Lookin' for birds - found bugs instead...

Saw some ducks at the pond - they departed when I got within 200m... Saw a killdeer - it left when I took my tripod off my pack... Saw a splash when a frog jumped into the water and disappear (saw that a lot actually).

Luckily, some bugs showed up so the walk wasn't a total wash ;-)...

First the Mantis shots...


Click the photo to see a larger version...

DA* 300mm, f/10



DA* 300mm, f/8



DA* 300mm + Pentax-F 1.7x AF Adapter, equivalent f/22



Tamron SP 400mm + Pentax-F 1.7x AF Adapter, equivalent f/11





Now the Dragonfly...

Tamron SP 400mm + Pentax-F 1.7x AF Adapter, equivalent f/16



Tamron SP 400mm + Pentax-F 1.7x AF Adapter, equivalent f/16



DA* 300mm + Pentax-F 1.7x AF Adapter, equivalent f/14
(I sure wish I had avoided the foreground blur on the right of this one)



Tamron SP 400mm + Pentax-F 1.7x AF Adapter, equivalent f/16

Cliché Droplet Shots..

I know the whole water droplet thing is cliché, but I love 'em, and anyway I think there's enough uniqueness in these (the "rainbokeh") to make 'em worth sharing... I was watering this plant (ok, I looked it up, it's Oxalis Triangularis - purple shamrock) and watching the water bead on the leaves and I thought, "I haven't shot this cliche lately..."


click the photo to see a larger version...






it's got flowers too...







I noticed that from certain angles, the tiny droplets were refracting the light into tiny droplet rainbows - rainbokeh was born...








Two large planters provide the background color here...