Saturday, May 05, 2012

Peterson field guides play a big part

...in our lives. They travel with us everywhere. Adding a new field guide to our collection is always an occasion, but the arrival of the new Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Northeastern North America by David Beadle and Seabrooke Leckie is extra exciting. I live with a bug photographer and his name is among the photo credits in this guide.


The field guide is a beauty. We found Harvey's photo of the Rusty Tussock moth in the book and then I made him pose with the book for a photo which I promptly posted on Facebook. The photo above is of me holding the guide.

Bug photography amazes me. It takes a kind of patience that I can't begin to imagine. Just watching him work and engage with everything around him is inspiring. That energy influences my work.

On a recent walk I saw something flying across the road.

I pointed. "There goes a beetle, I think."

"A dung beetle!" H said, darting off.

Check out his photos of that beetle. They're incredible. The last one is absolutely breathtaking.

6 comments:

pohanginapete said...

H's photographs are great, and the timing of the last in that series really is wonderful.

Excellent field guides do more than just help us identify what they're seeing and (sometimes) disclose a bit about the lives of what they describe: they can encourage our interest in the animals and plants in the first place. Just think of the reaction of a child who sees a beautifully illustrated guidebook.

Brenda Schmidt said...

That's a great point. Thanks, Pete!

Ariel Gordon said...

Congrats to H!

We were in the forest yesterday and there was a willow whose catkins where their peak: glowing yellow. And the tree was covered in butterflies and moths...

Brenda Schmidt said...

Sounds heavenly!

Unknown said...

Harvey takes excellent photos! Coincidentally, I need a new Bug Guide....guess I know which one I will order.

Brenda Schmidt said...

:) It really is a gorgeous, well-designed field guide.