Creepy Crawlies!

[davent]

Haven't been bug hunting this summer yet so a few from previous warm times. The big bugs wouldn't let me get around the side of them to take a picture they would turn to stare me down. All posted long ago through photobucket...

ipod touch camera

dave

​

 

[troy]

Haven't been bug hunting this summer yet so a few from previous warm times. The big bugs wouldn't let me get around the side of them to take a picture they would turn to stare me down. All posted long ago through photobucket...

ipod touch camera

View attachment 895297

View attachment 895298

View attachment 895299

View attachment 895300

View attachment 895301​

dave

​

Great shots Dave, Thanks for posting!
Looks to me like they were just trying to make sure you got there best side. All great pics, but the Cicada is my favorite!

 

[davent]

Thanks Troy! The cicada is definitely the creepiest. The backyard bees the easiest to work with.

dave

 

[troy]

Yea, bees usually cooperate pretty well, especially the bumble bees. Most spiders don't seem to mind posing either. But a lot of times it seems to be more about the individual, than the bug type. Seems like you can usually know pretty quickly whether they will work with you or not. I kept trying to get this praying mantis to look at me, but he just kept turning away.

So I moved on to this wasp.

 

[davent]

Your mantis is camera shy, still lots of time to get the winning shot.

Hornets and wasps i'll give a wide berth, nice picture, long lens?

dave

 

[troy]

Your mantis is camera shy, still lots of time to get the winning shot.

Hornets and wasps i'll give a wide berth, nice picture, long lens?

dave

Thanks! Yea, it was a fairly long lens. It's a 14-140mm (micro 4/3 sensor so 28-280 full frame equivalent) with 26mm of extension tubes taken at 140. Which gives me a few feet to work with. No crop in the shot so I was maybe a foot to a foot and a half from him. He definitely seemed more interested in the catnip than in me. I also use the kit lens (12-32mm) with the tubes for some of my bug shots. Neither will focus all the way to the short end, but the kit lens being shorter will get me closer if the bug will let me get that close. With the kit lens I only get a couple inches even at the long end.

 

[troy]

I caught this dragonfly pretty early in the morning. He was still cold and sluggish, so I was able to get in nice and close.

 

[troy]

Not the dreaded emerald ash borer, but emerald beetles.

 

[troy]

I posted this guy in the Photo of the Day thread earlier this week, but I like my post processing better on this one than the other pic.

Here's another shot at a much wider aperture, 5.6 vs 16. I thought it was too shallow, but when I converted to gray scale I really liked the way he looks. Almost like he's emerging of disappearing into a shadowy fog.

 

[troy]

Orb Weaver at sunset. She just finished putting her new web up, and is ready for a night of hunting.

 

[troy]

Love is in the air for the Damselflies!

 

[troy]

Here's another shot of the Orb Weaver at sunset. The first on I used a flashlight for fill lighting this one I just used the natural light for more of a silhouette look.

 

[oc_in_fw]

Thanks! Yes, that is his own exo. He was sluggish and was happy to pose for a close-up photo. Say it on the bank of the river I was fishing.

Cool. I thought maybe we had a Barry White background music event going on. I seem to have a lot of lizards outside this year. Would you include them in the creepy crawlie category?

 

[oc_in_fw]

Thanks Troy! The cicada is definitely the creepiest. The backyard bees the easiest to work with.

View attachment 895306 View attachment 895307 View attachment 895308
dave

Is that pollen on the bee?

 

[troy]

Cool. I thought maybe we had a Barry White background music event going on.

I seem to have a lot of lizards outside this year. Would you include them in the creepy crawlie category?

Sure lizards or snakes seem creepy enough to me. I would love to see some reptile or even amphibian pics!

Is that pollen on the bee?

Looks like pollen to me.

 

[oc_in_fw]

Sure lizards or snakes seem creepy enough to me. I would love to see some reptile or even amphibian pics!
Looks like pollen to me.

It surprised me because I thought Dave was shooting with a cell phone. Maybe it is time to see what my cell phone camera can do. I just use it (Iphone 7+) for snapshots, I haven’t really explored it much.

 

[davent]

Just checked in here Owen. Yes pollen on the bee and i've never owned i cell phone but i've been strictly using an ipod Touch for the last couple of years for everything i've photographed. Christmas 2015 i started playing with it.
dave

 

[oc_in_fw]

Just checked in here Owen. Yes pollen on the bee and i've never owned i cell phone but i've been strictly using an ipod Touch for the last couple of years for everything i've photographed. Christmas 2015 i started playing with it.
dave

I never realized that these things could get so detailed.

 

[davent]

For getting close i use a slip on Ollo clip lens that can be used wide angle or pseudo-macro.
dave

 

[troy]

Yea, it's amazing what kind of image a cell phone (or iPod) is capable of if given enough light. One advantage of a small sensor for close up work is you get a lager depth of field at at same aperture. It may not be a desirable trait for portraiture work, but for close up or macro it really works to your advantage.