News from Patrick Zephyr

I just got back from some Family time in Florida - and a tiny bit of exploring and light chasing :-) I found my first gopher tortoise, a cuban treefrog,  and lots of geckos and lizards!!! I also had a photoshoot with a Eurasian Eagle Owl, Great Horned Owl, and a Burrowing Owl thanks to the folks at Busch Wildlife Sancuaryt. I also had some fun sunrise shoots at Coral Cove State Park. My busy show season is just a couple of weeks away and I'm excited to be hanging a show at the Massachusetts Fish and Wildlife in Hadley, MA next month. After debating about the theme for a while I decided to go with jumping spiders :-)!!!!!!!  On the jumping spider note- I was thrilled to find some male and female Phidippus Reguis jumpers while down in Florida thanks to some guidance from the expert, Don at phids.net!!! Editing???? When??? So much new work but not enough hours in the day. I'll just keep shooting and exploring and get to the editing someday :-) Shooting plans for the spring- work on chasing down a few remaining MA jumpers and wander in the night with the Milk Way. 

The morning air is crisp and the leaves are fallling! I've been very busy with life and family but excited to wander in the fog this fall. The weekend October workshop is just a few weeks away! I had a blast chasing the Milky Way and did a bunch of shooting in the night this past summer. I'll try to post some soon. I try to keep things simple and do everything myself but I guess that means it takes a while to get to editing and posting when there are stars and colors and creatures to chase!!!  

After the coldest winter on record it seems like there was no spring this year. Instead we jumped right into hot and humid. It's time to search for the last few jumping spiders I have to photograph to complete my jumping spiders of Massachusetts project. I hope to put an ebook on the site at some point. We have some amazingly cool aliens living among us!!! Also, I have finally decided to explore the night landscape and have been having so much fun photographing the Milky Way!!!! I have so many images to share of both the jumpers and the nightscapes. It's hard to sit in the office and edit images when there so much to explore and photograph but I'll try to post some new work soon. Thanks for the support everyone! I truely appreciate it! Happy wandering!

My Art Festival season has started up again !!! Check out my show schedule and come say hello at one of the festivals!

It's been a realy busy stretch for me with Art Festivals almost every weekend for a few months now. In a few days I'll be done with that part of my business for a while and I'm looking forward to looking back at some of the exciting photo adventures I've managed to squeezed into the business of life. Hopefully I'll be posting lots of this new work (landscape and jumpers!!!) this winter. Stay tuned!! Thanks to all for the support and thanks for stopping by! 

I am crazy busy with my show season but have had time to find and photograph many of the jumping spiders on my list for this spring including some species that are very rare or at least rarely photographed. I also spent some time photographing in Acadia National Park early this month. I will try to upload some of my new work soon but for now my free moments are spent in the field chasing the jumpers and the light. Many new images coming soon. When the cold short days of winter arrive and the amazing little aliens that live among us are sleeping and the forest is still and quite maybe I'll find some time to sit in front of my computer and edit some of these images???? That winter light is pretty nice too though.  

I now have three Art Festivals under my belt for this year and many more to come. It always takes me a few weeks to get back into the swing of hauling all my work and setting it up in the early morning hours. This is my 16th year doing it and my body is starting to feel it. To my loyal customers-Thanks for all the support! I pinch myself everyday :-) When I have time I'll be posting lots of new work from the past year but it will be hard as this is the busy selling seaon for me. If only we didn't need $$$. 

Jumping Spider update-

Spring is here and the jumpers are out and about. I have quite a few on my wish list for my jumpers of Massachusetts project. Many of the Habronattus are doing there breeding dance as I write this. Although I have photographed most of the habronattus I have yet to photograph many of the adult male forms. The window to find them is open now in the spring. I was thrilled to photograph an adult male Phiddipus princeps a few weeks ago and some very rare Bryantae form Phidippus audax that I found close to home.  

Although not part of my MA project  I had the unbelievable opportunity to photograph some adult female Phidippus apacheanus jumpers that are more common in the southern US. Thanks Don at Phids.net!!!

Clear skies, warm temperatures- Time to find some jumpers!!!!!!

I have been working on photographing all the jumping spiders native to MA. I had a blast searching all over the state for these amazing creatures last year and now it's time to see what I accomplished. I'll be editing the images from last year and figuring out what little treasure will be on my wish list for this spring. Also, thanks to Don @ Phids.net I had the opportunity to photograph some Regal Jumpers (Phiddipus regius). They are one of the largest jumping spider in North America and not found here in MA.  

I'll be posting all the new work in the jumping spiders gallery soon. You can find some of the new images on my facebook, 500px and flickr pages. I tend to post there first.

I had a crazy cool coyote encounter last week. You can find the story and a short video on my facebook page. 

I just heard that the amphibians started there migration to the breeding pools yesterday!!! It's 20 degrees and snowing here in Pelham, MA so we have a bit to wait:(

Welcome to the online galleries of Patrick Zephyr. We hope you enjoy the new website!