If the park offers this event again, I may bring a very small container to isolate one individual at a time.
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Observer: Complains that it is stuck at genus forever.
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To be fair, sometimes its hard to know what to photograph unless you have done extensive research on a group beforehand. I try to take good, clear photos of as many different angles of an organism as possible but even then it isnāt enough sometimes.
One time, I saw a really cool weevil on my back window, so I took several photos and went on my merry day.
Doing research later, it turns out there are only 2 species in my area. Great!, I thought to myself.
Turns out, they are both pretty much identical, except one is slightly larger on average than the other. I didnāt happen to have a ruler on me while photographing, and it was gone by the time I went back, so guess that one will be staying at genus indefinitely.
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Hands down for me itās micro-cup fungi
I find photographing dragonflies & damselflies difficult. Theyāre just so thin and I hardly find them resting.
I guess also many birds can be difficult to photograph. Especially small songbirds when theyāre hiding behind many layers of branches. Hereās one from a while back where I couldnāt get the camera to autofocus (and it was moving to much to focus manually.)
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And whoās going to be the one with the courage to click that āAs good as it can beā box???
As the shot was taken at your home, you might be able to still get the size with a little extra observational work.
Tape or stick a ruler as close to the position of the spot that you can remember. Take a few shots within the zoom range you photographed the weevil.
Now go to a photo editor with layer support and copy an area of your original shot of the specimen, plus, say, an additional 50% of the surrounding background.
Itās that background texture that holds the key to the measurement. Once the texture looks the same when you twiddle with the weevil layer size (dragging the overlayed shot) you can use the ruler to gauge the specimen.
Iād be happy to help do this part if you need some help or donāt have the software. Just message me the ruler shot.
Iām sure this can be done and that we could then quickly determine whether you have the greater or theā¦ [ahem]
ā¦lesser of two weevils.
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What specifically do you find the most difficult part of capturing these? Maybe I can help. Iāve done a little of this and from that experience it seems to me the main challenge is managing depth of field with high macro magnification.
Is that it?
Hi, and welcome to the forum!
Your frustration summarizes about 95 percent of the frustrations that you hear from many other birdwatchers (certainly myself included).
A bird on a bare branch is worth ten in a bush, right?
Aside from learning to appreciate the sparse foilage of the spring migration scene, I think that youāre on the right path with focusing (ahem) on ultimately using manual focus.
For me, a bird hopping about in the leaves is where you really appreciate a lens with real good, manual override. Or even a true manual, no auto.
What camera or camera lens are you using? Maybe we could work out some ideas to help.
BTW, is the bird shot you posted from a posted iNat observation? I can almost guarantee you could get a full ID with that one.
Iāve actually since moved to a different state, but I appreciate the offer!
I didnāt think Sisyrinchium was so complicated. I originally rather thought of Carex and Cyperus for the flowering/fructification issue.
By the way, what about Gamochaeta with concolorous leaves? Itās really driving me madā¦
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I am by no means a professional photographer. A friend gifted me a Canon Rebel T6 and two lenses. I use a 75-300mm lens for birds. I only learned how to use a camera because I wanted to take better pictures of nature.
Observation to the bird photo: http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/115916934ā¦
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I oftentimes bring rulers when I go out just for this reason. I couldnāt find many examples but hereās one of a plant:
Today, however, a living beetle just landed directly onto my setup. Even directly next to the ruler.
(http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/182113311)
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Wasps. They look super cool buzzing about and then they never, ever land. Or if they do, itās long enough for you to start raising your camera but not long enough to actually get a photo off.
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I love to be contrarian here. The first step is to be not scared of stings and the second is probably a bit of luck 
Wear sandals https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/133954693
Setup a moth sheet https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/181148764
Find one on a leaf https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/180580709
Share your lunch https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/176914993
Slowly approach a flower https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/165668173
Pick it up in the rain https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/165386862
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My favorite wasp to see (blue-eyed heroes, really)
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After looking for ages, I just got my first (quite terrible) bat photos tonight :
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I would not say annoying. Difficult, sometimes almost impossible, yes, but not annoying because difficulty is part of the fun. I mean, I can easily take better photos of vultures in a zoo, for example, but Iād prefer my blurry pictures taken in the wild, they are more exciting! Of course, it would be different if I had specific goals to achieve, like professional photographers and naturalists.
I am so happy to stop singing ā Some Day My Prints Will Comeā!
Sometimes I have been able to get perched dragonflies the morning after a heavy rain. See: