March 11, 2024 - the week ahead
/Hello everyone! Do we have a busy week coming up! I took yesterday afternoon off to go looking for slime molds. I spent close to six hours in a heavy backpack crawling around in the wet woods and managed to find only one or two of the tiny things. It is hard - you need to have your mind and your eyes tuned in to seeing things that are usually too small to notice. But my biggest problem was getting distracted. I cannot look for slime molds without seeing countless varieties of springtails, spiders, millipedes and beetles. Some of the surprises were unpleasant - like the log I rolled over to expose a massive nest of big, mean trap jaw ants…
But some were absolutely delightful, like when I unroofed the chamber of a sleeping bee!
A glorious green sweat bee, woken from her winter slumber
Until finally, almost ready to give up I came across a slime mold - no wonder these things are hard to find - look at the size of it!
Unidentified slime mold fruiting bodieson the underside of a little leaf
But, anyway, it was fun. It is lovely to get out into the woods on a spring day and just wee what nature has planned for you. This post isn’t really about that though. It is about what I have planned for you that we need to talk about here. The week starts tomorrow with Macro Talk and this week I am going to answer questions from the mailbag - these are really excellent questions on a brad range of subjects - certainly something for everyone in this lot.
That is of course tomorrow evening at 8PM, and you can use this link to get there… https://youtube.com/live/pE9XNto0Eyk?feature=share
If you get through that and want more, there is Macro Talk Too on Thursday at 2PM…
This will be an update of my recommendations for bug buying with some new thoughts about where your money may be best spent. You can watch it right here… https://youtube.com/live/GsnLYQSg_hM?feature=share
For my Patreon Supporters we have a very special Pzoom lined up for this Saturday…
You Patreon folks will find your invitation over on the Patreon page, which is also the place to go if you are thinking about joining that very special group of people. If you like the idea of helping me keep the lights on around here and you always seem to have a couple of dollars left over at the end of the month, and you don’t know what to do with it, then I have the solution for you - head to https://www.patreon.com/allanwallsphotography
And here is one excellent reason for joining Patreon - in April, our first Pzoom of the month, on Saturday the 13th will see me interviewing one of the pioneers of AI art. Dennis Miller will be joining me to to discuss the state of AI in art of all types, but especially where it involves photography and graphic art. Expect to be entertained, amazed, and motivated by what Dennis has to show and tell. Here is a little taste…
courtesy of dennis h. miller
courtesy of dennis h. miller
courtesy of dennis h. miller
April is going to her a good month to be a Patreon subscriber!
Finally, to round out the week, we have our monthly 3D modeling workshop live event, The Tangent, with Larry and me…
This is free and open to anyone who is interested. BUT you do need an invitation - here it is…Allan Walls is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: The Tangent
Time: Mar 16, 2024 12:30 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6916802815?pwd=TS9tZi9ZL1NXeVUvOUF4eTg5YjdlZz09&omn=85156423069
Meeting ID: 691 680 2815
Passcode: 678122
Don’t forget to send your plans for an organizer to Tangent@larrystrunk.com
I am really looking forward to this week’s show - it promises to be a lot of fun.
Late entry - The Tangent is over for another month - a great show and below are some links for the tools and equipment he used. These are my Amazon Affiliate Links, so we may make a small fee if you buy something. And before I forget, the challenge for this month is to make a diffuser to fit on either your flash or continuous light source - that’s all the guidance you get. Make a great diffuser. Here are the links for this week’s lesson….
And finally, a quick reminder that I will be gone for a few days and there will be no livestream on March 26, March 28, or on April 2, but I will be back in the saddle by April 4 for MacroTalk Too, the we will have some catching up to do. Also note, if you are a Patreon person, there will be NO PZOOM on March 30th, for the same reason - I will be gone.
Thanks and I will see you on the stream tomorrow!