A Mighty White Moth
I’ve seen nothing in the animal kingdom as white as this moth. I suppose one should consider polar bears, which can be a bit dirty, and animals that take on white coloration in the northern latitude winters: arctic foxes, hares, ermines. When I shot this moth, I thought it was pure white. It was only when I processed the photo that I saw the black spots. Maybe they confuse predators who think the spots are eyes.
On August 9th, there was a bit of haze in the air. I don’t know if it was smoke. The AQI was not bad. Haze or smoke, I did something that I’ve been thinking of since this summer’s first smoke in June. That was to shoot the setting sun on a cloudless evening with smoke in the air.
With smoke, I pictured a big red orb touching or just above the horizon. I found that on the 9th. I shot with a 440 mm lens to get the sun as large as possible in the frame. Then I searched for something to include in the foreground as a silhouette.
I was driving the dirt roads of Crex Meadows State Wildlife Area. Whenever I rounded a curve, I saw a pair of sandhill cranes standing in the middle of the road. This happened three times in quick succession with different pairs of birds. I eased past them on their lee side, knowing they would probably take off into the wind. They did. I had a camera ready and in my hand, shooting out the window.
When I encountered the third pair of cranes, I wondered what was going on. Is this cranes-in-the-road day? That was not the only thing that had me wondering last week. On the 5th, I saw three bears in widely spaced locations. I have never seen more than a single bear or a bear family on the same day. Then, on the 9th, I was stunned to see another bear. I was scouting a location that I thought might be a good spot to shoot the setting sun. I had planned to get out of the car and walk around a bit, checking different spots. Then I saw the bear. I decided not to leave the car. A few minutes later, I saw the bear leave the copse of oaks where I’d first seen it and lope away into the pine barrens. I didn’t get out of the car until I felt I was far enough away. Then I started shooting the setting sun
A few leaves and flowers. I was concentrating on finding subjects backlit by the evening sun.
A large drop of sun lingered on the horizon and then dripped over and was gone, and the sky was brilliant over the spot where it had gone, and a torn cloud, like a bloody rag, hung over the spot of its going. And dusk crept over the sky from the eastern horizon, and darkness crept over the land from the east.”
— John Steinbeck,