96:365 Color 6.26.10

The best laid plans...

So you may be thinking to yourself: "Self, why am I looking at a picture of what appears to be a jelly jar?" And you would be asking a good question. Here's the thing, sometimes I have ideas that don't work out. If you are human, I imagine that you have this problem too from time to time. But, what you choose to do when the plans don't go according to, um, plan, is what makes you stand out or suck at life. Ok maybe that was a bit harsh... I'm sorry, you don't suck, that other guy who stopped reading after the first sentence does. read on...

So I was outside after dinner, enjoying all the fireflies that were making my backyard sparkle while I worked on my mosquito bite collection. I thought it would be cool to try to get the fireflies in my photo for today. After running around my backyard, trying to photograph fireflies in flight for a few minutes I decided that this was not going to work for multiple reasons. Plan B: Get a jar and catch the suckers. Don't worry, no fireflies were harmed in the process... but if any of my neighbors were watching, they may think less of me after watching me wander around my yard with my camera and then a jelly jar. So I caught 3 (no easy feat). Then set the jar on my table like a hunter returning home with his catch. I figured this would now be easy, just set my exposure and fire off a few frames when the fireflies were glowing green. Guess what? These suckers wouldn't preform. They don't like to light up when trapped in a little jar - go figure. After waiting a few minutes longer, I was about to throw in the towel when I realized, that the bugs didn't have to be my subject after all. I let them free and they promptly turned on their glowing green behinds, essentially flipping me the bird. Once my hostages had escaped, I focused my lens on their temporary confinement, the Bonne Maiman jar. The only light outside came from what little light was left in the sky and the citronella candle I had lit after also applying gobs of deet to ward off the mosquitoes. I still got bit. The combination of the two light sources and trying a few different angles gave me a variety of usable photos. It may not be the best or most interesting photo I've taken, but it's a good reminder to not focus too hard on getting one thing when something better (or at least simpler) may be right in front of you. That all for now. Off to get some calamine.