Colors of My Heart

While living in Los Angeles, California, I often visited The Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch during this season to see the fields of ranunculus flowers. The sight of the colorful ranunculus blooms spreading across the area, contrasted beautifully with the blue sky. During the season, freshly picked strawberries are available at the shop by the flower fields, and I had the pleasure of savoring them while admiring the picturesque landscape. In addition to the beautiful flower fields, a large outlet mall nearby offered plenty of shopping opportunities, which I often enjoyed. At that time, I was transitioning from film cameras to digital, and I took many photos with the Olympus Pen camera. Fifteen years later, I think the images captured with the Pen are  still   wonderful.     Olympus PEN E-P2 ／ M.Zuiko ED 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 ／ 1/500s ／ F11 ／ ISO200 ／ 0.0     Olympus PEN E-P2 ／ M.Zuiko ED 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 ／ 1/400s ／ F11 ／ ISO200 ／  0.0   ...

These photos were taken in April fifteen years ago with a PEN E-P2. At that time, I was thoroughly enjoying digital photography and took my camera wherever I went. These shots capture a ladybug that happened to wander by while I was photographing the poppies blooming in my garden. It was basking in the warm spring sunshine, relaxing on the petals of the poppy flowers. ​​​​​​​​The Seven-spotted Ladybug is one of the most commonly seen ladybugs in Japan. As its name suggests, it has seven black spots on its back. It measures about 5 to 8 mm in length and is characterized by its bright red or orange wing covers. This species are widely distributed around the world. This ladybug is a predatory insect that primarily feeds on aphids, which are pests that damage crops. Because of this, it plays an important role in agriculture and horticulture as a natural enemy of aphids. As a result, the Seven-spotted Ladybug is often welcomed as a beneficial insect. Its larvae, like the adults, also feed o...