Looking and looking back
When I knelt to photograph a yellow bitterweed flower head (Helenium amarum var. amarum) in Cedar Park on May 6th and looked through my camera’s viewfinder I found a bug staring straight back at me.
If you’re interested in photography as a craft, I used point 11 in About My Techniques to create this image.
© 2017 Steven Schwartzman
Portraits of Wildflowers 
I’m sure there have been hundreds of times I’ve thought to myself, “What is that?” It’s amusing to see a bug that might well be asking itself the same question.
shoreacres
May 31, 2017 at 7:19 AM
A lot of insects (most? all?) have compound eyes. That made me wonder whether insects can form a single image of something the way we do. A search turned up a link whose text (you can turn down the Strauss waltz) provides good information about that.
Steve Schwartzman
May 31, 2017 at 7:48 AM
What a great find. Apart from the information about the insect eyes, I noticed his mention of Haidinger’s brush. I’d never heard of it, but after reading about it, I gave the exercise a try using a white page on my computer screen. I didn’t see it, but it was interesting.
As for the video, the insects particularly made me think about Esther Williams and her synchronized swimming films.
shoreacres
May 31, 2017 at 9:58 PM
The first thing I learned from the article is the word ommatidia.Like you, I hadn’t heard about Haidinger’s brush, but I had heard about Schrödinger’s cat:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schr%C3%B6dinger%27s_cat
Steve Schwartzman
May 31, 2017 at 10:34 PM
I wonder what Mr. Schrödinger would think about the profusion of t-shirts, coffee cups, posters, and iPhone covers emblazoned with this?
shoreacres
June 1, 2017 at 7:51 PM
I think he’d like it and not like it.
Steve Schwartzman
June 2, 2017 at 1:28 AM
My thoughts echo Linda’s. I took a photo of a small damselfly and was startled when I looked at the photo to see it had turned its head and was looking right back at me.
melissabluefineart
May 31, 2017 at 9:04 AM
I’m reminded of Humphrey Bogart to Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca: “Here’s looking at you, kid.”
Steve Schwartzman
May 31, 2017 at 9:09 AM
YES! I hear him say that every time I look at that photo 🙂
melissabluefineart
June 4, 2017 at 8:58 AM
It’s a memorable line, and one that’s easy to apply to other situations.
Steve Schwartzman
June 6, 2017 at 12:58 AM
That image – and your story – gave me a grand smile in the wee hours of this morning! It might be my all-time favorite – an instant hit! I hope that everyone else enjoyed seeing it as much as I…
Playamart - Zeebra Designs
May 31, 2017 at 9:18 AM
¡Un éxito instante! ¡Qué bien! Me alego que esta foto te haya dado una sonrisota.
Steve Schwartzman
May 31, 2017 at 9:32 PM
Grrrrrrrrrrrrracias.. btw, some people say, ‘gra-the-as’ here….
I just posted about email notifications…
earlier I checked yours – I’ve missed several notifications of yours this week….
Playamart - Zeebra Designs
June 2, 2017 at 8:52 PM
I’ve heard that there a few Spanish-speaking pockets outside of Spain where the th sound exists. I imagine it has to do with what part of Spain the colonists came from.
Sorry you haven’t been getting your notifications regularly. Over the past couple of months some WordPress e-mail notifications have been coming to me days late.
Steve Schwartzman
June 2, 2017 at 10:52 PM
Such a great shot Steve 😃
Julie@frogpondfarm
June 8, 2017 at 3:45 AM
I’d be lost without my macro lens, which reveals lots of things like this.
Steve Schwartzman
June 8, 2017 at 7:46 AM