You put way too much effort into photographing an insect or other animal under poor lighting conditions because it might be identifiable. Like I had a tripod setup trying to take a picture of a cricket at night when I was in the Philippines.
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y’all insect specialists especially are really on another level with your pictures. Hats off o7
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I am very much not an insect specialist, I just know insects are a pain to ID, and there’s a ton of them in the Philippines. As far as I’m concerned, any insect I find while traveling is probably new and might possibly be an endemic, so do whatever you can.
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https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/233426362
same here :)
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Ah my apologies. I think my point still stands though, and I applaud anyone who takes the time to ensure a good shot with reasonable lighting, the insect is in focus, etc etc. I get frustrated just trying to photograph local bees with my phone in broad daylight…
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…When you regularly and urgently tell your entire extended family to instantly stop making any noise, because you want to get a recording of a bird sound.
Bonus points if it’s super common bird that nobody except you cares about in the least haha
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I’m not surprised. Trying to photograph anything but people and landscapes with phone is a major pain.
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… when you are stopped by a police patrol (probably reported by a neighbor) for having spent an hour in the middle of the night scrutinizing the old mossy wall of a private property in the nice neighborhoods
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Did that happend to you?
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Yes, it happened to me, and I had to show my photos and a captured harvestman… The policemen were quite understanding, but it was a weird experience, reported here :
https://www.insecte.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1647716#p1647716
and the harvestman was the first of its species in the department :)
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It’s all I’ve been using. It’s a challenge!
The pain comes from the photographer’s yoga, we can’t just reach in with a quality zoom.
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right. 
…when you run 3 miles to find a Apyllon that was mark on a trail one day ago (this will be the most human traffic the trail has seen in decades)
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…you start watching the iNat webinar, listening more than looking… you subconsciously walk outdoors and the webinar pauses every couple of minutes automatically while you photograph more to post on iNat … that webinar took a long time…
So glad it was recorded, I watched it later all in one go! That was excellent!!
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… The cops know you by name because of how many times they’ve gotten calls about a “suspicious person” lurking about taking photos but you’re just trying to document nocturnal / night-flowering species.
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…when you earn a badge for “devotee” because you show up here every day for 365 in-a-row…
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I found comfort in being able to exchange “Hello” with the local officers by name!
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Yup!!
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Is there any other way of life?
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I take a picture and then slap them!
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&taxon_id=52134&user_id=texas_nature_family&verifiable=any
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