View allAll Photos Tagged InsectPhotography
I spotted this European Wool Carder Bees (Anthidium florentinum) noozing in my Lavender last night but waited until early this morning to photograph it hoping the cooler temperature would give me more time to shoot it. It was so warm that I only managed about seven frames before it took off.
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F14, 1/250, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (set to almost 3x) + a diffused MT-26EX-RT with a Kaiser adjustable flash shoe on the "A" head (the key), E-TTL metering, -1/3 FEC). This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. In post I used Topaz Sharpen AI and Clarity in that order. I used an artificial flower to keep the background from being black. I focused on the leading edge of the bee's mandible and then twisted my wrist to lay the area of accpetable focus over its face.
is this ambush bug on the job or just enjoying the view? not a lot of action from these little critters that i've been able to witness, and this one's certainly taking no great effort to blend in and conceal itself
backyard capture in chesterfield
I was really surprised to find a female Leaf Cutter Bee foraging for pollen on a Dandelion in late October (2021). I thought they would have been long gone for the year.
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F13, 1/200, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (set to 2x) + a diffused MT-26EX-RT, E-TTL metering, -2/3 FEC. This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. In post I used Topaz Sharpen AI and Clarity in that order.
It is pretty common for solitary bees to feel the heat coming off of my hand, on cool mornings, and climb onto them to get warm. This Sweat Bee is trying to thaw out so it can start its day.
Possibly Halictus sexcinctus.
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F14, 1/250, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (set to over 2x) + a diffused MT-26EX-RT with a Kaiser adjustable flash shoe on the "A" head (the key), E-TTL metering, -1/3 FEC). This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. In post I used Topaz Sharpen AI and Clarity in that order.
There wasn't enough wind so this Sweat Bee felt me grab onto the stem of the Sourgrass Flower that it was foraging in and climbed to the top of it to investigate. But when it did it was facing away from me. So I carefully turned the flower so that the critter was facing the camera. Gotta be gentle, cause I didn't want to spook the bee into taking off and I didn't want to damage the flower. I managed to get the shot and leave the Sourgrass unharmed.
Halictidae Lasioglossum
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F11, 1/250, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (3x) + a diffused MT-26EX-RT with a Kaiser adjustable flash shoe on the "A" head (the key), E-TTL metering, -1/3 FEC, second curtain sync). This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. In post I used Topaz Sharpen AI and Clarity in that order.
Picture-winged Fly, just kind of chilling - Bausch and Lomb 26mm f/1.9 C-mount lens, Fotodiox C-mount to E-mount adapter, Fotodiox E-mount Macro Extension Tube, Sony A7R II.
Technique: I found this European Wool carder (Anthidium manicatum) bee snoozing on a Lavender stalk before sunset and woke up early the next morning to photograph it before it warmed up and got active. I placed an artificial flower in the background to keep the background from being black. This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. I'm holding on to the Lavender with my left hand, and bracing the lens on that same hand so both camera and critter are on the same "platform". Once I got the focus point where I wanted it I twisted my wrist to push the area of acceptable focus deeper into the frame. The end result is a "magic angle" that makes it seem like there's more depth of field than there really is.
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F11, 1/250, ISO 200 with highlight tone priority) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (set to over 2x) + a diffused MT-24EX (both flash heads on the Canon flash mount, E-TTL metering with -1 2/3 FEC).
Note: Those three orbs at the top of its head are Simple Eyes (ocelli), and are possibly used to help the critter to be more stable in the air. But my theory is that they may assist in predator avoidance. Since they are arranged in a triangle it might be possible to triangulate the speed and direction of an attack as a shadow falls over those simple eyes.
This male Leaf Cutter Bee (Megachile sp) was only in my Lavender for a few days, so I tried to get a lot of different compositions.
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F11, 1/250, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (over 3x) + a diffused MT-26EX-RT with a Kaiser adjustable flash shoe on the "A" head (the fill for this shot), E-TTL metering, -1/3 FEC, second curtain sync). This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. I'm holding on to the Lavender stem with my left hand, and resting the lens on that same hand to keep the scene steady.
The housefly (Musca domestica) is globally distributed and adapted to human environments; typical features include a gray thorax with four dark longitudinal stripes, red compound eyes, and sponging mouthparts. In warm conditions its life cycle (egg–larva–pupa–adult) can be completed in about 1–2 weeks; the female lays several batches of roughly 80–150 eggs each (often totaling 400–600), preferably in decaying organic matter. It feeds on liquid or liquefied food and can mechanically transmit pathogens.
This is the same Bumblebee that my son Eddy found. It hung out on my patio overnight and I fed and photographed it the next day. Later on in the afternoon it finally got warm enough for the critter to fly off.
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F13, 1/250, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (set to about 1.5x) + a diffused MT-26EX-RT, E-TTL metering, -2/3 FEC. This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. In post I used Topaz Sharpen AI and Clarity in that order. I injected Agave nectar into the Daisy the Bumblebee is feeding on.
I have been having fun photographing Sweat Bees in my Geranium flowers. I got luck cause a group of them chose a flower to camp in that is easy for me to photograph in. Unfortunately it has been so hot lately that even though I am shooting around 6AM they get active pretty quick when I get close.
Possibly Halictus sexcinctus.
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F14, 1/250, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (set to 2x) + a diffused MT-26EX-RT with a Kaiser adjustable flash shoe on the "A" head (the key), E-TTL metering, -1 FEC). This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. In post I used Topaz Sharpen AI and Clarity in that order. I used my hand to keep the background from going black.
This is the highest magnification that I photographed the Violet Darters at Lago d'Averno. A guy on a motorcycle was taking an unhealthy interest in what I was doing and my gear so I left. I've often considered starting a photography club here in the Naples, Italy area but it might just turn into a support group for people who've had their camera stolen.
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F11, 1/250, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (set to 3x) + a diffused MT-26EX-RT (E-TTL metering, -2/3 FEC). This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. In post I used Denoise AI, and Clarity in that order.
A snoozing European Wool Carder Bee.
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F11, 1/250, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (over 2x) + a diffused MT-26EX-RT with a Kaiser adjustable flash shoe on the "A" head (the key), E-TTL metering, -1/3 FEC, second curtain sync. This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held.
late spring into early summer, there's always a lot of these tiny katydid nymphs all over the place - but they're small and easy to miss
backyard capture
I went to my sister in law's house for another round of photographing Bumblebees in her Lavender, although a lot of the flowers are dead and the bees have moved on I managed to find one cooperative subject.
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F11, 1/125, ISO 200) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (set to around 3x) + a diffused MT-26EX RT (E-TTL metering). This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. In post I used Topaz Denoise AI and Clarity in that order.
I’m glad to see you back, baby
You been gone such a long, long time
And now that you’re back, baby
Let’s make up for long lost time
~lines from B.B. King's song
It is pretty common for solitary bees, like this Sweat Bee, to feel the heat coming off of my skin and climb onto my hand to get warm. A split second after I took that shot the critter got airborne.
Possibly Halictus sexcinctus.
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F14, 1/250, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (set to under 2x) + a diffused MT-26EX-RT with a Kaiser adjustable flash shoe on the "A" head (the key), E-TTL metering, -2/3 FEC). This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. In post I used Topaz Sharpen AI and Clarity in that order. When photographing subjects with black glossy eyes it is best to under expose the scene by 2/3 to a full stop. Those eyes are like firing a flash into a piece of curved glazed tile, and although the histogram might look good it is easy to overexpose those peepers.
Lema quadripunctata is a species of Beetle from the family of Chrysomelidae also known as shiny leaf beetle, It has 4 tiny dark spots on their hard wing cases (elytra), two on each elytron.
Another frame of a Bumblebee that I took earlier this year at my sister in law's house. I was shooting at sunrise when the critters are still lethargic.
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F11, 1/250, ISO 200) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (set to over 3x) + a diffused MT-26EX RT (E-TTL metering). This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. In post I used Topaz Denoise AI and Clarity in that order.
Another Sweat Bee in a Sourgrass Flower that knows I'm close. Still hoping for a windy day so that they can't tell when I grab onto the flower they're in.
Sweat Bees in Sourgrass Deconstruction
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F11, 1/250, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (3x) + a diffused MT-26EX-RT with a Kaiser adjustable flash shoe on the "A" head (the key), E-TTL metering, -1/3 FEC, second curtain sync). This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. In post I used Topaz Sharpen AI, Denoise AI, and Clarity in that order.
Here is a spider that's not a spider. It's Petrophila jaliscalis, a jumping-spider-mimicking moth - see the face-on spider pattern, with orange legs and sparkly dark eyes? I love finding these small moths every year around my house - I think they breed in my small goldfish pond, because the caterpillars are aquatic.
Even though I baited this honeybee they didn't want to let me get close. It took well over an hour to get them acclimated to my presence.
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F11, 1/250, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (almost 3x) + a diffused MT-26EX-RT with a Kaiser adjustable flash shoe on the "A" head (the key), E-TTL metering, -1/3 FEC, second curtain sync). This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. I'm holding on to the stem of the flower with my left hand, and resting the lens on that same hand to keep the scene steady.
A snoozing European Wool Carder Bee.
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F11, 1/250, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (over 2x) + a diffused MT-26EX-RT with a Kaiser adjustable flash shoe on the "A" head (the key), E-TTL metering, -1/3 FEC, second curtain sync. This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held.
I stopped at Lago d'Averno and photographed this Violet Darter in the heat of the day. I know this critter's habits and quirks, so it wasn't too difficult to get close to it.
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F11, 1/30, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (3x) + a diffused MT-26EX-RT (E-TTL metering, -2/3 FEC). This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. Ignore the shutter speed; there's no natural light on the subject and I dragged the shutter to expose the background, but murky pond water isn't very reflective.