I have been having a few days now where I’m not too inspired photographically. I have those every once in a while and I’m not too concerned, yet. I think it just makes it boring for my viewers here. I apologize for that. I have some “life” issues that I’m taking care of right now and the photography is kind of taking a back seat. That’s a shame as I really want to do photography now more than ever. I have been viewing more photos of other photographers for inspiration, looking at them in a different way and discovering what makes a photo “special”. Also, I have actually inspired myself when I think back on starting my 365 project. I thought for sure I would end up taking lots of lame photos just to get a daily shot. Of course there are some lame photos to be found here, that’s a natural. Hopefully by next year, I’ll be able to edit my shots from this year down to the best of the best and start a website where I’ll showcase only my top-notch work. Newcomers will be amazed at all of my great work and think that EVERY shot I take is amazing. On that site they won’t see all of the duds. Again, my apologies to frequent visitors here. 😉
With that, I bring you my 365 photo! I was going to use a photo of an orange lily that I took at my neighbors but I really didn’t want to because I already have had quite a few flower photos here. But if that was all I could find for the day that would have been fine. Until this cicada landed on my fence. I don’t normally take bug pictures since I don’t have the gear for it. A good macro lens and a few flash units are almost required to get really good insect photos. So, working with what I have, I mounted my DA 55-300 lens onto my Pentax K20D and snapped a few shots while it rested on my fence. The ugly little creature looks like its been beat around a few times. A tough bugs life that came to an end. Shortly after shooting this photo, while I was on my porch, a small brown bird swooped in and snatched it for a tasty snack. So I ended up taking the last photo of the poor little guy.
Battle Worn
© David Guidas
And the flower shot that came in second for the day:
What I Pic 
For me, if you learn a little lesson or two from what you have done/shot then there are never really any ‘duds’. Liking the ugly bug shot, excellent detail. I wish you all the best and hope you find resolution to your life problems, my inbox is always open if you need to vent.
Have a good day
Astra Wally
Thanks for the support. The “problems” are just employment and finances, nothing more, thankfully. They’ll soon be resolved.
The last and probably the /only/ photo of that bug! Great story. I look forward to your comments about your images just as much as the images themselves, you are a great writer. Also, I have taken some good macro images with a reversed 50mm 1.7 lens I have. I’ve been eyeballing the 100mm WR macro lens, but I think I would rather have the 50-135 DA* first. I think macros are a niche image type that doesn’t fit my natural style, though I do like to take them on occasion. More of a novelty to me I guess. I have a shoot on Monday where I will be taking portraits using the 50-200mm for the first time and depending on how well that goes I plan on deciding whether I need the 50-135mm or not. The only issue I see is depth of field, though I can use a gaussian blur in a Photoshop layer to simulate it if I have to.
Hmmm, I never really thought about my writing. I tend to write as I’m thinking and I’m not sure if it always translates well. Thanks. I’m actually in the process of selling a few things, including my Takumars, to purchase a macro lens. I think it’s something that has long been missing in my kit and I would use it quite often. Not so much for insects and such but a lot of the abstract shots I like to take could benefit from the flat field of a macro lens. I also like the 100mm WR but I think a shorter focal length will perform well enough for me. The DA35 ltd is at the top of my list because of it’s size, performance, and I don’t need to fear an abstract subject flying away because I got too close!
I always look through WP to learn from other photographers–as I have learned through you and astrawally, christine, robin, etc. I like to look through someone else’s eyes to see what I may be missing. I look forward to looking at your photos.
Thanks. I too am inspired by the work of others I find on WP and elsewhere. It’s the same in music. A musician learns from and is inspired by other musicians and then takes those inspirations, mixes them all together and puts a personal spin on it and the outcome is what makes that persons style.
I absolutely love my 35mm f2.4, so I’m sure you would really enjoy the 35mm ltd. I’ve seen some incredible images taken with it on the Pentax Forums and Flickr.