Mimicry

Mimicry: Common drone fly (Eristalis tenax) posing as a bee | 05-2021 | Ticino | Switzerland

 

My best photos are here: www.lacerta-bilineata.com/ticino-best-photos-of-southern-...

 

More TICINO/TESSIN Wildlife Photos (all taken in my garden in Monteggio/Ti, Switzerland): it.lacerta-bilineata.com/ramarro-occidentale-lacerta-bili... (the website exists in ESPAÑOL, FRANÇAIS, ITALIANO, ENGLISH, DEUTSCH)

 

My latest ANIMAL VIDEO (warning, it's a bit shocking): www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T2-Xszz7FI

 

ABOUT THE PHOTO:

When I started out on this photographic journey of mine, I was usually already more than happy if I managed to capture the subjects I desired - in most cases lizards, snakes and insects - at all, and if I even ended up with a photo where the animal was in focus, I was over the moon.

 

The creatures I wanted to get on camera - particularly the western green lizards (Lacerta bilineata) - tended to be so nervous, shy and hard to even get near, that asking for more than a sharp picture seemed out of the question.

 

Over the years, this has changed; as I learned to approach the fauna in and around my garden without scaring it away, I was no longer content with "just" getting it on camera: I wanted to portray these fascinating creatures in a way that revealed something about their nature.

 

What I mean by that is that I now try to make photos where the viewer discovers something about the animals that is only possible through photography, something we otherwise wouldn't be able to perceive, because we either don't get close enough to the creature or it happens too quick for us to notice - or the animal is simply too small to reveal its "character" to us.

 

An important aspect of that is that the viewer is able to form a connection with the subjects in my photos, and in most cases the key to achieving that is getting a shot where the animal directly looks at you. Because that is the experience of nature photography that I love so much: just as I observe these beautiful creatures and am fascinatd by them, they in turn are observing me with a keen eye and seem to be wondering about my nature and my intentions.

 

This engagement between the photographer and the living being on the other end of the lense is thrilling, and it made me realize particularly when I started to dabble in macro photography that all creatures - even the tiniest ones from flies to spiders to ants - have a personality I wasn't aware of before.

 

Once I was able to see their eyes and the way they looked at me as I was looking at them, I started to perceive them as characters with a "soul" (for lack of a better word); an "inner life" that we humans are often unwilling to see in the creatures we are all too ready to ignore, or worse: step on and exterminate without giving so much as a second thought.

 

So my ultimate goal is to not just show you a well-composed photography of an animal in perfect focus (although that too would be desirable 😊): I want the personality of the subject in the photo to shine through; I want my protagonist to reveal its character to you.

 

I don't know if I succeeded at this with the photo at hand, but I was really happy to get the moment where this beautiful common drone fly (Eristalis tenax) had turned its head at an angle of 90%. The tiny fella was cleaning its head from some pollen, but while doing that it made sure it always had me in its sight. The movement of the turning head was so quick that only one shot - this one - ended up being sharp enough to be usable.

 

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the photo. As always, many greetings from Switzerland and have a lovely weekend everyone - and don't hesitate to let me know what you think. 😊

Done