Millipede
Found a millipede while camping at Cochiti Lake, NM in July 2017
Found a millipede while camping at Cochiti Lake, NM in July 2017
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Aug, 2017Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken at Cochiti Rec Area, Ringtail Cat Loop, Cochiti Lake, NMTime
This is one of my favorite photos from one of my favorite campgrounds in New Mexico. I saw this millipede crawling across the ground and couldn't remember if millipedes were poisonous or centipedes were poisonous. So I grabbed my hiking stick and gently poked this little millipede. He instantly curled himself up into this shape, which reminded me of the nautilus seashell. Since I always have my cell phone on me. I took a few pictures of this amazing arthropod. As soon as the threat of my hiking stick was gone, the millipede straightened himself up and went on his way. Before he got too far, the sky got very cloudy and it started raining. I guess he was originally looking for higher ground before I found him, and I noticed that he didn't seem to care for all the water he suddenly found himself in, so I used my hiking stick and got him to climb up on it, and then I deposited him on the branch of a nearby bush. Afterwards, I went through the photographs and picked the best image I saw and deleted the rest.Lighting
Nothing really special about the lighting. It was taken outdoors on a cloudy day.Equipment
This was shot using my old LG cellphone, which I no longer have.Inspiration
I saw something crawling on the ground that was something I'd never seen in real life. I've watched nature programs on TV that showed millipedes and centipedes but had never seen one in real life. As the millipede walked on the ground, he wasn't a photo opp subject until I interacted with him and he rolled himself up into the shape you see in the photo. The ground was damp underneath him, and the contrast and lighting was just right for me to take a few photos. I was surprised that the quality of this photo taken with my cellphone camera came out so well.Editing
Yes. I originally took about 6 photos of this millipede. This one had the best composition and I edited the sharpness and depth twice to get it perfect.In my camera bag
Who needs a camera bag? I use my cell phone to take all of my photos.Feedback
Take your time. Take more than one photo Even if you're using a digital device like a cellphone, you still might need to edit the photo using a number of different apps to help you get the image you saw in your mind before you took the shot.
