Eventually, I will buy a 300mm lens (or longer?)  Oh the butterflies and dragons I could have shot today, if only…  For now, I spent less than $50 (including shipping) for an attachment that I can screw onto the front of my 18-55mm kit lens.  I’ve only taken a few shots in the backyard, and I am hooked!  Can’t wait to experiment some more!

My first attempts with this lens were in the backyard – taken during the time between arriving home from work to find that the lens had come in the mail, and “Are you ever going to make dinner, Mom?”  (Dinner???  Who could be hungry at a time like this???)

There are so many beautiful things that (could) grow in your yard (if you resist the urge to use pesticides to kill them).  (Seriously, if you don’t know how bad lawn pesticides are, please read this… and download it… and print a million copies and give them to your friends:)

http://ny.audubon.org/pesticides/pamphlet.pdf.

Not only do we not spray, we also are very lax about mowing, especially in the spring when everything wants to bloom.  Sure, dandelions and gill-over-the-ground and bugle are all aliens, but they have been a part of the backyard habitat for so long, they seem all-American!

The patch that contains this bugle is quite large, and getting larger every year.  Bugle is so stunningly gorgeous…  How could you mow it?

I took a couple of shots of flowers that I had actually planted in my garden – not just lawn volunteers.  Here’s one of them:

There are more at my Flickr site.

Oh my gosh… I can hardly wait to get out into the woods with this lens!

Is life supposed to be this fun?