Psychedelic Spiders of Okinawa by Shawn Miller

Posted on July 30, 2018 by Admin11

I have been photographing fluorescence for over five years now. Mainly underwater but lately I have been testing the technique on land. I often find insects, spiders, and plants that fluoresce using a specialized Light&Motion Sola Nightsea light. Some of the micro-spiders fluoresce brightly under blue light, the challenge is to get an acceptable photograph.

Below are some comparison photographs of spiders. The first photograph was taken under blue light and the second under white light using on-camera flash. All the spiders were photographed in their natural habitat on the beautiful Island of Okinawa.

Jumping spider -Fluorescence © Shawn Miller

Jumping spider – flash © Shawn Miller

Yanbaru jumping spider

Spider and fluorescence© Shawn Miller

Spider under white light © Shawn Miller

Onomustus kanoi © Shawn Miller

Onomustus kanoi & shadow © Shawn Miller

The custom Light & Motion fluorescence setup for these land-based subjects.

Fluorescence photography setup © Shawn Miller

The giant wood spiders (Nephila maculata) of Okinawa fluoresce under UV light.

giant wood spiders (Nephila maculata)

Giant wood spiders (Nephila maculata)

I used my nauticam underwater setup with NIGHTSEA’s fluorescence excitation filters to photograph the wood spiders.

Nauticam Fluorescence setup

My Mission: To Document and Preserve the Wildlife of the Ryukyu Islands

This site is also designed to help people identify the beautiful animals of Okinawa, basically to serve as an online nature reference guide. If you would like to make a contribution to support my mission, please click on the donation link paypal.me/maketheswitch4nature

Your donations will help conservation initiatives as well as bring solutions to the worldwide pollution issues on our beautiful shorelines. Thank you for your support, Shawn M Miller.

#MakeTheSwitch4Nature

Light&Motion exploration lights – https://www.lightandmotion.com/the-perfect-light

Frogfish of Okinawa by Shawn Miller

Posted on July 23, 2018 by Admin11

Frogfish are found throughout the Ryukyu Islands in shallow water. They are popular subjects for underwater macro photographers in Okinawa. They are masters of camouflage and mimicry so they can be difficult to find. The juveniles resemble toxic nudibranchs, tunicates, seaweed, algae, soft corals, and sponges.

Warty clownfish (Antennarius maculatus) © Shawn Miller

Spotted frogfish (Antennarius pictus) © Shawn Miller

Scarlet frogfish (Antennarius coccineus) © Shawn Miller

Painted clownfish (Antennarius maculatus)

Painted frogfish (Antennarius pictus) © Shawn Miller

They are also known as anglerfish. They spend most of their time staying in one location using a specialized fishing pole and lure to attract prey. They are vicious hunters and are capable of swallowing fish larger than itself.

Spotted clownfish fishing (Antennarius pictus) © Shawn Miller

They move slowly, crawling over the reef with their pectoral fins or by using jet propulsion in open water.

Sargassum Frogfish (Histrio histrio) © Shawn Miller

On several occasions, I have seen large anglers the size of a football at Maeda point” Meet Frogzilla ”

Giant frogfish (Antennarius commersoni) © Shawn Miller

Sometimes humans see random faces on natural objects. The scientific term for this is Pareidolia. Can you see the frogfish resemblance?

Sponge or Frogfish © Shawn Miller

Faces in the Yanbaru forest © Shawn Miller

Linchens and frogfish © Shawn Miller

My Mission: To Document and Preserve the Wildlife of the Ryukyu Islands

Your donations will help worldwide conservation initiatives as well as bring solutions to the worldwide pollution issues on our beautiful shorelines. Thank you for your support. Shawn M Miller.

The Blue Rock Thrush – Birds of Okinawa by Shawn Miller

Posted on July 10, 2018 by Admin11

The Blue rock thrush (Monticola solitarius) is one of the most fascinating and abundant birds of The Ryukyu Islands. They are a common species found in urban areas. I have observed these birds eating food from peoples hands.

Scientific name: (Monticola solitarius)
Common Name: Blue Rock Thrush
Distribution: Ryukyu Islands
Habitat: Forests, Parks, and local neighbors
Diet: Butterflies, moths, spiders, caterpillars, and fruit
Average Size: 25cm

The female is all brown with a striped pattern. The male is dark blue with an orange breast and belly.

Breeding season occurs April through July. When the Hatchling emerge the parents are on high alert and become noisy and aggressive defending their young.

This young hatchling left the nest prematurely. It survived four full days roaming the neighborhood wisely on the ground.

Somewhere on its journey, it picked up some fishing line.

These birds are curious and intelligent birds. A wide-angle macro perspective of the male blue rock thrush with its wings spread.

Look close and you can see the nicitating membrane, its used to protect and moisten the eye.

We pulled up to a fight scene. A rock thrush and a praying mantis fighting in the middle of the road. The rock-thrush flew away and the praying mantis stood its ground. Photographed using my iPhone.

Fighting pose - Preying mantis, IPhone 6s

Know your Nature with Shawn Miller.

Okinawa Nature Photography

沖縄自然写真 By Shawn Miller

Monthly Archives: July 2018

Psychedelic Spiders of Okinawa by Shawn Miller

Frogfish of Okinawa by Shawn Miller

The Blue Rock Thrush – Birds of Okinawa by Shawn Miller