(Warning: insect photos ahead.)
Over the years I've found that photographing wildflowers also means photographing bugs. (And spiders and bees, but for brevity's sake I'll use the collective term "bugs".)
Sometimes it's intentional:
 |
| Bee on blue vervain |
But usually it's not. Often I don't even notice the bug until I'm editing photos on my computer screen at home:
 |
| Orange milkweed with unsuspected ant |
 |
| Wild bergamot with hidden bee (I hope it's just napping) |
Sometimes it's a combination of the two:
 |
| Bee on swamp milkweed with bonus white spider lurking in the blossoms |
And occasionally I hit the mother lode:
 |
| Rudbeckia with very long-legged spider that disappeared just after I snapped this photo |
I used to be scared of bugs and spiders and bees, but after years of close encounters like these, I've learned that most of them simply aren't interested in me. They just want to get on with their buggy lives, and if I leave them alone, they'll generally leave me alone. (Mosquitoes and deerflies and ticks, however, are always worth avoiding. And I've learned not to weed near a ground wasps' nest.)
How do you feel about bugs?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
