Photography

tags: Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Polioptila caerulea, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz [Mystery bird] Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Polioptila caerulea, photographed at Smith Point, Chambers County, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours] Image: Joseph Kennedy, 3 November 2009 [larger view]. Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/640s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400. Can you tell me the sex as well as the species for this individual? Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification. Review all mystery birds to date.
On the way down to the reservoir to see the dinosaur tracks at Red Fleet State Park in Utah. My wife Tracey leads the way.
tags: Nebeliges Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Expat Life, Frankfurt through my eye, photography, image of the day Neblig Frankfurt Nebeliges Frankfurt (Foggy Frankfurt). Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Image: GrrlScientist, 30 November 2009 [larger view]. I took this picture because I wanted to capture the unusual cloud formations over Frankfurt.
tags: Green-winged Teal, Anas crecca, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz [Mystery bird] Female Green-winged Teal, Anas crecca, photographed at Arthur Storey Park, Houston, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours] Image: Joseph Kennedy, 5 December 2009 [larger view]. Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/640s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400. Can you tell me the sex as well as the species for this individual? Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification. Review all mystery birds to date.
A male pronghorn (Antilocapra americana), photographed on the side of a Wyoming highway.
tags: MyZeil Einkaufszentrum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Expat Life, Frankfurt through my eye, photography, image of the day Weihnachten in MyZeil Einkaufszentrum. MyZeil Einkaufszentrum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Image: GrrlScientist, 24 November 2009 [larger view].
tags: Sedge Wren, Cistothorus platensis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz [Mystery bird] Sedge Wren, Cistothorus platensis, photographed in Minnehaha County, South Dakota. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours] Image: Terry Sohl, 19 September 2009 [larger view] Canon 50D, 400 5.6L lens. Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification. Review all mystery birds to date.
A ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta), photographed at the Bronx Zoo.
tags: MyZeil Einkaufszentrum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Expat Life, Frankfurt through my eye, photography, image of the day Weihnachten in MyZeil Einkaufszentrum. MyZeil Einkaufszentrum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Image: GrrlScientist, 24 November 2009 [larger view].
tags: Ring-necked Duck, Ring-billed Duck, Ringneck, Aythya collaris, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz [Mystery bird] Ring-necked Duck, also known as the Ring-billed Duck (a more obvious name, in my opinion) or the Ringneck, Aythya collaris, photographed in San Francisco, California. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours] Image: Pete Myers, 12 November 2009 [larger view] Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification. Review all mystery birds to date.
A gorilla (Gorilla gorilla), photographed at the Bronx Zoo.
tags: MyZeil Einkaufszentrum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Expat Life, Frankfurt through my eye, photography, image of the day Weihnachten in MyZeil Einkaufszentrum. MyZeil Einkaufszentrum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Image: GrrlScientist, 24 November 2009 [larger view].
tags: California Thrasher, Toxostoma redivivum, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz [Mystery bird] California Thrasher, Toxostoma redivivum, photographed in San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary, Irvine, California. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours] Image: Pete Myers, 9 October 2009 [larger view] Nikon 300, Nikkor 80-400 ED @ 300mm, ISO 400 1/640 f10. Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification. Review all mystery birds to date.
A snow leopard (Panthera uncia), photographed at the Bronx Zoo.
tags: MyZeil Einkaufszentrum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Expat Life, Frankfurt through my eye, photography, image of the day Weihnachten in MyZeil Einkaufszentrum. MyZeil Einkaufszentrum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Image: GrrlScientist, 24 November 2009 [larger view]. As you can see in this image, Frankfurt am Main is giving NYC some competition in the "does Christmas extremely well" category. I think I am being spoiled by living in these two cites at Christmas since they both are class acts in my opinion.
tags: House Wren, Troglodytes aedon, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz [Mystery bird] House Wren, Troglodytes aedon, photographed at Smith Point, Chambers County (near Galveston), Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours] Image: Joseph Kennedy, 1 November 2009 [larger view]. Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/500s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400. Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification. The House Wren is usually divided into three distinct subspecies groups and one or several distinct island-endemic subspecies. Some or all…
A young Rhim gazelle (Gazella leptoceros), photographed at the Bronx Zoo.
The smallest orchid in the world (above) - only 2 mm across! (Thanks for the heads-up, Laura!) Cassette-tape skeletons at Designboom. Via Wired Science: Mini microbe portraits from the Micropolitan Museum Dude - there are spiny, venomous catfish? Who knew? Finally, an interview I did recently with Ava at Paw-Talk.
Oddly enough, a photograph I took in 2007 has been chosen as one of Popular Science's 2009 "The Year's Most Amazing Scientific Images" (I'm #34 in the gallery).  I guess that's because the image wasn't widely distributed until the NY Times picked it up earlier this year.  Not that I'm complaining, of course. My favorite image in Popular Science's lineup is this one, a spectacular confluence of lightning and volcanic eruption captured by Carlos Gutierrez.  But there are plenty of other stunning images in the gallery.  Go see.
Pogonomyrmex micans, stack of 23 images using CombineZP. Click for large file. I don't ordinarily do product endorsements on the blog, but here's one: the image-stacking software CombineZP. I recommend it for two reasons.  First, CombineZP produces smoother, more artifact-free images than the very expensive competition.  Second, CombineZP is freeware.  Alan Hadley, a British arthropod enthusiast, wrote it in his spare time. Good.  And free.  Not much to argue with there. CombineZP and similar products are designed to counter a major challenge of macrophotography, the narrow depth of…