On The Trail: Early December

Matthew and I recently took a hike at one of our favorite locations, and decided to take one of the trail branches that we haven't taken in over a year!  It.  Was.  Rough.  This particular trail is at least 75% steep rocky hills, and my calves and thighs were screaming at me for choosing to hike it.  I needed the workout though and there were plenty of subjects to photograph along the way.  Here's what I got:

It's My Birthday And I'll Shop If I Want To

Birthday Wishlist by mindiw on Polyvore

As much as I'd like to purchase everything on my birthday wishlist, it's just not gonna happen...but dreamers can dream right?!  Here's what's on my 29th birthday wishlist!

At The Park: Harvester Ants

Let's start this post with a fact about myself: I Love Ants.  Ants are some of the most interesting and amazing creatures around.  Just check out THIS article and THIS article for a few interesting facts about them!

Scavenger Hunt: December 2014

Backyard Adventure: Thanksgiving Day 2014

I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving!  It was so nice to go home and spend time with my family and pig out on delicious Thanksgiving food :)  After eating and visiting for a few hours, I headed outside with my camera and here are a few of the critters I found!

Backyard Adventure: Late November

I've stayed mostly indoors for the past few days, enjoying the rain and fall-like weather around here.  We missed our weekend hike this past weekend, but I did venture into the backyard again to see what I could find.  I wish the winter weather would get here already, it looks and feels like early Fall still!

At The Park: Leaf-Footed Bug

I went for a solo walk in the park the other day, and it seems the place had been taken over by Leaf-Footed Bugs!  They were everywhere!  Aside from a few deer that I spotted, the only other critter I found was a single dead Harvester Ant.

Backyard Adventure: Black Widow Spider

With the weather being wet and cold right now, I wasn't expecting to find any live subjects to shoot in the yard.  Finding this pretty girl nearly frozen under a stray log near the garage was like hitting the jackpot.  After I took the photos, Matthew and I created a habitat setup to bring her in out of the cold.  She's now comfortably settled in her new temporary home on our living room mantel.  Time for a bit of Black Widow Research!

Backyard Adventure: Raindrops

Having recently purchased a new lens for my camera, I was over the top excited about going for a hike this morning...but waking up to rain and cold weather made me want to start a fire and have a lazy Sunday instead.  I settled for heading into the backyard to see what I could find, and I'm really happy with the way these water droplet photos turned out!