Sackens Bee Hunter Photograph

This is a Sackens Bee Hunter.  I came across this insect by accident one day.  I thought it was a Bumble Bee at first but I quickly realized it was a bee mimic.  I took a few photographs and began my search on the internet.  I have never seen one of these and I have lived in the same house for 25 years.
It turns out I took photographs of a Sackens Bee Hunter.  These bee mimic will capture and eat other bees.  They blend in and using the same color patterns are Bumble Bees.  They are stripped yellow and black but are not as wide bodied as a Bumble Bee.  They also stand differently in a different posture.
I have not been able to get much information on the internet as these seem to be elusive and not very common.  I found some articles that state they can bite of sting and that it is quite painful.  They are not aggressive and would only sting you if captured or maybe stepped on.  These insect are very good at mimicking bees.  If I wasn’t trained to notice details on insects because of my fascination with macro photography I would have dismissed this Sacken’s Bee Hunter as just another bee.

Bluebonnet photographs

These are some Texas Bluebonnet flower photographs.  Every year in Texas we have a ton of Bluebonnets along the highways.  This year my family moved to a new house in the Dallas area.  There was a field by a church with thousands of Bluebonnet flowers.

I took these Bluebonnet flower photographs in April of 2014.  I love doing photography of Bluebonnets.  There is something special about these flowers.

Bluebonnets(Lupinus subcarnosus) are the Texas State Flower.  These flower became the Texas State flower in 1901.  Another subspecies of Lupinus was added in 1971 to the state flower list.

If you would like to license any of my photographs please email producttester999@gmail.com

Macro photograph of Wolf Spider

These are some macro photographs of a Wolf Spider on a white background.  Wolf Spiders are not aggressive and are mostly harmless.  They will bite if harassed but in general they can be held if you are gentle.  A bite will be painful but otherwise it wont cause death, sickness or permanent damage.

These photographs of a Wolf Spider were shot on a Canon 5D Mark II and a Sigma 180mm macro lens.  I used a Canon MT-24EX twin flash unit.

Purple Flowers

These are two purple flowers I took some photographs of.  The first is a Cat Claw Sensitive Briar.  These are wild and grow all over the north Texas area.  When you touch the leaves they will close.  I lined my shots up and turned the lights off.  I used a Canon MT-24EX flash unit to get the light.  When the lights off the only area illuminated where the areas the flash hit so it created a nice black background.

I have no idea what this second flower is.  But I thought it would make for some interesting photography.

Baby in Monkey Outfit

My wife and I ordered some different knitted outfits for our new baby boy.  This one is a monkey outfit.  He wasn't happy when we started the photo shoot so I wasn't able to take the pictures I really wanted to.

We used a light blue blanket and a white sheet as backgrounds.  I used a Canon 5D Mark II camera and an Alien Bee 800 flash with a large octobox.

Texas Rat Snake photographs

I was cleaning the yard a few weeks ago when this young Texas Rat Snake came out of the garden.  He was very calm at the time.  These reptiles can be very calm or very aggressive.  I kept him for a few days while I photographed him.  He was very aggressive when I photographed him.  I got bit a few times.  I wanted some photographs of a Texas Rat Snake on a white background so I put him on some poster board and shot these.

I took a video of a very large Texas Rat Snake a few years ago.  This Texas Rat Snake was around 5 foot long.  I took this video of it climbing a tree.  These reptiles are excellent climbers.

Macro Photographs of Red Harvester Ants

Texas is full of Red Harvester Ants.  In fact my guess would be that other than the invasive Fire Ants, Red Harvester Ants are the next most common species.  These insect love the heat.  Huge nest f Red Harvester Ants are often found in gravel fields and along road ways.

I took these macro photographs of Red Harvester Ants in Double Oak Texas.  The photographs were captured on a Canon 5D Mark II.  The nest has been here at least 2 seasons.  Last year the nest was in the same location.  This spring the nest re-appeared.  There were trails in the grass where these ants travelled so much.

I also took a few macro videos of Red Harvester Ants.  These videos were captured in HD on the same camera using a tripod.

If you would like to license any of these photographs or videos please email producttester999@gmail.com