C B Images

Photography by Chris Bates

Ladybug

Peony, bud, bloom, ant, ladybug, macro, nature
Before and After: Peony Bud and Bloom

We have a few peony plants in our garden. We notice that ants seem to love the bud heads in early spring.

After doing some reading the peony and ant seem to have a symbiotic relationship. The peony bud produces nectar to attract ants. The ants are protective of food sources which in turn will keep other pests away. The end result is well feed ants and beautiful and huge peony blooms.

Ant Peony Macro Ladybug nature
Ladybug and Ant: ISO 800, 35mm, f/7.1, 1/100

As promised another ladybug image to share.

This ladybug is sharing a peony bud with an ant. The ladybug was sitting perfectly still while the ant was probing this large creature with her antenna.

Ladybug Lupin Time Warp illusion backyard nature
Ladybug on Lupin (Bottoms Up): ISO 800, 35mm, f/5.0, 1/30

Angela pointed this opportunity out to me on on of her afternoon backyard garden walks.

Just like the previous image, I have used my Tokina 35mm 2.8 Macro lens to capture this close up of a Ladybug head first in a branch of Lupin leaves.

This year we seem to have an over abundance of ladybugs in our backyard. I will have more images to share.

Ladybug on Leaf macro ladybug Alberta Canada
Ladybug on Leaf: ISO 800, 35mm, f/2.8, 1/4000

I was enjoying the spring sunshine one afternoon last week and noticed this lone ladybug checking out the leafy foliage of some of our perennials.

I used my Tokina 35mm f/2.8 macro lens to capture this image.

Ladybug, cattails, pattern, Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, Chris Bates Photography, Bower Ponds
Cattails and Ladybug: ISO 800, 400mm, f/6.7, 1/1500


Without the Ladybug would you know what this is an image of?

I took this shot in August when I did a photowalk at a local park in Red Deer, Alberta. Bower Ponds is about a 5 minute drive from my backyard.

The ladybug is not as sharp in focus as I would have liked but she was moving at a brisk pace. As I had my long telephoto lens on and no time to set up the tripod I had to turn up the ISO to get a fast enough shutter speed to capture her.

The ladybug is a small part of the photo in my opinion. I think my eyes are drawn more to the pattern of the cattail grass and the way the sun creates definition and shadows on their blades. The ladybug just puts things in perspective and gives you a hint of what the actual pattern is made up of.