Really Really Love The Additions To This—they're All Very Correct Lol.

Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis), male, taken May 9, 2025, in Georgia, US

Looking quite sharp in more than one way! This guy must have just finished his spring molt—those feathers are spotless! I'm still seeing some bald and semi-bald cardinals running around, so the molt is still underway, but they, too, shall be fresh and beautiful like this guy afterwards!

Fowler's Toad (Anaxyrus fowleri), taken April 4, 2025, in Georgia, US

Toads have begun to emerge from their slumber! Many are likely making their way to my koi pond, where they'll deposit thousands of eggs and screw up the water balance... I love them regardless, because getting to see them frolicking around the pond is fun lol. Lifting the filter cover and seeing toads swirling around is not fun, but they're usually okay!

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata), male, taken March 28, 2025, in Georgia, US

This guy looks a little rough, but I believe he's just in molt! His spring colors are coming in, and you can see a bit of his golden crown becoming visible. I think he needs a good bath to wash out all those old feathers. It's just about nesting season, so hopefully he finishes his molt soon!

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis), taken March 12, 2025, in Georgia, US

The bloodroot is finally showing its pretty face! There's tons of flowers blooming out of the leaflitter. This is my first time catching them in full bloom, and they're gorgeous! This plant is named after its red roots, which can sometimes resemble the color of blood. Its flowers can also take many different shapes, some having shorter petals with round edges similar to a daisy, and others like these, though they also exist in every form between those two extremes!

Oh!!! Freaking love these!! The jellybean is excellent, oh my god...

I ended up getting the raynox after we discussed it a little more on the post you made about it! The only time I've ever seen a cuckoo wasp was in New Hampshire, so I don't know if I'll get to try it out on one soon, but I honestly hope not because I have barely figured out how to get a medium-sized bee in focus regularly... I'll probably make a post with some pictures and my thoughts so far soon—I got some really nice ones of a nomad bee and some spiders today :)

I have no idea how you managed to get such nice focus on small things like springtails. I'm guessing it's partially use of flash (I just use the raw flash—no add-on for that yet so I'm avoiding using it with the raynox), but tips are definitely welcome if you're willing to provide any!

i am photographing hymenopterans that are smaller and more indistinguishable than you could possibly imagine

woke up this morning to ABSOLUTELY NO BIRDS WHATSOEVER when we always have a couple dozen every morning

Waited half an hour and still none

No squirrels either, no woodpeckers, no chickadees, not a single junco

What the fuck is going on

Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis), taken March 11, 2025, in Georgia, US

A small friend enjoying an equally small seed. The buds on the japanese maple make pictures in it look much more lively! Once it has leaves, the birds will be much harder to find within the sea of red. For now, however, I get to enjoy them in plain sight!

Smoky-winged Dancers (Argia fumipennis ssp. fumipennis), male (top) and female (bottom), taken September 5, 2024, in Georgia, US

The Southeastern subspecies of the Variable Dancer, as opposed to the Violet Dancer in the (sort of) Northeastern US. They're extremely common in my area, appearing in droves along with Fragile Forktails. I absolutely love their colors, both male and female!

THANK YOU!!! I am a total noob at cameras, so this is all really really helpful!! I haven't adjusted most of my settings (other than the obvious, like sound and timezone and other basic stuff) other than switching my focus to manual when using the raynox like you suggested—definitely a good tip, I can guess what the camera does when it's on auto lol.

I am certainly feeling the learning curve right now, but I find the increased challenge really rewarding. It also forces me to slow down and spend more time on each individual I photograph, which makes the whole process feel more personal. You said the 70-300mm was wonky when you tried it, but I'm actually enjoying it a lot lol. It allows me to tailor the magnification for each subject I photograph depending on size and produces a higher quality image than my 18-55. After a certain point (~100 or 135mm I think?) flash is inviable with it, though, because the lens starts interfering and causing a shadow, so I have to stick to sunny areas with it if I want to go up to 200mm. I'll have to play around with flash more on both lenses since I think most of the clarity issues I'm having with the 18-55 can be fixed with it, and flash usually makes everything better anyways.

Again I really appreciate these tips!! I'll have to try them out when I go out tomorrow, especially playing with the flash and aperture settings, and see how that changes things!

i am photographing hymenopterans that are smaller and more indistinguishable than you could possibly imagine

Nomad Bees (Genus Nomada), taken May 5, 2025, in Georgia, US

Some little red bees! These guys are always super busy unless, of course, they're sleeping like in the third image! Yesterday the bees were quite gracious with their landing times, sitting still long enough for me to actually press the shutter button lol. Normally, they're flying around constantly, searching for the burrows of other bees to lay their eggs in!