying to photograph a mirror- a regular flash either reflects back at full, blown-out glare or not at all. So I shot this beetle in a white box, where the soft, even lighting can bathe the insect without sharp hightlights or deep shadows.
photo details:
Canon EOS 20D camera
Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens
ISO 100, f/14, 1/250sec
grrlscientist | April 14, 2010tags: Great Argus Pheasant, Argusianus argus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Great Argus Pheasant, Argusianus argus, photographed in the Senkenberg Museum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: GrrlScientist, 13 April 2010 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
bioephemera | April 14, 2010
This is. . . .
A. A ghost.
B. The computer reconstruction of the structure of mammoth globulin.
C. The moon reflected on a river in England.
D. A new iPad app that lets you blow virtual smoke rings.
E. A newly discovered deep-sea jellyfish.
It's actually C, a ghostly photo of the moon taken by Tim Knowles. See more of his work at his website.
laelaps | April 13, 2010
A sloth bear (Melursus ursinus), photographed at the National Zoo in Washington DC.
elerner | April 13, 2010Yesterday, we welcomed Jason Goldman of The Thoughtful Animal to ScienceBlogs. And if you liked his post about desert ants on stilts, you're going to love the blogger who has joined us today: Alex Wild of Myrmecos. Like Goldman, Wild's no stranger to SB or the science blogosphere; his awesome insect photography was featured on Photo Synthesis last year, and his original home has been a regular digital hangout of myrmecologists and nature bloggers of all stripes and species since 2007. Wild's archives have been ported over, so there's over two years worth of posts to check out. To start, take…
awild | April 12, 2010
A few days ago I posted a photo of a Prenolepis ant queen. It's a decent photo, in focus and properly exposed. But probably not anything I'd print out and hang on the wall.
Check out the monochrome version above, though (click on it to enlarge). I don't often put my images through such severe levels adjustments, but this one works rather well. I prefer it to the original.
grrlscientist | April 12, 2010tags: Dusky Kinglet, Ruby-crown, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Regulus calendula, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Ruby-crowned Kinglet, also known as the Dusky Kinglet or as the Ruby-Crown, Regulus calendula, photographed on the Brazos Bend State Park, Needville, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 10 January 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/180s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.