Beetle

The strange thing about this macro stuff, is that it had been a long time that this lens gathered dust on a shelf in my office. It fits my personality though when I really think about it. I tend to full dive into things such as this for a short time and then move on. Maybe not a very balanced approach, but my theory is that it all balances out in the end and allows me to really wrap my hands around the nuances of a specific theme, style, ect.

Here's a little glimpse into how the Dennen mornings start, how this shot unfolded and how it impacted the day as it ran its course. My wife generally takes a hour stint around 5am to run while I do all I can to distract the kids from wanting to invade her time alone. One thing that has worked really well, is immediately bringing them outdoors into the backyard and fetching critters from the pool. It's amazing what we find swimming around each morning. This morning, which was actually yesterday, the biggest insect we found was this beetle. Once we locate the critters collectively, the girls really want me to fetch it out and examine and interact with it. Of course, this is all part of the exercise, clean the pool, engage the girls in nature while distracting them from the morning magnetic draw to mommy, capture an image for an ongoing backyard series and 365 and ultimately launch the girls into a positive space to begin the day. After capturing the beetle, we placed it on a monster hosta leaf for a portrait. After that, my oldest daughter wanted to bring it to school for a show and tell. We created a comfortable short term habitat for it made of grass and leaves and she was able transport the beetle comfortably. Once we arrived at school, she opened the lid to the container and as I was saying goodbye, she was surrounded by 10 other children fully immersed at what was crawling around in her possession. The beetle stayed with the children all day and upon picking her up at the end of the day, together we released it back into the garden to continue it's life.