PWI Photography

TGIF! Welcome to the Weekend and a Friday Arvo Post.

Wet, wet and wet. Been wet all week and no signs of slowing up either. Cold too and I don't like it LOL. I am looking forward to the weekend though with plenty to do even if the weather is crud.

Tonight's pic is a little juvenile badge huntsman, Neosparassus sp. that was not very good at building a sturdy spot to rest in the daytime. I am sure they would have added more to their "home" over a few days though. Gave me an opportunity to get a cheeky shot though.

That is me for now. See what Sunday is like for a post. Until then, Happy Snapping and have a good weekend! :-)

Good Evening and Welcome to a Sunday Post!

Busy little weekend with more weather on the way. Actually, it's already started raining here. Timed beautifully though as I had finished cooking on the barbie and it started to rain as we sat down. Backyard frogs are loving it with a few of them in the yard now. Not going to be as bad wind wise but looking like being very week across the whole working week. Suits me fine if it clears for the weekend!

Tonight's pic is a pair of the smaller robberflies, Leptogaster species, and they are seen here performing some weird, downward position, upside down, back to front, ta***ic yoga, copulation routine! 🤣🤣Hurts my back looking at it!!

Anyway, that is me for this week. Back Wednesday for a Mid-Week Post. Until then, keep dry Sandgropers, and Happy Snapping! :-)

TGIF! Welcome to the Weekend and a Friday Arvo Post!

Well, that was the longest, short week ever. So much on and extra things to do, Dad duty, which I am grateful for and happy to do. A busy week that has come to an end and with lovely weather to boot. Not for long though. More wet on the way late Sunday and into next week.

That kind of segues into last night when I went out for an hour so I could play with my new flash. The area I was in has been fairly smacked by the cyclonic level winds we had over last weekend. There were several very large trees down, and the dead foliage from others, that I often find good things on, broken off and now becoming part of the floor litter. I barely saw an orb weaver, in fact I saw 1 garden variety and 1 leaf curler who, with her male suitor, did not have a leaf in the web. No doubt blown away. I left quite disappointed. When I got home though, I saw a wolf spider's eyes sparkling at me on the driveway. Took a closer look and it was a lovely looker and was positioned on the joint of the paver where the moss grows in winter. No brainer, camera was already in my hands and 24x shots later, I had a bunch to stack together and create this final image

That is me tonight. Back Sunday with more hopefully. Off to the local markets tomorrow for some local produce and coffee! Till next time, Happy Snapping and have a great weekend! :-)

Welcome to a not so windy Monday Night Post!

Well that was fun, not! Winds in excess of 110kmph and sustained winds for about 24 hours over or around 80kmph. Plenty of rain but not as much as I thought. I think it was blowing sideways and didn't hit the ground here. Lots of branches, leaf litter and sticks on the ground over the roads. Coastal areas eroded pretty badly in some local areas. Boats washed up which is no real surprise in Rockingham area. We were lucky with no really damage at all. A couple of pot plants fell over, my granny smith apple tree fell over and that was it. It did push my pizza oven about 3 metres across the decking though. Which is kinda crazy with that weighing about 30+ kilos. I spent all day Saturday cleaning up and moving stuff around the other side of the house in preparation. And tying things down. Glad I did.

Today though it was quite nice. Much lighter winds, big periods of sunshine and a few light sprinkles. SO after I spent all mornign cutting back the apple tree and relocating it AND cleanign up a heap of leaf litter, I headed ot the beach in search of the elusive Blue Dragons. Sad to say, still havent foudn them, yet. I did end up int e carpark looking on the eucalyptus trees and spotted some ants and tiny flies on some scale insect activity. Then I saw a tiny, little, speck moving and hiding, moving and hiding. It was a teeny, tiny Cymbacha ocellata. A small species of crab spider that are really quite ornate. They do come in a fair range of colour morphs but this one was a little ripper blending in with her surroundings. Pic tonight is one of her in a hiding spot on a small stem of a branch looking directly at the flies and ants.

I hope the Sandgropers in the group are all ok and got through unscathed or relatively so. It's been a while since we have had a good one like that and I am not keen for the next. Anyways, back to work tomorrow after this windy long weekend. I will be back Wednesday with a Mid Week post. Until then, Happy Snapping! :-)

TGIF! Welcome to the Weekend and a Friday Arvo Post!

Long weekend here we come, but there's a catch. Wild weather is due Sunday with winds potentially reaching Cat 2 cyclone levels, which is a not uncommon, but not regular occurrence here on the WA coast. I hate the wind, so I will be spending tomorrow clearing away loose objects and making sure everything is prepared, just in case it really does hit hard. Hoping for it to not though. Had a massive rain event on Wednesday evening that added about 2.5" to the pool in an 8hr period. It was loud but it was welcomed too. Took away the stink that I had laid out in the garden beds in the form of dynamic lifter LOL

Tonight's pics are a couple from Sept of 2023. First one is one I have shared before on the page back then, but I had another go at it. The Jotus with the most incredible eyes. This very much as it was straight from the camera. This would be my favourite Jotus pic to date I have taken. And I should acknowledge young Michael Lun for finding it on the session.
The second is a reminder of what is nearly upon us, Maratus season. A vespa group type, Maratus noggerup, which was discovered by a good friend of mine Dave Harley back some years ago in, wait for it, Noggerup! Lovely species with its crazy cool lobed opisthosoma all wriggly and shaking. And look at those setae, hairs, on the legs! WOW!
I am so looking forward to having some day trips out in the new car hunting in new ground to see what I can find this year. Getting pretty excited to be honest as I am due a good year.

That is me for now. Back Sunday if I haven't been blown away to Oz. Until then, Happy Snapping and be safe Sandgropers! :-)

Good Afternoon and Welcome to a Mid Week Post!

Good week so far. Lots goign on as usual and a pretty heavy few days of weather on the way. I went nuts in the garden beds last night, workingwith a headlamp, to get a heap of wettasoil and dynamic lifter down to soak into the ground. We are expecting about 100mm (4") over the next few days. It needs to hurry up to soak this stuff into the ground, because the front area of my house smells like a wet, dirty dog and roadkill!

Tonight's pic is a tiny little robberfly I was watching flying back and forth to this stick on Sunday. It was a bit of a challenge, but I got this shot in the end. I am keen to get more pics of these with prey in their grasp, and I shall be on the lookout as always.

That is me tonight. Back Friday with more to share. Until then, Happy Snapping! :-)

Good Afternoon and Welcome to a Sunday Post!

Great weekend with freezing morning temps but pleasant, low wind days filled with sunshine. Had to do a bunch of things yesterday so didn't get out BUT headed out today instead. I went to go see my early mungaich patch again, but struggled to find them! Typical Maratus hunting. One week heaps then 7 days later, nada. I know my mates that went Monday walked straight up onto a dancing male! Took me 2 hours to find my first one and couldn't find a female nearby. I ended up with 4 in total and not a single female seen where they were, so no dances to be shot. Not to worry. Environment shots it is. And the prostrate banksia they were in today makes for a perfect backdrop to their bright blue selves.

Hope you like

That is me for the week. Back mid-week with something new to share. Until then, Happy Snapping! :-)

TGIF! Welcome to the Weekend and a Friday Night Post!

A busy week has now ended and a weekend awaits me! Just myself and the boys this weekend but we are in desperate need of whole food, so off to the fruit n vege market tomorrow with the youngest and sell a kidney so we can eat healthily! LOL Actually that's not funny, it is actually very near the truth these days. Will see if I can get some camera time over the weekend though. Keen for that, but also keen for some decent Zzzzz's too.

Tonight's pic is a sleeping dragonfly from my quick night session at the beach here at home a couple of weeks back. There wasn't much around to be honest, but I did see quite a few of these in stasis for the night. It's good when they are like this because you can gently manipulate them into a position and then shoot to your heart's content. They just dont wake up!

That is me for now. Back Sunday with more to share. Until then, Happy Snapping! :-)

Good Afternoon and Welcome to a Mid Week Post!

Good week so far but lots going on. Weather has been so good, but I am stuck at work daydreaming about what I could be doing out in it. I need to win the lottery.

Sunday night, about 930pm, I was supposed to be getting ready for bed but decided it was my weekend and I am milking it to the very end. There was some super light, misty rain and I found a big old blowfly sleeping on a bush in the front yard. It looked wicked with the water droplets on it, so I gave it the macro treatment to have a closer look. This is the end result.
14x shots bracketed, manually, hand held and then processed and stack in PS to create this final image!

That is me for now. Back Friday ready for the weekend. Until then, Happy Snapping! :-)

Good Afternoon and Welcome to a Sunday Post!

Its peacock season again! Well, the early starter, secret spot, yes I am gatekeeping it somewhat, mungaich are back! So good to see some colour in the bush again after waiting 6 months to see the season start again. I am certain these are smaller than their scarp cousins, and they have a line instead of a dot in the void of the pattern on the opisthosoma. Super happy to see colour today and saw a few males too. No females that I could see. 1 ding d**g started to leg wave to a tree hopper nymph though. H***y fella! Overall it was super good to see them back. Lesson of the day though..... don't leave home without eating breakfast. By 12pm you'll be all woozy and light-headed! Duh. breaking my own rules I teach to others. Eejit

Pics all singles and me crawling on dirt trying not to get bit by the bullants was worth it. Back again in this space very soon, with food in ma belly, and snacks for the time out there, and hopefully get some better action shots when we find a female!

That is me for this week. Back again with more soon. Till then, Happy Snapping! :-)

Maratus mungaich. Foothills area, Western Australia