Nature Details

I like to shoot details of nature around me.

Black Eyed Susan

Black Eyed Susan – Rud­beck­ia hirta

Black-eyed Susans are native to North Amer­i­ca and one of the most pop­u­lar wild­flow­ers grown. They tend to blan­ket open fields, often sur­pris­ing the passer­by with their gold­en-yel­low beau­ty. Mem­bers of the sun­flower fam­i­ly, the ​“black eye” is named for the dark, brown-pur­ple cen­ters of its daisy-like flower heads. The plants can grow to over 3 feet tall, with leaves of 6 inch­es, stalks over 8 inch­es long and flower diam­e­ter of 2 to 3 inch­es. But­ter­flies, bees, and a vari­ety of insects are attract­ed to the flow­ers for the nec­tar. As they drink the nec­tar, they move pollen from one plant to anoth­er, caus­ing it to grow fruits and seeds that can move about eas­i­ly with the wind. These plants bloom from June to Octo­ber. Note that they can be ter­ri­to­r­i­al in that they tend to squash out oth­er flow­ers grow­ing near them. Black-eyed Susans are good for cut flow­ers; they also work well for bor­ders or in con­tain­ers. — The Old Farmer’s Almanac

Random Ant

I was just try­ing dif­fer­ent aper­ture set­tings to see how it affects bokeh. I didn’t expect this ant at all.