My Field Event–Grasshopper Photography

My Field Event

Some of you know that my husband is USA Masters Track and Field World Champion sprinter.  We are opposites in many ways–he’s fast, and I’m slow, for example,  I’m usually paces behind him.  We approach things differently; he’s very systematic in his approach to life, and I’m more likely to have a loose, rolling list of things that get done when the time is right.  We drive each other crazy sometimes, but tend to balance each other out as couples often do.

He has encouraged me to train for a track or field event so that I would enjoy spending the long days at track meets more.  That’s probably not going to happen at the tracks, but I have developed a “field event” of my own.  The fields at Little Piney are teeming with life!  Walking through the field prompts a flurry of hopping, flying, buzzing, and rustling through the grass.  So, dressed in long pants and leather boots to protect me from poison ivy, bugs, and snakes, my current favorite activity is exploring life in the field.  I have my macro lens ready to photograph any little insect or critter that remains still long enough.  Come to think of it, grasshopper photography is kind of like trying to film Ken running the 60 meters, only the subject is smaller and the cover more dense.

Grasshopper Photography

All of these little subjects cooperated with the camera–

Baby Toads and Frogs

I was also delighted to discover baby toads and frogs hopping along with the grasshoppers.  Thank  you to the Houston Toad Facebook folks for the identifications.

Gray Tree Frog

Gray Tree Frog

Gulf Coast Toad

Gulf Coast Toad

Video of Ken running in the World Master’s in Turin 2013

For comparison’s sake–https://youtu.be/E_HNkfidlPs

You can skip through the first 2/3 to see Ken run and hear me cheering him on!  He’s one of the two out front.  That’s him in dark blue on the right.  He’s as fast as a grasshopper!