Life has had other things in store for me lately, so posting to my blog was sidelined. My intent of sharing my joy of nature’s wonders remains. I begin with today’s post of an image that I like for its composition and content.

The composition follows the rule of 1/3s with the grasshoppers on the right third. Ideally I’d have the subject on the right third, since eyes tend to look from left to right; your eyes would “rest” on the right 1/3 more naturally. But the background flowers leaning to the left work to send one’s eye back to the subject on the left. Depth is created with a definitive background and foreground.

Two prairie natives appear in this image. The Cup Plant (Silphium perfoliatum) was on the edge of a trail bordering a patch of preserved prairie inside the Cook County Forest Preserve. Typical of native prairie plants, this tall, deep-rooted plant commands attention with its sunny blooms. The Differential Grasshopper (Melanoplus differentialis), as evidenced from this image, mates in the fall and prefers flourishing flora. Egg pods will be laid and buried one to two inches underground and hatch the following spring.