Phone Photo Archives - Page 7 of 8 - Craig Rogers Photography

Morning Dog Walk: Female Napoleon Spider

10th June 201810th June 2018Craig Rogers

I take a camera (although just my mobile today) along on my Dog Walks to bring you some of the sightings that I see on my morning walks, these photos are rarely going to be great quality as its hard enough keeping an energetic Dog entertained and get close enough to anything. They also help me identify where species are so that I can plan to return.

This morning I saw a Female Napoleon Spider in very typical surroundings on a Daisy-leaved Toadflax (Thanks for Marja for ID’ing this plant on yesterday’s Walk).

The Napoleon Spider (Synema globosum) gets its name due to the markings resembling a silhouette of Napoleon Bonaparte (I don’t see it myself!). The photos were shot and edited in Lightroom on my mobile as I didn’t take a camera this morning.

A False Smooth Snake At The House Tonight

7th June 20187th June 2018Craig Rogers

It was another first for me, a False Smooth Snake at the house. We had been painting around the front of the house today and dug a small trench to get paint to the bottom of a wall. The snake was using this trench to get to the rear garden.

It was just turning dark (dusk is the time the False Smooth Snakes hunt) and I only had my mobile to hand, so not great photos.

White Thistle Mystery Finally Solved…..Maybe.

7th June 20187th June 2018Craig Rogers

You may remember the photos of the Honey Bees on a Thistle from a few days ago. I couldn’t understand why the Thistles had flowered White and not Purple.

At the time, I ID’d them as Illyrian Scotch Thistles, however, I was wrong.

I was talking to my (Portuguese) Neighbouring Farmer and he insisted that they always flower white. I asked him what the Portuguese name is and he replied “Cardo”. This is Portuguese for Thistle, so I didn’t get anywhere. However, I was searching for references to Cardo and stumbled across the Cardoon Thistle (also known as the Artichoke Thistle).

This is what these are, however, most of the references also mention that the flowers are purple, so back to square one, why are they white.

I have found a few photos on the internet that show white flowers, one reference I saw mentioned the “Rare White Cardoon Thistle”. So although the mystery is solved, it does raise more questions about how common the white version is. If you see any one your travels, let me know!

I Enjoy The Challenges Of Smartphone Photography

18th May 201818th May 2018Craig Rogers

Over the last few years we have seen Smartphone Cameras increase in quality and functionality at a rapid rate. However, no matter how good they are becoming, they still have a lot of limitations.

These limitations give me an enjoyable challenge and it’s why I love Smartphone photography. It forces you to think about the photo way before you even frame it, trying to overcome the challenges these tiny cameras give. This shouldn’t be any different to any other form of photography and is why its good practice to make you think before pressing the shutter button.

This morning, we had some early hill mist and whilst out walking Wally, he appeared on a small ridge above me. It was a good pose, but the mist behind was a real spoiler, so I took the photo with the thought of making into a High Contrast Black and White photo, using the bright white misty background to contrast him and the Estava plant.

The photo was taken on my Samsung Galaxy S8+ in “Pro” mode, saving as a DNG (RAW) file, then I imported it into Lightroom (on the phone), converted to Black and White and raised the contrast. All this whilst still out walking. I was impressed at the quality, it even made it into my Flickr Albums

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Spot The Difference – Esteva Flowers

2nd May 20182nd May 2018Craig Rogers

Last year someone told me that there are two different variants of the Esteva plant (Portuguese name, not to be confused with the Stevia plant), commonly known in English as the Gum Rockrose. It was mentioned that there is a version that has no spots. I had never seen one until this morning, I’m certainly no plant expert, but it’s great when you stumble across something new.

The scientific name for the Esteva is Cistus ladanifer and the two sub-species are ladanifer and sulcatus. The landanifer has the purple markings where the sulcatus does not, however, they appear to be identical plants.

Nice Weather For Du……What The Duck?

21st April 201821st April 2018Craig Rogers

The camera got left behind on this morning’s Wally Walk as the rain has yet again returned.

I was just approaching the river and Wally looked up and I actually said to him “Nice weather for ducks!”, just 10 seconds later I arrive at the river to find……a Duck!

Just standing there in a shallow part of the river was a Muscovy Duck. This is not a native species to Portugal, it’s roots are South America. However, it is a common Duck here in Portugal as an Egg layer and perhaps meat. The fact that this particular Duck was almost completely White puts it in the “Domestic” category, although there are many Feral species in Portugal too. At some stage they would of escaped captivity.

As I didn’t have a camera, I did my best to snap a photo from a distance on my phone. It eventually flew thanks to Wally, although he was actually scared of it, but it soon turned around and came back to land in the same spot.

The photos don’t show what one looks like, so here is a photo from Wikipedia, as you can see, a strange-looking Duck! This photo is a Drake where as the female doesn’t grow such a substantial Caruncle (The red warty thing on their face).

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