Hi folks!
After sharing some findings regarding shooting arachnids in this article I would say it’s time for another post about insects. After all, both subjects are proudly representing the beauty of macro photography. Both can be cute, interesting, unusual and scary in the same time. Well, honestly speaking I find arachnids scarier but this is just my personal taste.
Back to insects, I had more photographic sorties in the last three months. They proved to be pretty effective as I got to notice some interesting and challenging subjects like: a beautiful blue damselfly, a strong well built yellow dragonfly and a couple of mating ladybugs. I also witnessed a bee exiting its nest (which was built straight on the ground and made me think it’s actually created by ants). Well, I had to take many shots in order to get a usable frame as the bee was repeatedly moving its head in and out. But I say it was definitely worth trying. Too bad I didn’t take a closer shot but I would say its good enough as it is.
Regarding dragon- and damselflies in my opinion it’s not so difficult to take pictures of them, yet there are some things that need to be taken into account. First, they have a long body. If one needs to take a profile picture the position of the camera should be as perpendicular as possible to the body of the insect. Second, they can also get easily scared. However the good thing is that once they take off they usually come back pretty quickly and land in the same place or one which is close to the initial spot (say the neighbouring plant). This is a delight comparing to bees or butterflies which cover a much greater area and once gone they usually don’t return.
Houseflies and bugs are relatively easy to photograph as they stay longer on the plant comparing to bees. Sometimes they like to continually move on the flower in search for food but in many situations they stand still so there’s plenty of time to take several pictures of them. As for the mating ladybugs I had to be very patient as the wind was blowing at the moment and I had to wait some good minutes until it decided to take a break. Nevertheless I managed to get a picture where the heads of both insects was in focus. This can be pretty challenging when shooting mating insects from above as the right angle needs to be found so both partners are correctly focused.
Well, so much for the “talk”. I will now let you enjoy the pictures. Feel free to express your thoughts, opinions and improvement ideas (if any).
Take care. And … good light!
PS. Check these posts too:
Insects. And Some Findings on Photography and Editing
Call of Nature 