Back to album

When Things Work Out - _TNY_4425 (In Explore 23/6 2020)

The spring of 2020 in Stockholm, Sweden was pretty miserable. The cold just wouldn't go away and I actually had to scrape ice of the windshield of my car in late May.

 

I still had the bug hunting itch though so I headed out to Tyresta National Park on April 21st when the weather was slightly better. My intention was to capture a green tiger beetle (Cicindela campestris) with the new camera.

 

I have a pathway towards Stensjön (Rock lake) where I know they appear every spring so I was on the lookout there and actually caught one on camera pretty swiftly (www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/49855835493/).

 

So, mission accomplished, but I continued on - and couldn't believe my luck when I found a mating pair of them and managed to photograph them! (www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/49883760697/).

 

Bonus mission accomplished as well, so I tried figuring out what more I could achieve here and swithched to the MP-E65mm to try and get a shot of one with that one.

 

The MP-E doesn't have any focus. Not just autofocus is missing - there is no other way to focus but to move the camera closer or further away from the subject so it is pretty much the most awkward lens ever to stalk these rapid-moving beetles.

 

But this was one of those days, so of course it worked out as well. Heres a female green tiger beetle portrait shot at 3.7:1 magnification with the MP-E65mm.

11,747 views
229 faves
109 comments
Uploaded on June 23, 2020
Taken on April 21, 2020