INSECTS
THE BEGINNING
In 1971, my husband Ron, then Assistant to the Director of the Natural History Museum, Smithsonian Institution, came up with the idea of creating a live Insect Zoo. He felt that the Natural History Museum needed to include something living and, of course, he couldn’t bring in lions and tigers or giraffes. Insects were manageable and easily viewable. Visitors would be able to learn many facets of animal behavior by observing them.
Ron delegated me to be first Director of the Insect Zoo. (It is still going strong 46 years later!) I was pregnant at the time with our first child and happily agreed. It turned out to be a life-defining decision. It was the inception of my fascination, devotion, admiration, and love for these incredible animals.
Beginning to photograph them came many years later.
Ron delegated me to be first Director of the Insect Zoo. (It is still going strong 46 years later!) I was pregnant at the time with our first child and happily agreed. It turned out to be a life-defining decision. It was the inception of my fascination, devotion, admiration, and love for these incredible animals.
Beginning to photograph them came many years later.
PHOTOGRAPHING INSECTS
Ron and I started by being birders. Then, he took up videography -- eventually focusing on insects. I took a camera on our many trips and outings to find insects, but found it frustrating because I had trouble taking good photos of insects.
Then another life-changing event occurred. We went to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas, and I met Valerie Bugh, head of the Fauna Project there. Val Bugh and her band of volunteers take a weekly survey of the invertebrates they encounter in the gardens and on the trails. Val knows everything there is to know about insects (this is not an exaggeration) and is very generous about sharing her knowledge. She says that she became interested in taxonomy when she was 8 years old, which explains a lot about her. It was by observing her method of photographing insects that I learned how to do it myself. She enlarged my life by teaching me how to photographically capture the fascinating creatures you will see on this website.
Then another life-changing event occurred. We went to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas, and I met Valerie Bugh, head of the Fauna Project there. Val Bugh and her band of volunteers take a weekly survey of the invertebrates they encounter in the gardens and on the trails. Val knows everything there is to know about insects (this is not an exaggeration) and is very generous about sharing her knowledge. She says that she became interested in taxonomy when she was 8 years old, which explains a lot about her. It was by observing her method of photographing insects that I learned how to do it myself. She enlarged my life by teaching me how to photographically capture the fascinating creatures you will see on this website.
CICADAS!
COSTA RICA INSECTS
TEXAS INSECTS
INSECT DEFENSE!
INSECT METAMORPHOSIS:COMPLETE
INSECT METAMORPHOSIS: INCOMPLETE
