Explore #327, 8/24/09.
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After our morning search dog training, yesterday, I was shooting these beautiful little flowers, whatever they are, when this tiny butterfly flew by and landed on one of them. Simultaneously, one of our members called me over to shoot these giant spiders that they had found. So it was butterfly - spiders, butterfly - spiders. Didn't take me long to make that decision. The spiders could wait. They weren't going anywhere.
Tags: Fiery Skipper Hylephila phyleus Torrey Pines business park San Diego California NaturesFinest BEJ ImpressedBeauty TheEnchantedCarousel SearchTheBest ColorPhotoAward VosPlusBellesPhotos
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Similar to clouds, it's easy to imagine objects from the patterns on their backs and for some reason, this one made me think of the villainess from the movie, "101 Dalmatians", which I never saw in its entirety, but when I was a kid, my cousins would sometimes call a mean person by that name. Seems like a fitting name for the shape on this one's back. You can even see her cigarette if you look carefully. No cigarette holder, though.
We found 6 or 8 of these spiders and every one of them was "bums up", making it impossible to get a good shot of their heads. I actually sat on the ground for this shot and even tried using live view and putting the camera on the ground, but still couldn't get the head. I suppose that's just as well, though, because their heads are probably ugly.
Tags: Black and Yellow Argiope Black and Yellow Garden Spider Writing Spider Banana Spider Corn Spider Argiope aurantia Torrey Pines business park San Diego California NaturesFinest GOLD WILDLIFE BEJ VosPlusBellesPhotos NaturesElegantShots TopShots
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Explore #327, 8/28/09.
Besides a home for Banana Spiders.
Answered by www.flickr.com/photos/21643120@N02. Thanks so much, Sandra!
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Tags: Hebe Torrey Pines business park San Diego California NaturesFinest FlowersAreBeautiful NaturesElegantShots ExcellentsFlowers
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Gunner, anticipating the command to search.
I didn't like the original background at all, which was just a mass of asphalt paving, but I couldn't think of an alternative, at first. I eventually came up with the idea of using another shot of him, which I desaturated to make it less distracting, to fill the empty space. I also put it on a gradient gray to make the background a little less monotonous.
In this image, Gunner is modeling some of the equipment that we use on our search dogs. The vest, which we call a shabrack (def. - the saddlecloth of a cavalry horse), is worn for identification as a search dog and for visibility, since all the white parts are reflective. Some of us use a bear bell (the blue bell in the shot) on our far-ranging area search dogs, so that we can tell where they are when they are out of sight. They also provide notice to the subject that the dog is nearing, so that they won't be startled. For my dog, Cielo, it also can be an indication that he has made the find, because when it goes silent, it often means that he is holding relatively still, licking the face of the subject.
The light stick that you see here, which is used to provide additional visibility at night, is an electric one, but we also sometimes use the chemical ones that you crack to activate. Some of us use an electrically lit collar, instead of or in addition to a light stick. You can also see the clip from the end of the leash, which is imperative, since we often work in urban areas, where there is a lot of traffic. It is also a requirement that our dogs be on leash around base camp, because although they are all well-socialized, some of them can be a little territorial and confrontational with some of the other dogs, while they are around their own vehicles.
Tags: Gunner Search dog www.southwestsearchdogs.org Torrey Pines business park San Diego California BRAVO The Perfect Photographer FRIENDS AnAwesomeShot Picture Fantastic
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HPPT!
Oh, I just realized this is my second Flickr anniversary. Happy Anniversary, me! It's been a blast! And thank you all, for your views, comments, faves, and invites! And to all my friends that I've met here on Flickr, thank you for being who you are. I love all of you! Even the one that dumped me and made me feel like the mop on the Swiffer commercial. ;-)
Tags: Rock Rose Cistus purpureus Torrey Pines Business park San Diego California ABigFave newgoldenseal AnAwesomeShot BEJ ColorPhotoAward FlowersAreBeautiful mywinners
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