Last night I let the dogs out for the last time before we all went to bed and I noticed a moth on the porch wall. When I got a good look, I just about fell over, WHAT A BEAUTY!!! I was really tired when I stepped outside, but the second I saw this moth, I sprang to life and told Steve that I had to take pictures of an amazing moth I had found! On went the macro flash and I got my pictures! :) A *HUGE THANKS* to Bennet Kent for identifying this moth for me! I'm so happy that I know what species this is: the Ornate Tiger Moth!

One of the things that drives me crazy about taking pictures of critters that land on the outside walls is that they are white and the paint isn't smooth at a macro scale. It suddenly occurred to me that if I could find a picture of white birch bark, I could just use that texture instead of the white wall. I can't believe how great it worked, it's just about impossible to tell that this moth is actually on a white wall! And now that I have the texture, I'll see about finding some others and this way I won't be so against taking pictures of the amazing insect life that we find at night when we leave the porch light on! :D HOORAY!

A huge THANKS to Ann over at Doodles and Jots, who has a whole page full of fabulous bark textures in a very large size, perfect for using as replacement textures for undesirable backgrounds! :)

Russell Lynes (Joseph Russell Lynes, Jr.) December 2, 1910 – September 14, 1991) was an American art historian, photographer, author and managing editor of Harper's Magazine. Wikipedia: Russell Lynes