Leaving on a Jet Plane

 Insects, Photography, Travel  2 Responses »
Aug 222012
 

As hard as it is for me to believe, we’ve reached the end of August already. Where the summer has disappeared to I have no idea, but at least BugShot 2012 is finally here!

Bright and early tomorrow morning I’ll be making my way down to Archbold Research Station in central Florida to hang out with a bunch of bug nerds and photography geeks for 72+ hrs of total macrophotography immersion. To say I’m excited would be a bit of an understatement at this point! I can’t wait to meet and learn from not only the dream team of instructors (Alex Wild, Thomas Shahan and John Abbott), but also the other participants who will be bringing a wide array of skills and specialties to the workshop.

As has become somewhat of the norm whenever I travel for work-related stuff, I’m going to try and post a summary of the day’s events each night with highlights, photos and various other musings, while tweeting things as they happen (when WiFi allows).

While I haven’t been able to get out quite as much as I would have liked to in preparation for this workshop, I did manage to find a nice barklouse last weekend while on vacation. This Cerastipsocus venosus (family Psocidae) was hanging out with me on the cottage porch while I BBQ’d dinner and sat still long enough for a few pictures.

Cerastipsocus venosus Bancroft 3 Psocidae Barklice

Cerastipsocus venosus, photographed in Bancroft, Ontario

Cerastipsocus venosus Bancroft Psocidae Barklice

Cerastipsocus venosus, photographed in Bancroft, Ontario

Cerastipsocus venosus Bancroft Psocidae Barklice

Cerastipsocus venosus photographed in Bancroft, Ontario

 

Friday Afternoon Flies

 Academia, Busy Busy Busy, Photography  3 Responses »
Aug 032012
 

It’s been the kind of week where stress levels have been on the rise and I’ve asked myself more than once why I’m killing myself over a million and one things instead of drinking beer and relaxing on a patio somewhere.

Finding the energy and drive to keep pushing forward, writing and making progress even when faced with what seem to be insurmountable obstacles is tough, but it helps to stop, take a breath, and look up from the dark pit of deadlines from time to time and just ogle over a fly or two to remind myself why I love what I do.

In case you find yourself in a similar position going into the weekend, here are a couple of shiny flies which I hope will cheer up your day like they did mine.

Shiny Neurigona sp. Long-legged fly Dolichopodidae

Neurigona sp. (Long-legged fly – Dolichopodidae)

Laphria index Robber fly Asilidae

Laphria index (Robber fly – Asilidae)