Like A Kid Again

Carabus problematicus – These photos are from my archives of 2006 and taken with my very first digital camera purchase, a Sony Cybershot DSC-W1, so some finesse is lacking. Yet seeing them after all this time, in fact forgetting I even had them, made me feel like a little kid again, filled with awe and excitement at this extraordinary ground beetle. These are fairly uncommon, but if you get one in your garden they are good at keeping pests down as well as looking rather stunning. They are fairly big, too, at around 30 mm (1 3/16″). Double-click on images to enlarge.

Carabus problematicus
Carabus problematicus

© Peter Hillman ♦ 4th June 2006 ♦ Rear garden, South Staffordshire ♦ Sony Cybershot DSC-W1

41 thoughts on “Like A Kid Again”

  1. Mike Powell
    Reply

    That violet color is stunning, Pete, especially when the photos are enlarged. I know that I geek out sometimes on all of the cool new gear, but your photo reinforces the fact that the older cameras had amazing capabilities. A number of folks have posted photos of images from their archives. I don’t think I can find old images, but may have some of my older cameras. If I can get one working again, it might be fun to go out and shoot with it now and see what kind of images I can get. I certainly know my way around a camera better than I did ten or more years ago.

    Liked by 3 people

    • Peter Hillman
      Reply

      Thank you very much, Mike! I still have the camera, an all in one small compact, which was great at the time, and was such a novelty. There was a macro function but it was quite limiting. Still fun to use at the time 🙂 I guess most smart phones take better pics now.

      Liked by 1 person

  5. wonderful world
    Reply

    What beautiful colours! I think the cybershot are great cameras.. I still use mine cybershot DSC-H400 I also have a Nikon D3200 that I use less and I sure use my phone even more than those 2 lol 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    • Peter Hillman
      Reply

      Thank you 🙂 I have had a Nikon D3200 which I gave to my son, and it is a great camera. I use the Nikon D7200 now 🙂 I am embarassed to say I do not own a smart phon … ahh! 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      • shoreacres

        Don’t be embarassed — I don’t own one either. It’s not a point of pride or a rejection of tech or anything like that. It’s just that they’re expensive, both initially and monthly, and I enjoy learning to use my camera as much as I like the images.

        Liked by 1 person

  12. Sandra J
    Reply

    What a colorful beetle, and the photo is so clear and crisp. Very nice, it is fun to look at the older photos, I find a lot of mine had my finger right in the corner of the shot. 🙂 It took me awhile to quiet doing that.

    Liked by 1 person

  13. krikitarts
    Reply

    I have carefully archived all the (“best”) images from my first digital cameras, although when I upgraded, I passed the old ones on to a dear friend, a working musician with a similar passion for photography but combined with a cash-flow challenge. I am loving going back over some of my early stuff too. All that aside, what a regal beetle!

    Liked by 1 person

  14. Vicki
    Reply

    A very attractive beetle and a pest destroyer as well. What a great combination. I think that camera takes a pretty good close-up too 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    • Peter Hillman
      Reply

      Thank you, Vicki. The trouble with the older cameras I found I couldn’t always get close enough so had to crop the images a fair bit, but because thiis bebtle was so big I didn’t really have that problem 🙂

      Like

  15. Steve Gingold
    Reply

    Love the violet trim on these. I am sure to another of these beetles that color is variable enough for them to recognize each other and possibly even be advertisement for whom would make the best mate. That’s a big beetle for sure. Very nice, Pete.

    Liked by 1 person

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