I’ve been having fun taking photos with my Canon SD1100SI, as usual. I carry it almost everywhere. I especially enjoy when an ordinary thing looks extraordinary. While driving yesterday, I noticed a beautiful sunset. I handed my camera to my 11-year old daughter JuJu, who was sitting in the back seat, and asked her whether she would be willing to take a photo of the sunset (see below). The shape of the sun is what intrigues me. Now, really. What’s going on? Was the sun starting to take the shape of the Virgin Mary?

I’ve noticed many other extraordinary ordinary things lately.  That was actually my purpose for carrying around a small camera–the camera reminds me to actually look at the many amazing ordinary things surrounding me (and you).  Things like this bumble bee at work in my neighbor’s yard.

Insects are especially fun and easy to photograph.  All you need is a “macro” feature on your digital camera, and most cameras have that feature.   I do love the macro feature, because it reveals things you simply can’t see in person.  Looking at insects makes me wonder whether they are complicated robots or simple animals.  And what are we, for that matter, given that we are confirmed cousins of these insects?  To the right is another recent subject:  a spider I noticed on a screen on my back porch.   To give you an idea, this critter was merely 1/3 of an inch in width.

Here are a few more things I’d like to share.  First of all, a backyard snail, a gastropod.  It is a close cousin of cephalopods (mollusks).

That’s all for now, except for this dragon kite flying high in this exceptionally blue sky over Forest Park in St. Louis, Missouri.