Cute and ugly

I was so excited today, because I was going to my parents' house, which holds a treasure trove of subjects for photography. They have a large garden with lots of flowers, so I was going to practice my macro shooting. Well, it started raining before I got there, and it only stopped when I left. Go figure.


I caught a photo of their adorable little terrier mix, Ben. Since it was dark, and I was kind of reluctant to increase the ISO any further, the shutter speed was low. As a result, the image shows the hallmarks of camera shake and subject motion blur. I think this photo had potential, but now it's too blurry. I guess I could post process it and make it look like I took it through a soft lens.

I managed a rather sharp photo of an ugly fly with my Tamron 90mm macro lens, despite having to stoop over at an awkward angle. I was trying to capture the little red flowers (Ixora) and caught sight of this little fella. Obviously, the photo could have been better if I had used a tripod and external flash, but I'm not sure I want to see this fly in any more detail anyway. Sour grapes?