Summer Nature Photography

I have been spending a lot of my free time outdoors this summer. I am working a full-time graphic design position, in addition to keeping my own businesses going on the side, so any chance I get I like to be outside relaxing & enjoying nature.

I've added a bunch of new photos I've taken over the past couple months to my album:

Nature Photography 

by Paul Micarelli

A wasp eating honey off my plate after I finished eating breakfast outside.

Closeup of a tiny ecosystem in the soil of a potted plant.

Macro photo of a tiny spider that was hanging by our back door.

A closeup of a small praying mantis that was hanging on the side of our deck.

A purple flower growing in our garden.

My wife Loretta is trying her hand at growing some vegetables, here is a closeup of a ripening cherry tomato.

My wife Loretta is trying her hand at growing some vegetables, here is a closeup of unripe cherry tomatoes that look like little watermelons.

This plant seemed like it had died, but my wife Loretta brought it back to life.

Loretta was sitting in the grass next to me & jumped up when she felt this frog bump her butt.

Deer grazing in my back yard early in the morning as I was getting ready for work.

The Connected Universe

 This past weekend my wife and I were relaxing at home, and she took a break from her continual viewing of old episodes of The Sopranos since I felt like watching a video.

When it comes to philosophy, spirituality, & science, we both have similar views. Even where we don't agree, we have really in-depth discussions. I felt like watching something thought-provoking, so I put on "The Connected Universe". 

I have posted here previously about the theories of Nassim Haramein, who has attempted to formulate scientific theories that connect the micro (quantum) and macro scales, and describing the nature of the energetic unified field that is the fundamental base of reality.

This movie was very interesting, and featured the general ideas behind his scientific theories. However, I found it to be more of an inspirational project, especially compared to his more informative lecture that completely blew my mind open, "Sacred Geometry And Unified Fields".

By looking past existing paradigms and incorporating the patterns of sacred geometry into the logic behind his theories, Nassim has opened an avenue of study that can lead humanity into leaps of evolution in both technology and the human condition.

If I had to sum up his theories, it would be that all of space-time is filled with "vacuum" energy at the most fundamental scale. Information is interconnected at all points throughout this field, in an infinite array of Plank-scale feedback loops.

These cycles of increasing complexity lead to self-organizing principles and emergent features that we experience as - matter & energy > life > consciousness - in a unified (yet endlessly varied) dance of creation and destruction.

Nature Photography at Scotland Run Park

My wife and I both love the outdoors and nature, and try to get outside any chance we get. For me, it is like a mental and physical recharge, especially when I can just quietly observe the sights, sounds, and other sensations of the natural world around me.
 
We've been going to a lot of state & local parks to swim and/or hike. Recently we went to Scotland Run, a local park, to walk the trails there. We went fairly deep into the woods, and I ended up getting a poison ivy rash up my right leg.

Otherwise, it was a great hike and I got a lot of nice photos of the plants and wildlife. I uploaded them to my photo album:

Nature Photography

by Paul Micarelli

Wilson Lake @ Scotland Run Park

A tiny frog crossing our path

An orange fungus

 

I thought this moss was pretty cool. It was white with a branching structure.

This little caterpillar also had an intricate branching structure coming off its body.

I managed to capture this dragonfly resting on a branch.

This butterfly landed in the sand just long enough for me to snap a photo.

A closup of a large flower with little insects inside it.

A purple flower cluster over the cloud-reflecting lake surface.

 

My wife saw this and asked, "Are those beetles banging???"

A flower cluster 

Some of the freshwater snails on the lakebed.