Author Archives: Adrian

Born in Canada, but of Dutch descent, my early life was influenced by travels with a constantly moving family. Our wanderings took us through Canada and South Africa until, at the age of 17, we settled down in Edmonton, Alberta. Over the years I have developed a multitude of interests which I now share by means of photography and blogging. I appreciate nature in all its forms, but particularly insects, spiders and other arthropods. I am a science watcher, and I have an interest in the history of science, especially biology, entomology and evolution. I am married, with one delightful child.

Alberta Oil (Beetle)

By Adrian | Published 22 May, 2013

Last year, based on an oil beetle I photographed in Grasslands National Park, Sask.,  I jokingly mentioned that the oil beetle should be Alberta’s official insect, because we have so much of the oily stuff. Well, this year I found a wealth of the little beggars strutting around the Halfmoon Lake Natural Area just NNE of [...]

Posted in Behaviour, Bugs, Canada, Coleoptera, Insect, macro, Meloidae, photography, Season, Spring | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Week on Sunday #31

By Adrian | Published 19 May, 2013

♦ Let’s open this Week on Sunday with video by Stanislav Snäll and John Hallmén, working in the field and showing some simple flash diffusion methods:   ♦ Swedish photographers John Hallmén and Stanislav Kind are professional photomacrographers who run the website Makrofokus, an excellent resource for those wishing to learn more about focus stacking. Be sure to follow the MakroFokus Facebook page for regular updates on their work! [...]

Posted in Alberta, arthropods, Behaviour, Bugs, Camera, Canada, Documentary, Entomology, Equipment, Flash, Insect, Inspiration, Lenses, macro, photography, Prairie, Roundup, Season, Spring, Updates, Week on Sunday, Workshop | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Photomicroscopy: Then and Now.

By Adrian | Published 17 May, 2013

Beyond macro: here is a video contrasting the work of two excellent photomicrographers - Roman Vishniac (1897 – 1990) and Wim van Egmond: I first heard about Wim van Egmond through Micscape , an online magazine devoted to all things microscopical. Wim is the curator of the Micropolitan Museum of Microscopic Artforms – go check it out [...]

Posted in aquatic, Microscopy, photography, Video | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Blue Morph

By Adrian | Published 17 May, 2013

Many little blues were dancing along the path as I walked through the woods in a natural area east of Sherwood Park. The trees were still bare, the sun filtered through twigs and branches. While the Azures were in flight they were a dazzling blue, but as soon as they descended to the ground to rest, they [...]

Posted in Alberta, Canada, Canon, Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae, macro, photography, Season, Spring | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Colin Hutton – The Missing Image

By Adrian | Published 13 May, 2013

“The Missing Image”… it looks like it may become a regular feature. Yesterday I sent out a last-minute request to Colin Hutton for permission to use one of his images for The Week on Sunday series. Of course, I waited too long, and his response came too late…but now I have it! Below is the image that first [...]

Posted in Feature Photographer, Hymenoptera, Insect, Inspiration, Lepidoptera, macro, photography | Tagged , | 1 Comment

The Week on Sunday #30

By Adrian | Published 12 May, 2013

Welcome to another Week on Sunday… ♦ Last year I did a post on the origins of the name of this wee lassie… Now they’ve made the video…   ♦ Smithsonian.com has been inspired by the latest  outbreak of Brood II of the 17 year cicadas, which have not walloped East Coast ears since 1996. Go take a [...]

Posted in Alberta, Art, Bugs, Canada, macro, Spring, Week on Sunday, White Studio | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

From the Funnel’s Mouth

By Adrian | Published 9 May, 2013

This Agelenopsis spider seems to be watching me as much as I am watching it. Peering out of its funnel with four beady eyes, it seems somewhat apprehensive… Hopefully this is the last of the old bug images as our warm season is beginning to get serious. (Image from 20 July, 2011. Elk Island National Park) [...]

Posted in Agelenidae, Arachnid, Araneae, Bugs, macro, National Park, photography, Season, Summer | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments