Today I started macro season of 2024 / #club100

My macro lens lay on the shelf all winter collecting dust: the criminally short, depressingly disgusting daylight hours and the lack of subjects (everything interesting is hidden under the snow!) does not encourage me to take this lens with me on photo walks... and I also take photo walks in the winter usually minimal. The cold quickly convinces me that home warmth and tea are what I desire much more than beautiful pictures in my camera :) and the worn-out batteries of my camera quickly become empty in the cold and do not allow me to take photographs for a long time.

One way or another... it was a lyrical digression. Today I walked a little before lunch and took my macro lens with me. The sun was hiding behind the clouds again, and I can’t say that I found anything interesting. But! when I was returning home and taking a shortcut through the yard, on the playground... something interesting just found me! A small ladybug swooped down onto my palm. This cute insect invariably evokes affection and is a pleasant subject for photographing (let's forget that it is generally a predator... it is a beneficial predator - ladybugs limit the reproduction of aphids).

For a macro photographer, the first thing that is important is that this is a beautiful insect, photo-friendly... and, alas, too restless and mobile. (Which doesn’t go well with the art of macro photography). It is much more convenient to take photos of completely motionless objects. Therefore... today's photo trophies did not turn out to be something wonderful, beautiful, pleasing to the eye. The ladybug itself was very small, the size of a match head. Much larger specimens can be found.

I cant say I am proud of the resulting photos... But I'm very pleased with this (random) encounter itself, as this was the first insect of 2024 I witnessed!