Photoshoot with Cicadas

This Spring, two different broods of cicadas — one that lives on a 13-year cycle and the other that lives on a 17-year cycle — emerged at the same time from underground. Billions of the winged insects made an appearance across the Midwest and the Southeast.

These types of cicadas are periodical insects that spend most of their lives underground feeding on tree roots. After 13 years or 17 years, depending on their brood, the cicadas will tunnel to the surface to reach maturity and engage in a monthlong, noisy search for a mate.

When these insects emerge, they do so in big numbers. And they’re not exactly quiet in their mating frenzy.

The insects are known to emit a high-pitched buzz, or mating song, that can reach up to 100 decibels — roughly equivalent to a motorcycle or jackhammer.

The insects themselves are harmless to humans but guess what… I WOULD NEVER EVER put them on my face like Bella did for me. I wouldn’t even pick them up. I do come up with weird crazy picture ideas that I would never do it myself, but lucky me, I have Bella that is not afraid of anything, except spiders. Once, this girl got into a green swamp, with leaches, and turtles, and slimy mud, other nasty stuff growing and living in a murky water for a picture . She is the one to go to for weird “shit” .

Luckily where I live, we don’t have cicadas, because we don’t have any old trees around, but only 5 minutes away – there are millions of them, flying, bouncing into you, sticking to you… I mean gross. I screamed so much and almost dropped my camera a few times. Did I place those cicadas on her? OH, HELL NO! But I did capture it. From far far away. I knew we only have a couple more weeks left before they are all gone. It had to be done. And we did it! I mean SHE DID IT