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Stormy Buckingham... The sky was just amazing down here in the city this afternoon. I was right around the corner from the fountain when I saw these epic clouds rolling in so I decided to stop and shoot for a bit. Definitely happy I did because the clouds made for some amazing drama in the sky over Buckingham Fountain.
Heliconian Butterfly... Heliconians are brightly colored butterflies with long forewings. Once placed in their own family, they are now considered closely related to the fritillaries. Larvae of most longwings feed on passion vines, and this host plant imparts noxious chemicals to the larvae which are carried over to the adult butterflies. This relationship is identical to the monarch butterflies' reliance on its host plant, milkweed, for defense. Predators find these chemicals distasteful and avoid eating both the larvae and adult butterflies.
Morphos Butterfly Headshot... 4:1 headshot of a Morphos Butterfly. Humans and birds perceive colours in a different way to butterflies, as the latter are ultra-sensitive to UV as well as visible radiation. Flowers have ultra-violet patterns that are invisible to humans but which can be recognised by butterflies. These UV patterns guide butterflies to the source of nectar in much the same way that runway lights guide an aircraft in to land. This guy was just relaxing after drinking some sweet nectar juice and really didn't mind me photographing him at all.
Morphos Butterfly Eye... 4:1 Magnification of a Morphos Butterly Eye. Butterflies and most other adult insects have a pair of spherical compound eyes, each comprising of up to 17000 "ommatidia" - individual light receptors with their own microscopic lenses. These work in unison to produce a mosaic view of the scene around them. The laws of optics show that it's likely that everything from about one centimetre to 200 metres will be rendered in sharp focus by butterflies, as their ommatidia are of very short focal length. The butterfly's brain can instantly detect whether the image formed by each ommatidium is dark or light. If a predator approaches or if the butterfly moves its head a tiny fraction, the amount of light hitting each receptor changes instantly because of it's very narrow angle of view. This sensitivity to changes in its surroundings means that a butterfly is extremely efficient at detecting movement and at gauging the distance of an approaching predator, enabling it to take immediate evasive action.
Nursery Spider Eyes... The 8 eyes of the a nursery spider under 4:1 macro magnification. One of the distinct characteristics of the Nursery Spider is the "U" shape of the upper 4 eyes.
Wolf Spider... (Hogna Aspersa) Wolf Spiders hunt at night, spending their days burrowing under rocks and logs. These spiders can grow quite large in size (15mm-25mm), which is why they are feared by many people. They are known to bite humans, especially if handled, but their venom is not very harmful to humans. I bit of pain and swelling is the most that can happen if you are bitten by one of these guys. While males die after mating in the fall, females overwinter and then lay their eggs in the spring. The spiderlings will then climb on the backs of the females and spend the summer growing in size. They will then overwinter with the female until the following spring, at which point they will be fully mature.
Nursery Spider... (Pisaurina Mira) Nursery Spiders derive their names from the way they handle their eggs. The female carries the egg sac with her fangs to a suitable location and then builds a web to suspend it from a leaf or high shrub. Once the web has been spun and the sac is protected, the female will then stand guard until all of the eggs hatch.
Small House Fly's Mating... I got my hands on Canon's super macro lens the MP-E 65 for the next 10 days and Im definitely pretty excited about it! I have been wanting to get into macro photography for a while now but just havent taken the time to do so. Today was my first day out testing this lens and with the chilly weather I honestly didnt expect to find any insects. When I stumbled upon these two mating, I was definitely pretty stoked and Im really happy with the end result of this shot!
Lurie Garden Sunset... Lurie Garden is just amazing during the spring here in Chicago. On this perfect evening, spring storm clouds rolled in just as the sun was setting and made for some amazing color in the sky!
Stormy Buckingham...

The sky was just amazing down here in the city this afternoon. I was right around the corner from the fountain when I saw these epic clouds rolling in so I decided to stop and shoot for a bit. Definitely happy I did because the clouds made for some amazing drama in the sky over Buckingham Fountain.
Stormy Buckingham... The sky was just amazing down here in the city this afternoon. I was right around the corner from the fountain when I saw these epic clouds rolling in so I decided to stop and shoot for a bit. Definitely happy I did because the clouds made for some amazing drama in the sky over Buckingham Fountain.
Stormy Buckingham...

The sky was just amazing down here in the city this afternoon. I was right around the corner from the fountain when I saw these epic clouds rolling in so I decided to stop and shoot for a bit. Definitely happy I did because the clouds made for some amazing drama in the sky over Buckingham Fountain.
See photo in original gallery.
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