Since posting the picture of the damselfly, in my photo of the month, I have realised that I had missed a huge opportunity while I lived in Australia.

I can remember, not long after I met my now wife, I took her and the girl that she came out to Australia with to a place not far from home called Manton Dam. I took them to the low side of the wall, where there is a path that takes you right to the foot of the wall. It was a lovely dry season day, the sun was out, a cool breeze was blowing…

… well cool for the Top End, pretty much anywhere else in the world would, it would be considered hot as hell.

Anyway, as we arrived at the wall, it was fairly dry with no water going over the top but the lake at the bottom, was still fairly full. The insect life, however, was off the charts, there were dragonflies and butterflies everywhere, along with a whole plethora of other flying insects. There were plenty of big dragonflies that landed on grass or branches near us. But I didn’t even try to take pictures of them.

I’m not 100% sure why, but I can only explain it as, I have seen these insects year in, year out for my whole life, so they just became part of the background and I had become incapable of seeing them as a subject.

It gets worse though, as one of the things that most stood out to Vicky when she first arrived in Darwin was a picture of a green ant that she saw in the gallery of a well known local photographer. Green ants are extremely common in the northern parts of Australia and all my childhood, there were multiple nests in trees all through the backyard and indeed the neighbourhood.

Don’t get me wrong, I'm not saying I never took pictures of minibeasts, I’m just saying that with the vast array of small creatures n offer in Australia, I had ample opportunity to do so but for the most part I didn’t. and looking back most are not great quality photos.

 Just a little side note, it looks like the first image is of a Damselfly, so it seems like they are found in both the UK and Australia.

It was until the final year of my BA, that I really focused on closeup photography (pardon the pun) and it is something that I have continued to practice and expand on. And I am really enjoying it, however, it highlights all the opportunities I have missed in the past and that is what has been bugging me.

As much as the past missed opportunities have bugged me, I am glad I have been able to identify this shortcoming so that I can work on it, and it is something that I am working on.

How abut you, is there an opportunity that you have missed, and if so can it be amended?