I grew up outside in coastal Texas. My dad took us backpacking and we spent our summers catching toads and lizards. We also volunteered for the Texas Nature Conservancy at Mad Island Marsh Preserve. As I've grown up, I've lost touch with that, and I miss it. I'm trying to reconnect to nature and get my kids to appreciate what's out there instead of being afraid of it.

I'm learning to appreciate spiders myself, and I'm finding that the small unnoticed things in my backyard have smaller more unnoticed things on them, too. There is incredible beauty in some of those tiny things that we walk past every day. I read someone else mention that finding the genus and species of some insects is really difficult and sometimes it takes following a really long key with detailed information. Right now I'm sort of fascinated with tribe Mirini, cave crickets, and jumping spiders, although I really like ferns and want to find some salamanders here, too.

I recently got a new lens for my camera:
Body: Nikon D5500
Lens (macro): AF Micro Nikkor 105mm, 1:2.8 D
Flash: Generic "Speedlight VK750III"
Other: DIY diffuser like this one - https://www.jeremysquire.com/DIY-Macro-photography-flash-diffuser
Notes: I shoot without a tripod in aperture priority mode and push up my F stop to get a greater depth of field. My lens was bought used and the auto focus mode isn't compatible with the camera, but the lens is incredibly crisp. I try to keep it zoomed all the way in and took someone's advice and move myself a little to bring insects into focus.

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