Welcome to Picture of the Week #256 covering 3 Mar 2013 through 17 Mar 2013. Thanks to nosliwmit and all of last week's participants for their stellar work. If you would like to host next week please send me a PM, otherwise I will be asking you. This POTW lets you show off any shots you took last week but haven't processed until now. In other words, you can post your shots from this week AND last week. POTW is a great place to show what you've been shooting day-to-day. We can share ideas, learn from one another, tell stories, and have a good time. There are just so many splendid photos out there so let's see them here at POTW 256.

I didn’t start my host recruitment drive for this week soon enough, so I’m going to host again! I’ll be hitting someone up this week though.

Here's a photo of a very colorful beetle that flew onto our balcony during dinner last night.

Again same rules as always:

1) No theme, just post your favorite pix.
2) Lets keep it to fewer than 6 images per post just so the thread doesn't get too big each week.
3) Any Pentax camera or Samsung SLR is fine, whether it's film, P&S, or DSLR.
4) Enter anything you shot last week or during this current week until the thread closes.
5) The current host will appoint the new host as an invitation via Private Message (PM). If possible, the new thread will be linked to the previous one and the new thread will start between Noon EDT and 5PM EDT on Sunday. If the thread doesn't start, please contact bluestringer, Moderator via PM.

Here are the records of previous POTW threads:

1 Peter Zack, 2 Eaglerapids, 3 rmtagg, 4 Peter Zack, 5 daacon, 6 Bramela, 7 mtnbearhug, 8 dantuyhoa, 9 gawan,10 roentarre, 11 daacon, 12 Kris, 13 mtnbearhug, 14 SCGushue, 15 daacon, 16 maxwell1295, 17 dantuyhoa, 18 daacon, 19 maxwell1295, 19(2) daacon, 20 Bramela, 21 Syb, 22 maxwell1295, 23 maxwell1295, 24 dantuyhoa, 25 Gawan, 26 Peter Zack, 27 borno, 28 daacon, 29 gawan, 30 Damn Brit, 31 maxwell1295, 32 maxwell1295, 33 dantuyhoa, 34 daacon, 35 Peter Zack, 36 Damn Brit, 37 Borno, 38 Kevint, 39 Peter Zack, 40 Timbo13, 41 daacon, 42 daacon, 43 gawan, 44 dantuyhoa, 45 daacon, 46 Rense, 47 daacon, 48 Rense, 49 borno, 50 Rense, 51 daacon, 52 Peter Zack, 53 Peter Zack, 54 dadipentax, 55 David Whiteley, 56 planedriver, 57 daacon,58 Bramela, 59 daacon, 60 gawan, 61 virgilr, 62 daacon, 63 RickL, 64 Peter Zack, 65 Peter Zack, 66 Causey, 67 daacon, 68 Bramela, 69 georgeweb, 70 daacon,71 seacapt, 72 daacon, 73 AOski, 74 Rense, 75 eccs19, 76 daacon, 77 xs400, 78 daacon, 79 Bramela, 80 Borno, 81 legacyb4, 82 daacon, 83 gawan, 84 Rense, 85 Peter Zack, 86 davef, 87 davef, 88 xjjohnno, 89 Bramela, 90 Peter Zack, 91 daacon, 92 stevebrot, 93 reeftool, 94 jezza323, 95 oldschool, 96 Iris, 97 Rense, 98 planedriver, 99 xs400, 100 Peter Zack, 101 Netuser, 102 Photolady, 103 Tamia, 104 Irishwhite, 105 Ramseybuckeye, 106 xjjohnno, 107 Bumbibop, 108 JeffJS, 109 Tpeace, 110 Nomad, 111 Photolady, 112 rparmar, 113 Peter Zack, 114 casil403, 115 Tamia , 116 JeffJS, 117 bbluesman, 118 Clou, 119 ruggiex, 120 Jimbow007, 121 jmschrie, 122 VaughnA , 123 pop4, 124 casil403, 125 woof, 126 twitch, 127 stevebrot, 128 ohce, 129 jmschrei, 130 photolady, 131 photolady, 132 bbluesman, 133 rparmar, 134 reeftool, 135 reeftool, 136 Oldschool, 137 xjjohonno, 138 KarenH , 139 Rense, 140 daacon, 141 Tamia, 142 JeffJS, 143 bbluesman, 144 fotaki, 145 fotaki, 146 Woof, 147 Bramela, 148 Bramela, 149 Tamia, 150 Nomad, 151 Clou, 152 drugal, 153 rparmar, 154 Nomad, 155 jmschrei, 156 noelcmn, 157 noelcmn, 158 rwfarnell, 159 ramseybuckeye, 160 christophleipzig, 161 JeremytheIndian, 162 SpecialK, 163 emetcalf, 164 emetcalf, 165 stevebrot, 166 rparmar, 167 Mattt, 168 JeffJS, 169 jmschrei, 170 fotaki, 171 xs400, 172 TOUGEFC, 173 TOUGEFC, 174 Warped, 175 MaryAD, 176 Davidw0815, 177 baro-nite, 178 baro-nite, 179 pentaximus, 180 lukulele, 181 lukulele, 182 rob 1234, 183 lukulele, 184 lukulele, 185 pentaximus, 186 ramseybuckeye, 187 ramseybuckeye, 188 StDevious, 189 Free Soul, 190 Clou, 191 brvnara, 192 pentaximus, 193 Noelcmn, 194 Noelcmn 195 GmcarsMAN, 196 jmschreii,197 wolfiegirl, 198 xjjohnno, 199 Arn , 200 Peter Zack, 201 bluestringer, 202 cif, 203 Rollsup, 204 noelcm, 205 Davidw0815, 206 Davidw0815, 207 cif, 208 ramseybuckeye, 209 paulh, 210 Oldschool, 211 SpecialK, 212 mecrox, 213 pentaximus, 215 bramela, 216 jmschrei, 217 Exandr, 218 Noelcmn, 219 Noelcmn, 220 sergiu, 221 sergiu, 222 sergiu, 223 sergiu, 224 sergiu, 225 sergiu, 226 sergiu, 227 sergiu, 228 Davidw08, 229 reeftool, 230 reeftool, 231 cif, 232 mecrox, 233 mecrox, 234 glennbp, 235 glennbp, 236 pentaximus, 237 pentaximus, 238 pentaximus,239 Paul, 240 Nick Nero, 241 Arnold, 242 Arnold, 243 Arnold, 244 Arnold, 245 Nick Nero, 246 ramseybuckeye, 247 ramseybuckeye, 248 Douge, 249 Douge 250 Douge, 251 Dr Orloff, 252 lukulele, 253 lukulele, 254 nosliwmit, 255 nosliwmit

[jmschrei]

Love that cardinal Tom, we don't get them out here.

I have continued playing with my new MX-1 but many of the shots have been meant to test capability and therefore less than exciting subject wise.
Here are a couple I liked:

[noelcmn]

Some more from my two weeks
Colorful Moth


Tombstones and Towers

[mecrox]

Many thanks for hosting nosliwmit. There are some simply superb pictures this week of birds and insects and I also really like the waterfall from ruggiex and winona's lovely portraits. Plus, great to see someone else here has an MX-1. Here are a few from me, all using an MX-1 too.



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[paulh]

I agree with mecrox - a beautiful collection of shots this week!
Here's a couple recent ones, both using the old *istD & 18-55 kit lens...

While waiting for the wife in a parking lot near downtown Dallas - our dog Jeannie dozed off while watching traffic...



Some odd-looking sky...

[casil403]

Some winter colour that I desperately need on a dreary day:

[ramseybuckeye]

I agree with mecrox - a beautiful collection of shots this week!
Here's a couple recent ones, both using the old *istD & 18-55 kit lens...
While waiting for the wife in a parking lot near downtown Dallas - our dog Jeannie dozed off while watching traffic...

Paul, that's a great shot of your dog! Really clever!

Some winter colour that I desperately need on a dreary day:

Lisa, these are some great soft earthy colors

I had a great day, I took a couple of photos through the back door glass of some of the goldfinches that have started to show up, still changing from their winter plumage:




Then we went for about an hours drive to try to find a snowy owl, two had been reported about 50 miles from home. We found then both:

[noelcmn]

Stunning last shot there Tom. I am so envious!
Casil403- your shot reminded me of this one I took on the 3rd. Autumn has arrived, and there's a nip in the air, especially in the mornings. Temperatures coming down, which I guess means that spring and summer is on its way in the north.


Dragonfly on the twig


And a balloon on a rusty pole

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Last edited by noelcmn; 03-17-2013 at 04:23 AM.

[wolfiegirl]

Thanks for hosting, nosliwmit.

Looks like I'm cutting it fine this week.

Found this in the backyard:

that's one wicked looking spider. wouldn't want to come across that unawares!!

Had opportunity on Saturday to capture some butterflies at a church function I had to attend.

the colours are so vibrant!!


@ mecrox - love that first black and white!

here's a few from this week.

a little blurry but she's too cute to not share it.



and some more flowers from wolfie boy



tamron 90mm macro, k-01

[nosliwmit]

Some great photos to close out the thread! Love the "autumn" colors Lisa. And Tom--I'm very envious of the snowy owl photos!

I think Lisa's on the hook to start next week's thread. Thanks to all for participating in the last three POTWs!

[trmoore]

Greetings from Panama (again)! Thanks for posting. Nice to see some new contributors here!
Here's a few photos I took on Sunday while on an excursion in the Cerro Azul area east of Panama City. The first is a swallow-tailed kite. Not a very good photo but I hadn't seen one here before and I discovered when I downloaded the photo that it had an iguana or large lizard in its craw. The ant just looked cool--almost a metallic brass color on it. No idea if the bug in the last photo is a hatchling, a scavenger or just a bystander...

Your "ant" is a fraud. Count the legs: it has 8. It's a spider that mimics the appearance of an ant. I don't know the specific species this one represents, but they are fascinating. Some can even mimic pheromones and infiltrate ant colonies.