This species nests in a recessed sidelight beside our front door. Evidence of previous P. exclamans nests is visible; P. exclamans builds a nest in this protected area every year. Evidence of former nest attachments is visible in this photo. These are rather docile wasps. I have been in their faces many times, with and without cameras, and they don't seem to notice me. Note that this female has deposited at least four ova in her nest.
Photo by David & Leona Illig
Strobist: Profoto A2 in Profoto Clic Soft box Octa left and below camera. Profoto radio trigger.
Tags: Guinea paper wasp Maryland taxonomy:binomial=Polistes exclamans
Harsh sunlight softened by a diffuser. Stack of three photos for depth-of-field. Every so often a man dressed in green and driving a green truck will knock on my door and offer to spray toxins on my lawn to "get rid of those weeds." I get rid of him promptly. Photo by David & Leona Illig.
Tags: Gambrills Maryland taxonomy:binomial=Viola sororia
In a courtship ritual, a male house finch (left), Haemorhous mexicanus, feeds a sunflower seed to a female. I had filled the feeder this afternoon, but I had too much stuff in my hands and the wind was blowing something fierce, causing me to spill some seed on the deck. So I called for the cleanup crew.
Photographed through a double-glazed window.
Strobist: Profoto A2 with bare head at camera left, fired through a window.. Triggered by a Profoto Air Remote TTL-C.
Tags: House finch taxonomy:binomial=Haemorhous mexicanus
Central Maryland 14:36 EDT, 8 April 2024. The cloud color is an artifact of the solar filter that I was using.
Tags: Eclipse 240408 Solarquest Maryland EOS R5 Canon RF 1.4X Extender Canon RF 100-500mm
Left: :EF 16-35mm on a 6D Mark II. This is the camera and lens that I used to make the next composite photo (left arrow).. Center: RF 800mm ƒ11, not used for this eclipse. Right: RF 100-500mm that I used with a 1.4X extender for 700mm. I used this lens on an R5 mounted on a Sky-Watcher SolarQuest solar finder and tracker. It is mounted on a Vixen dovetail bar to fit the SolarQuest.
Strobist: Profoto A2 at camera right in a Profoto Clic Softbox Octa. Triggered by a Profoto Air Remote TTL-C.
Tags: Canon Lenses Solar Filters Maryland