Seaside Dragonlets ovipositing. Kennebunk, Maine, USA. August 2026 — The Seaside Dragonlets thrive in the brackish pools in the marsh along the tidal river. They are one of the few dragonflies that have a high tolerance for saltwater. This pair has just come out of what we call a mating wheel, and the female is depositing the newly fertilized eggs on the surface of the water. They fly in tandem, linked by the grasp of the male behind the female’s head with his special tool made for that purpose, and her grasp of his abdomen with her legs. If you have ever seen them, you know just how fast they are moving, and how close to the water. It is totally amazing to me that the RX10 V can focus on them. I got a whole series of in-focus photos of this interesting behavior. Sony RX10 V at 600mm equivalent, cropped to about 1500mm equivalent field of view. My custom Flight and Action shooting mode. 1/2000th second. Processed in Photomator.

I never tire of this view. Never the same two days in a row. Rarely the same hour to hour. This is my custom Landscape Shooting mode on the new RX10 V, with processing for HDR effect. I am, as with my Sony a7CR and Viltrox 14mm landscapes, looking for a natural balance between the sky detail and the land detail—natural colors across the whole image and a natural range of light. Since the RX10 V no longer has in-camera multiple exposure HDR, I have tried to do my best with adjustments to DRO and Creative Looks. And, of course, some more aggressive post-processing in Photomator, which I have saved to a preset. 24mm equivalent. Consider this another in my pictures of nothing series.

White-tailed Deer, Kennebunk, Maine, USA, August 2026 — There is a whole story about this encounter in my Day Poem today, but suffice it to say that this young buck, still in velvet, with two unequal horns, was right beside the trail through the marsh where it goes into the woods. Probably about 40 feet from me. It was moving away, but stopped to look back over its shoulder at me—as White-tails are apt to do when not feeling particularly threatened. He was in no hurry, so I had time to try a number of different angles, low and high, to try to get the twigs out from in front of his eyes. Sony RX10 V at 600mm equivalent (cropped to about 850mm field of view). My custom Birds and Wildlife shooting mode. Processed from a HEIF file in Photomator.

Snowy Egret: Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, Newberry, MA, USA, August 2026 — I spent a few hours at Plum Island and Parker River National Wildlife Refuge with the new camera yesterday, still trying to build confidence and work out kinks—and of course to see what I could see. There were hundreds of Snowy Egrets, but none very close. Except for this one I caught in a fly-by. Sony RX10 V with my Flight and Action custom shooting mode. 600mm equivalent, cropped about 50% for an effective 850mm field of view. 1/2000th at ISO 100, selected by my shooting mode. Processed in Photomator.

Great Blue Heron: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, August 2026 — This Great Blue Heron has been hanging out by the bridge over the river for several days now. It likes the high tides we have been having, which flood the whole marsh. I rolled up on my e-Trike, a recumbent, and did not even get out of the seat. Just rolled closer and closer. He never did flush, but then I never got that close—he was well out in the marsh. Sony RX10 V at 600mm equivalent (800mm crop). My custom Birds and Wildlife shooting mode. Processed in Photomator.

House Wren: Laudholm Farms, Wells, Maine, August 2026 — Carolina Wrens have completely displaced House Wrens in our neighborhood, so I was happy to see this healthy specimen at Laudholm Farms the other day, popping in and out of an old rock wall. They are such perky birds—wrens of all kinds, but in our area, House Wrens in particular. Sony RX10 V at 600mm equivalent (probably cropped to nearer 800mm). My custom Birds and Wildlife shooting mode. Processed in Photomator.

Immature or Female American Redstart — it is actually quite rare for me to see an American Redstart in Maine. They are among the most common birds when I visit Magee Marsh in Ohio during migration. They are, by all accounts, common breeders in southern Maine, but somehow I just do not see many. Yesterday in the deep forest at Wells Estuarine Research Center at Laudholm Farms, I came on a mixed feeding flock of warblers, finches, chickadees, woodpeckers, and one lone Cardinal, all moving through the understory from ground level to something like 20 feet up in the lower canopy. I was not sure what I was photographing here until the bird flashed its bright tail. Unmistakable! Sony RX10 V at 600mm equivalent, cropped to maybe 800mm field of view. My custom Birds and Wildlife shooting mode. Processed in Photomator.

Eastern Jack-o-Lantern doing what jack-o-lanterns do. Emmons’ Preserve, Kennebunkport Land Trust, Kennebunkport, Maine, USA, August 2026. I cannot remember ever seeing such a spread of big, eye-catching mushrooms. I looked them up and, despite looking good enough to eat, they are poisonous. Sony RX10 V at about 58 and 37mm equivalent for the close-ups—24mm for the wide shot. All with my custom Macro Shooting mode. f/8. Close-ups from my tiny carbon-fiber tripod.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, August 2026 — This is why it is called a Ruby-throat. In the late afternoon of an August day in Southern Maine, that gorget really lights up. Sony RX10 V at 600mm (cropped to maybe 700mm equivalent field of view). Program with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.

More pictures of nothing in particular and everything in general. The tension between the particular and the infinite is always intriguing to observe. Both expansive and intimate. Sony RX10 V at 24mm equivalent field of view. My custom extended range Landscape Mode. Processed for HDR effect in Photomator.