Still Life:

My definition of still life images covers a rather broad range of interpretation--even within the natural world, where a lot of my photography lives.

The life cycle of the cicada is extremely interesting. The cicada nymphs hatch from their eggs in trees. After a few days they fall to the earth and burrow underground, where they spend their time tunneling through dirt and eating sap from the tree roots. They live that way for 13 or 17 years (depending on the species). After their time is up, the nymphs wait for the soil at 8-inches depth to reach 64 degrees. Then they emerge from the earth to molt one last time (as pictured above). They have reached their adult form when their fresh exoskeletons have hardened. They now have 4-6 weeks to live. The adult males lay their eggs in trees and start the process all over again.

A crepe myrtle blossom has fallen on an oakleaf hydrangea shrub to add a bit of color to my found still life.