View allAll Photos Tagged InsectPhotography
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
It's been so hot and dry lately that these 22 Spot Ladybugs are about the only target in my yard, and they are still mating even though it's September.
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F11, 1/250, ISO 200) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (set to about 2.5x) + a diffused MT-26EX RT (E-TTL metering with -1/3 FEC). This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. In post I used Topaz Denoise AI and Clarity in that order.
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.
Plumipalpiella martini, a rice-grain size moth found only in Red Rock Canyon State Park in California's Mojave Desert. No one knows what the caterpillars look like or what plant(s) they eat. Until my friend Krystle Hickman and I took photos a couple of years ago, I don't think they'd been photographed in over 40 years (so never digitally).
I don't know if these pretty little things are rare, or are simply hard to find because they have a restricted range & short flight period (they don't seem to have visible mouthparts, so may not feed as adults), plus they roost on sand and are incredibly tiny and cryptic. I found only males on this day; guessing males appear first (that's true of some other seasonal insects), so I will keep hunting.
I looked diligently for them last year but never found one; 2025 was a drought year, so I'd guess they rode out the dry times underground as pupae, waiting for better conditions to emerge. Delaying emergence, even for years, is not uncommon for desert insects. I love how much we don't know.
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.
I found a cooperative Soldier Beetle that let me take a few frames.
I've seen this critter called a Soldier Beetle, but the correct common name is probably False Blister Beetle. Oedemera sp. (Oedemeridae)
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F11, 1/250, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (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 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.
Due to the partly cloudy weather and a drop in temperature I went looking for a critter that might have sheltered in place and I found this Wasp on my Mint. It was semi-active and I only managed to take nine frames.
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F11, 1/250, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (2x) + a diffused MT-26EX-RT (E-TTL metering, -1/3 FEC). This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. I used an artificial flower to keep the background from being black.
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.
The Fly Approaches - 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.
This female Sweat Bee is using her mandibles to strip pollen out of a Sourgrass anther. I shot a video on how I take these photos youtu.be/iQtUIiNCSzs
Sweat Bees in Sourgrass Deconstruction
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F11, 1/250, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (around 2.5x) + 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. I was holding on to the flower's stem with my left hand, and then resting the lens on that same hand to help keep the scene steady. Easier to do on days when it's windy since the vibrations that I create when I grab onto the flower are masked by the breeze.
Puhh was musste ich hinter diesem kleinen Kerl hinterher jagen, dann hat Er doch verloren 😃📷😃
I took a few shots while this newly emerged male Blue Mason Bee rested on my finger.
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F11, 1/250, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (4x) + a diffused MT-26EX RT (E-TTL metering with -1/3 FEC). This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. In post I used Topaz Sharpen AI, Denoise AI, and Clarity in that order.
I was a little surprised to find a pair of mating flies on a Dandelion in late October. At least he bought her a flower :)
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F13, 1/250, 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.
The survival series of the leaves and the miners. Leaves are so dense over the garden that you cannot see even a glimpse of Earth beneath. I was lucky enough to spot a leaf miner navigating on its own path of wisdom in one of those green slushy leaf. The view on the picture resembles as if the miner has created a tarmac route for others to drive through. The miner had eaten the tissues of the leaf in a way that it shows has left behind a road which tempts other to follow suit on its way.
Overcast skies and intermittent rain set up the perfect conditions to go looking for a lethargic critter to photograph. I found this semi-active Sweat Bee on a Buttercup flower and when it would stop moving I'd look for a good angle to take a shot.
Shot taken in Bacoli, Italy in May of 2019.
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F11, 1/250, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (set to around 2x) + a diffused MT-26EX-RT, E-TTL metering, 0 FEC. This is a single, cropped, frame taken hand held.
A group of Sweat Bees set up camp in one of my Geranium flowers. They like to sleep under the leaves in groups, and the plant seems to offer them some good protection. I checked on them after a heavy thunderstorm and they seemed to be OK. They are called Sweat Bees because some of them are attracted to the minerals in your sweat. Image taken in Lago Patria, Italy in August of 2021.
Possibly Halictus sexcinctus.
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F14, 1/250, ISO 200) + 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 FEC). This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. In post I used Topaz Sharpen AI and Clarity in that order.