Dave Ryan Fossils

01/30/2026

missed the strikes from the suprised thunder storm the other night. huge bummer. looking forward to hopefully an active spring. took this shot after convincing clients we should not be out on the field during the incoming squall. they really resisted but i’m glad they finally listened to me. not a very compelling foreground but quite a fun strike. cameras
📷 om1mkii 12-40 f2.8
🌅 1/60” f/18 iso80

omsystems olympus om1 planet_earth_shots lightningbolt bolt thunderstorm stormchasing supercell stormclouds stormhour charleston charlestonsc weatherphotography ig_stormclouds landscape landscapephotography landscapes raw_skies girlswhobolt cloudstagram storm_scape lightningmafia dreamworldimages lightningspotters

04/16/2025

After many long months without a lightning storm I finally got to Chase one the other day. And well I did get a couple bolts on camera before the rain rolled in. They were very far away and not very good but it was still fun. Here’s one of the first pictures of lightning I ever took. Kind of missed the focus in the background, but the bolts is nice.

🌅 8” f/5 iso200 cameras .generation

12/02/2024

I discovered this new spot right at the very end of my first storm season so i was pretty stoked to get this frame. One of my favorite lightning images I’ve captured and it was only 5 miles from my house! I struggled mightily with the sky in post CC welcome. After white balance correction with the dropper it changed to an almost neon purple which was a bit strange. Not thrilled with final output will rework at some point. This storm was intense and there were numerous folks out in boats just cruisin around while this was going on.
cameras
📷 om1mkii 12-40 f2.8
🌅 1/60” f/3.2 iso100

11/13/2024

In August I traveled to the Blue Ridge Mountains with my dog for some camping and fall migration bird watching. We were instead treated to 3 days of lightning and thunder!

Some of the oldest peaks in the world the Blue Ridge Mountains get their name from the signature blue haze which often hangs along the peaks and valleys during the summer months. The trees here release a compound called isoprene to help protect themselves from high temps and insects. Isoprene combines with ozone particles and creates an aerosol which our eyes perceive as blue. Called Rayleigh scattering this visual phenomenon also gives an answer to the age old question; “Why is the sky blue?”
cameras
📷 om1mkii 12-40 f2.8
🌅 1/60” f8 iso80

05/27/2024

Micro Monday!

Check out these osteoderms from Dasypus bellus (pictured on the right), also known as the beautiful armadillo, and the exceedingly rare Pachyarmatherium leiseyi (pictured on the left). I recently collected the osteoderms from these extinct armadillo-like creatures at our 100 acre pit.

While osteoderms from these two animals appear superficially quite similar (I.e. hexagon shaped with variable hair follicle pits) the significantly more rare Pachyarmatherium had thicker osteoderms relative to those of D. bellus.

D. bellus osteoderms range in size from 3.5-5.5 mm with an average of 4.2 mm whereas P. leisyei osteoderms range from 5.5-13.3 mm with an average of 8.9 mm, more than double the size of D. bellus! (Downing K.F., and R.S. White. 1995)

Next time you’re admiring your Dasypus bellus osteoderms break out your ruler and check that thickness. If any of your approximately dime sized, hexagonal osteoderms are greater than 5.5mm thick you’ll be needing to update your label to Pachyarmatherium!

Content originally created by me for the
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Our exhibit can be viewed by visiting Summerville Museum and Research Center, Thursday through Saturday, 10am to 4pm, at 100 East Doty Avenue, Summerville, South Carolina. Our room is located on the second floor.

Specimens collected from 100 acre pit in Ridgeville South Carolina.

Images created with .cameras
Om-1/90mm macro/fl700-wrcameras
.es .de .generation

03/23/2024

I’ve spent the last week removing over 1000 followers who never interact with my posts from my page. My content has changed a good bit since I started posting and i am just hoping for more traction with actually interested people who follow me going forward. It took many hours to manually check if followers were interacting with my content at all lately or if they had in the past. Hurt to lose over a third of my meager list but what’s the point if you’re not here for my stuff. Oh and here’s a super pathological 2.5 inch hastalis I took pics of last night. cameras

03/19/2024

Loving this focus stack of a fused stack of five shark vertebra! What’s your biggest stack of verts? I have a few smaller ones as well. Studies have shown that these most likely fused during the sharks life from an injury or something like arthritis. Glad I got this image before it fully dried as the colors are nice. cameras
.cameras .de .generation

03/03/2024

Pretty little fish tooth(3.5mm) chillin on a piece of sand garnet. Collected together from the Waccamaw Formation. Swipe for a scale pic.

If you’re seeing this on Facebook and want to support my page come comment and like on instagram.com/r00t2400

Shot with .cameras
.es .de .generation .hk @

02/18/2024

Hard to see with the black backround but the cutting edge on this Barracuda caninform tooth is jet black! Imaged with .cameras

Species: Barracuda sp.
Formation: Santee limestone
Age: 45 Mya
Height: 9mm

.de .es .generation

Fossil tour guide @ www.palmetto-fossil-excursions.com

02/11/2024

I only found this periotic today and I know it’s kind of soon but I think I’m in love.
Shot with .cameras

.de .es

02/10/2024

Squatina Squatina aka the angel shark. These unique teeth are some of my favorites to find. Swipe to see an angel shark vertebra and a dermal scale. cameras

01/28/2024

Love these bright little palm warblers. Hoping this works as a portrait let me know in the comments. Getting less than 20 likes on my posts lately make me wonder how many of my followers are bots. Are any of you out there? I miss the days before reels. cameras