Terri Webster Schrandt

Sunday Stills: Maxed Out Garden #Macros and #Close-Ups

It has been a while since we used macro and close-up photography for the Sunday Stills theme! Staying close to home this weekend before my trip to Portland, Oregon, I captured most of these in my own yard in Nine Mile Falls or in the garden of my former home in Sacramento.

Your macros and close-ups can have any theme so please don’t limit yourself to gardens, critters, or autumn-inspired images as I’ve shared.

According to SLR Photography Guide:

“If the subject you are photographing is small and you want to make it look big, you end up with a “macro” view of a “micro” subject. Close-up photography is the act of photographing objects such as flowers or insects in close range so the subject you are photographing fills the frame.”

September’s Floral Attractions

“Always seeing something, never seeing nothing, being photographer”
― Walter De Mulder

Even in the month of September, my volunteer sunflowers are still opening and attracting a variety of insects. Ladybugs, honeybees, bumblebees, wasps, and flies compete for pollen and a place to hang out.

Ladybug on sunflower close-up
Ladybug on sunflower
yellow bee sunflower
Possibly my favorite image from my Sacramento garden!

Bee blossoms grew abundantly in September in my former Sacramento neighborhood

white bee blossom
Bee Blossom
pink flower with bee
Bee blossom and Bee

“While it may seem small, the ripple effects of small things is extraordinary.” ~ Matt Bevin

Flowers, Wild and Not-so-Wild

Volunteer sunflowers are in their season

sunflower open
bug on sunflower

Varieties of autumn wildflowers (aka weeds) are colorful…

Delta Yellow Wildflowers

Wildflowers also attract butterflies …

Yellow swallowtail butterfly
Yellow swallowtail butterfly
close-up butterfly

… and frogs!

Macro frog
Froggy loves living in the hydrangea

Hydrangeas are in Autumn bloom

Autumnal Equinox in Northern Hemisphere

The world reaches its equinox this week, “vernal” or spring for the southern hemisphere; autumn arrives in the Northern. I know my fellow bloggers down under are excited about the beginning of longer days. Here, Autumn is upon us and we can expect these views below and above us, any day now.

Autumn leaves
Autumn close-up
liquid amber leaves
Liquid Amber, Sacramento

Join Dawn at The Day After on Sept 22 as she launches one of my favorite seasonal challenges “Festival of Leaves.”

Mosquito Fire Update in Western Sierra Nevada–Dad’s Home Was Spared!

Turkey Hill Home

I want to sincerely thank everyone who expressed concern and well wishes to me and my family on my recent Wordless Wednesday post. The Mosquito Fire, 20% contained as of Saturday, continues to burn in the Foresthill/Michigan Bluff area in the Sierra Nevada mountains of Northern California.

My step-sister’s friend shared this photo of my dad’s home. If you look to the bottom right of the image, another neighbor’s barn was also spared. The fire department is limiting access due to hot spots and potential danger from falling weakened trees. Once they can access the property, there is untold work to do.

I may never see these scenes again where they lived. (Annas Hummingbirds, pink lady butterfly, sweet pea wildflowers)

Hummingbird ready to feed
Hummer Straight Beak
bumblebee on sweetpea
Pink Lady Butterfly

I pray they all escaped the fires.

Michigan Bluff Annas Hummingbirds
Michigan Bluff Annas Hummingbirds

“If you can see the little things and the small details around you as big things, you’re enlightened.” ~ Mehmet Murat ildan

Inspiring Photo Challenges

Each week I am inspired by my fellow bloggers’ photo challenges. I find it fun to incorporate these into my Sunday Stills weekly themes.

Sunday Stills Photo Challenge Reminders

Sunday Stills weekly challenge is easy to join. You have all week to share and link your post.

  • Remember to title your blog post a little differently than mine.
  • Please create a new post for the theme or link a recent one.
  • Entries for this theme can be posted all week.
  • Tag your post “Sunday Stills.”
  • Don’t forget to create a pingback to this post so that other participants can read your post.
  • I also recommend adding your post’s URL to the comments.

This Week’s Featured Bloggers

Sunday Stills is a wonderful community of bloggers and photographers who desire to connect with one another. Below are this week’s links from bloggers who shared macros and close-up photos. I add these all week as new links are posted.

To see more of my images and other news, consider following Terri on Social Media by clicking the icons:

NOTE ABOUT SHARING via Social Media

I can no longer share your posts on my Facebook page…someone hacked the Second Wind Leisure page (not my FB profile) and is using it for something. I keep getting weird notifications. Facebook is aware of the issue. So I’m only able to share on Twitter for now.

A reminder that there is no Sunday Stills challenge on Sept 25 due to my trip to Portland. Another blogger meet-up is in the works while we are there! I will “see” you on October 2, with the theme “dilapidated.” Check out my Sunday Stills Page. Have a wonderful couple of weeks!

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134 comments

  4. Such beautiful photos and vivid colors. Fall is such a colorful time of year, I’d miss it if I didn’t have the opportunity to experience it. Hydrangeas in the Autumn bloom photo are stunning. I wish I could grow them in my yard. I’m glad you have the hummingbird photos to keep the memories in case they don’t return to your dad’s area after the fire clears. That’s wonderful news that your dad’s place survived. Even with grateful hearts, I’m sure the smoke clean-up will be hard. 🤗

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    • Thank you, Jacqui! I’m happy to wallow in thee pics for a while, thinking of this clean-up will be stressful. On another note, I just finished Natural Selection! Wonderful! Crafting a review very soon and can’t wait to share on my blog next month!

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  6. It’s great to hear that your Dad’s property is safe, less so that there will be many problems to sort out. The juxtaposition of beautiful pictures of nature with the fire update highlights what’s at risk.

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  7. Lovely close ups and macros. Love the butterflies, the swallowtail looks amazing!
    It is really starting to feel like the autumn is getting close. Cooler weather and more rain and the trees are starting to change colours. I´ll be back with some close ups/macros later. 🙂

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  12. I love macro photography, Terri. It’s an opportunity to really focus on the intricate beauty of nature. Wonderful shots. And so happy to hear that your dad’s home escaped the fire. It seems to be something we all need to be prepared for these days. See you soon!

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  19. Gosh, you really have some amazing shots of the insects and the flowers. It’s such a fabulous reminder that Mother Nature is the queen of color and detail.
    XOXO
    Jodie.

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  21. Loved the bee by the bright sunflower and the butterfly on the purple flower, Terri! That’s great that your dad’s house was spared. There will be lots of work reclaiming neighborhoods affected by fire.

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  24. Hi Terri, fabulous shots of various subjects in close-up mode. I think the bee in the sunflower is one of my favourites too. Oh dear I hope all is well on the bushfire front, it’s such a destructive force! Enjoy your autumnal weather as we head into spring, although the temperature is still in single digits celcius, at least the garden knows warmer weather is on the way but as we’ve had so much rain too this year everything is growing.

    My post features my beautiful magnolia tree which I always seem to feature on my blog in September! https://debs-world.com/2022/09/18/magnolia-musings-sundaystills/

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  27. Wonderful photos Terri, especially the hummingbirds
    On a separate note I was also hacked around two years ago and have never been able to connect up Facebook and Instagram again. I only get messages saying my content is inappropriate, I’ve tried everything. I also can’t add Goodreads anymore. I was even wondering whether to start over but it seems like such an effort and how would I get my followers to follow! Maybe I should ask Hugh

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    • Thanks, Ali. OMG, that is terrible to hear. I think Hugh sticks with twitter, but to me, its just not the same. I have so many friends and family on FB I would hate to stop, but I could change name. I get those same messages from a page I deleted that someone hacked. They actually charged an ad fee to MY debit. I finally got a hold of someone on chat who helped me get the report to the right person. THAT is scary. Good luck with these Ali. I fear we live in a messed up world online anymore.

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      • Thanks for your sympathy Terri, it’s impossible to get hold of anyone on FB or insta and I gave up on Twitter
        So I just post separately on FB and Insta
        Just enjoying WP on its own

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  29. Terri, every one of your photos is stunning. I don’t know how you find such vivid colors. I don’t even have a favorite because I love them all although your ladybug and hydrangea both made me ooh and ah. Wednesday is right around the corner. See you soon! 🙂

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  34. I love your ladybug (we call them ladybirds!), bees and hummingbirds 😀 And good news that your father’s house escaped the fire, although of course dreadful for all of those who weren’t so lucky.

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  39. I love the the macros, Terri. Especially the hydrangea. I never saw one in that color before. However, I’m also very sorry to hear about the Mosquito Fire. I hope the fire is all contained now, but if not, I hope it will be very soon. Sending my best wishes to your dad and everyone affected.

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  42. I’m so pleased to hear your dad’s house was spared the fire, Terri. I hope there is no smoke damage inside and everything can be salvaged. It must have been heartbreaking for the whole family, not knowing whether the house survived.

    Your micro photography, especially of the insects, is wonderful. Good to see the volunteer sunflowers are still doing well. Sadly, we lost all our sunflowers during heavy rain and gusty winds a few days ago. They’d grown high, but the wind and rain were too much.

    I’ll be participating in my Wordless Wednesday post tomorrow.

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    • Thank you, Hugh! As I’ve mentioned, it could be well into winter before they can really start any cleanup. The smoke is still so bad in the area, my dad can’t go there himself. The family is helping my step-mom through the insurance and financial processes. Tough all around. I’ve sincerely appreciated everyone’s concerns shared here.
      Glad you enjoyed the macro show from the yard. We still have warm weather (75F) during the day but soon it will be over. I’m sure the seeds will germinate again next summer. Looking forward to your WW post. I’ll be driving to Oregon but I’ll get the link approved at the first fuel stop 😀

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  43. Glad to see the update on your Dads home, Terri. Loved all these macros; you always present such lovely shots. I’ve been working on macros, my DOF shots using my camera’s manual focus, but the outcome is hit or miss. The recent hits will be on my sundaystills post…today…hopefully. I’d appreciate any tips from this Sunday Stills crew!

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  50. Beautiful macro photos here Terri. The close-ups of the bees on the flowers were spectacular, but I was amazed to see the tiny hairs on the butterfly! I like the wildflowers – they are gorgeous. You had mentioned your dad’s home to me in a comment the other day, but to see the smoke filling the air in this photo, like you I wonder how those tiny hummingbirds, bees, moths and butterflies will survive. Mother Nature can be cruel sometimes.

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