#miami mo

[michael-massa-micon]

Thread-Waisted Wasp - July 2019 Van Meter State Park, Miami MO I took the first two images in the parking lot for the Missouri Overlook Trail. Later, Kathy took two images of a similar wasp in the gravel at our campsite. When I took the image, I thought it was some form of small damselfly, but looking at the image later, I realized that it was a wasp. A little research on the internet showed me it was a Thread-Waisted Wasp, one of the digger wasps which make their nests in the ground. My images show the head and wings much better, while Kathy’s images show the body, including the yellow spots which are not really visible from above. In any of the four images, there is a beautiful terror to this small insect. It’s not much of a threat to someone the size of a human, but to small worm or other insect it is a flying lion. MWM

[michael-massa-micon]

Hopping Frog - July 2019 Van Meter State Park, Miami MO One of the results of taking hundreds and hundreds of blind images was that I actually caught several Leopard Frogs flying through the air. These two images, because they were taken out in the grass where the light was better, are much clearer images. The frogs are in mid-jump, so it is possible to see how long their legs are with respect to their bodies. I like these images because both pictures are obviously images of movement. Despite its small size, you can sense the power of the jump that propels the frog through the air. MWM

[michael-massa-micon]

Dragonfly from Below - July 2019 Van Meter State Park, Miami MO It is very difficult to get a good image of a dragonfly from below because they usually come to rest on tall grass or reeds that are under normal eye level. And since those reeds are often in the water, it is rough to get lower than they are. This particular dragonfly, however, chose to land on the garbage hook on the pole in front of our camper (image two). The result is a very clear view of his face and an underside view of his complex wings. MWM

[michael-massa-micon]

Black Horsefly - July 2019 Van Meter State Park, Miami MO This HUGE horsefly landed on the hood of our Jeep while we were staying at Van Meter. To give a little scale to this Black Horsefly, the hood latch directly behind it in the first image is just under 2" wide. This fly was about 1 1/2" long and almost a 1/2" wide. With its square eyes, it looked like a miniature mechanical drone. I’m not sure that most people, if given only the first image, would identify it as an insect. MWM

[michael-massa-micon]

Frog in the Grass - July 2019 Van Meter State Park, Miami MO This image is one taken intentionally. I saw this frog hop a little ways in front of me and stop. I zoomed in on where I thought he was and searched the grass through my viewfinder. Finally I saw him and took this image. It is a great study in green, but it also shows why the Leopard Frog has the bright yellow stripes. In some contexts, they allow humans to see them more easily, but in bright grass the stripes break up the frogs body shape. The yellow stripes blend into the grass and make it even harder for a bird– or a human– to find him. MWM

[michael-massa-micon]

This is a Toad, not a Frog - July 2019 Van Meter State Park, Miami MO I had an almost impossible time trying to get an image of these American Toads. For one thing, they aren’t very large, only about a half-inch long. For another, they hop very much forward with almost no height to their jump so they stay concealed in the grass as they move. And they are almost the exact color of the ground around them. I know that there were hundreds of them in the grass and foliage in camp, but I couldn’t see them. Then I saw this one hop across one of the trails and disappear into a bunch of twigs at the base of a rotting tree. I stayed where I was and used my zoom to search for him. He is very well-concealed, but I was able to find him and get several good images before he hopped away. For not getting much height to his jumps, he is amazingly fast. I love this image. Even without the toad, it is an interesting mix of colors, shapes, and shadows. The toad, however, brings life to the image and changes it from a still life to a nature image. MWM

[michael-massa-micon]

Frogs on the Trail?? - July 2019 Van Meter State Park, Miami MO Trust me, there’s a frog in that first image. I took hundreds of images along the trails at the edges of the grassy areas at Van Meter attempting to capture some good images of frogs. As I walked, the grass and leaves would ripple and move indicating that frogs or toads were hopping, but I couldn’t see them and I couldn’t react fast enough to get an image of whatever it was that was hopping away. Finally I just started blind shooting, hoping to capture something. I set my Nikon D7100 to continuous shutter and walked slowly down the trails, etc. I would hold down the shutter until it stopped and then stand still as the camera processed the ten to fifteen images it had taken. Then I would take a few more steps forward and repeat the process. By the time I had finished, I had nearly a thousand images, and except in a few rare cases, no idea what I had photographed. That may not be the best way to take quality images, but even a blind pig can find an acorn once in a while. I spent hours back in our RV slowly going through the images to see if I had captured anything. I had to put the image up on our large TV screen to actually find the frogs, etc. When I did, I immediately used a photo editing program to draw yellow circles around them in a duplicate photo. If I didn’t do that, I often couldn’t find the frog when I went back to review the image. There are only three different images in this series of ten. For each of the images, there is the original, one with a yellow circle, and then a close up of the frog or frogs in the image. I was originally just going to post the cute little Leopard Frog sitting on a leaf in image ten, but decided to show some of what it takes to get such an image. MWM

[michael-massa-micon]

Missouri River Overlook - July 2019 Van Meter State Park, Miami MO I have learned not to expect too much from “overlook trails.” That is because when the trail was first made and the overlook put in place, there was a great view of the river, valley, or whatever. But nothing is done to control the growth of trees in front of the overlook so often you can’t see anything except tree trucks, branches, and leaves. On the Missouri Overlook Trail at Van Meter, there was still a small opening in the trees through which a tall person could see the Missouri River in the distance. I had carried my good tripod and set it up to take this image. With the tripod fully extended and the camera pole moved all the way up, the camera is about seven feet in the air. All a short person or a child would be able to see is leaves. Luckily I was able to capture this very well-framed image of the river and its flood plain. MWM