Butterfly Bush …
… and visitors.
I haven’t seen a Butterfly on the bush yet but there are plenty of other creatures enjoying the bounty of fragrant nectar.
The Crab or Ambush spider is unusually plentiful but elusive with so much flowering to hide away in at the sense of touch of a finger to the branch – I usually hold the creatures platform, resting lens tip on same hand to optimise image sharpness.
They are not big enough yet to tackle the Honey bee that is a frequent visitor, as is the Blue Banded Bee. The former doesn’t stop longer than a couple seconds, the latter even less. I am lucky to get some feeding bee shots at all.
It would take different equipment than I have to get feeding Blue Banded Bee shots, or the perfect alignment of some unlikely circumstances, shooting at a working distance of 4 inches and less and only seeing what’s in the frame through the LCD – time lapsed.
I take what I can get, or accept what I am given, maintaining equilibrium in the face of inducement to ‘try’ for more. As if nature is teasing me with a view of a desirable composition of behaviour only to whisk it away in the blink of an eye, again and again.
Such anticipation, the conflict between structured desire and what is calmly attainable, is a fundamental pain. An unacceptable disturbance to peace of mind that is best negated as quick as possible, eventually, by practise.
In the end, the end of finding out what doesn’t work, for me – what I don’t want, nature or life presents and I receive with a final single motion of the press of a button. Relaxed is the focus.
To take a single step in the right direction, against the pressure of mind, to capture a masterpiece of nature.
What I do is present pictures of that, images of the masterpiece nature is.
© Mark Berkery ……. Click a picture for a closer look
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Nature's Place 
Excellent photos, as always. I like you’re approach – make the shots count, as opposed to fire until you hit something!
Thanks Steve. Sometimes you just have to fire away.
That honeybee in the second photo is just glowing!
From the heat of its busyness maybe, or the halo of golden flowers …
Just realised my plants, posted Monday, still haven’t turned up. Stuck in the postal system some where.
That’s not good, in the dark for so long, but it’s not too warm yet. I got mine from ebay ka1739, took about three days to get here, all doing well and sucking up the rich fertilizer and a few days rain.
Mine are from a different seller in Vic, boudicca777. The tracking info tells me they are being processed in Mackay :/ They have gone walkabout.
Looks like someone in Aus Post messed up.
They’re a hardy plant. I have high hopes that they won’t mind a few days stuck in a box. Heat and thirst would be the killer.
I trust you get them. I am wondering if I will have to shade mine from the high summer sun, though a few are in big pots and can be moved if necessary.
I was in touch with Kylie – ka1739 – and she was saying she was thinking of me for a flower she has, “a herbaceous, perennial Phlox … stunning, arctic-white blooms are set against an almost structured, lime-green foliage, and exude one of the deepest, sweetest scents …” I might make room for some.
Accept what you are given. Yes! Sometimes it is so frustrating to have the perfect shot right there, only to disappear in a split second, just as you click. Ah, patience and acceptance. The good thing about digital, though, is you can take as many as you want! Beautiful, beautiful shots!!
There is peace in acceptance, and there are times change needs making by effort. I don’t know if I would call it patience, more like the negation of impatience.
And yes, with digital you can shoot until the battery dies or something breaks, to get the shot. Useful when the shot is elusive but I’d say there’s an art to minimalism, and peace. Quick draw, one shot to the bullseye … :-)
Thanks Mary.