Post your insects

[Cantab]

Geoff, these are interesting photos. The colouring of the midges is so close to the vegetation it's on. What size was the midge?

[Geoff F]

Probably around 10 or 12 mm overall length, Bruce. If I hadn't first noticed it with the wings open I would have probably missed it. Also known as Non Biting Midges; unlike the horseflies which also inhabit that area! Got three bites right through my shirt.

I was actually looking for Long-winged Coneheads which are fascinating cricket type creatures. No good looking for them, but if you do something else they are so inquisitive they will find you and sit around on grass/reed stems watching. I will post some photos when I do the edits tomorrow.

[orlcam88]

Ant crossing

[Geoff F]

Can anyone else see a smiling face on the back of this Tortoise Bug?



Also a Dock Bug photo. This is a juvenile. I was partially confused by that plus the red spot. Eventually when I saw an enlarged view I realised the red spot was simply one of those common red mites which was 'hitching a ride'.



It was hiding amongst the foliage so I struggled to find a suitable camera angle.

[Cantab]

Geoff, the smile is there. Is this typical for a tortoise bug?

Judging from the shadows, you probably weren't using flash mounted on the camera. Hand held or on a bracket?

[Geoff F]

On a tripod but both of these meant shooting through 'holes' in the undergrowth so I couldn't get flash to fall between overhanging leaves. There wasn't much movement so I managed to get away with a slower shutter than I like to use.

I did upgrade to the new Sigma 180 macro lens which has stabilisation. This does allow for hand held use, carefully and with a suitable shutter speed. Still use manual focus though. I had to shoot like this today for some butterflies and got some success. But there were a lot more rejects than when using a tripod.

Also used High Speed Flash and increased the shutter speed to 1/500 for some butterflies when the wind was blowing things around.

Although that is fairly typical for Tortoise Bug markings that one seems to be a bit more heavily marked, and in just the right proportions.

[ajohnw]

What tripod and what set up do you use Geoff?

John
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[Geoff F]

It's a Manfrotto 055 range, John. I updated to a carbon fibre version because the previous one was definitely getting a little heavier each year!

Cumbersome to carry around but strong and stable. Although there are several other makes which are equally as good.

I found that for insects, or anything else which requires quick shots, the basic two lever tightening was too fiddly and time consuming so I got a quick release ball head. Reversed the handle so I could operate it with my left hand while my right index finger was always on the shutter button.

But for the newer tripod I purchased the Manfrotto 'fluid head' 468MGRC4 model. Very easy to use and no droop whatsoever. No wobble even when used untightened. However, fairly expensive and if you aren't careful and pick up the rig by holding underneath the head, like often happens to me, it 'bites fingers'

And camerawise, 7D now with the new Sigma 180 macro lens.

Today I was helping with a plant survey, chiefly for insects, and shot without a tripod, manual focus, but with the lens in stabilisation mode and a shutter speed of 1/400 plus high speed flash.

I was mostly taking quick shots for checking the records later. Well with handholding plus some wind movement over half of my shots were soft/blurred. But I was walking along with a plant expert and didn't want to lag behind while messing about with a tripod etc.

[ajohnw]

i had wondered if you used a Benbo or Uni-Loc type Geoff but see that the 055 series also has a "side arm". One lever frees the lot on Benbo types plus a knob for sliding the "side arm". Me thinks they need a bit of practice before use.

I seem to be ok hand held at the moment with little problem with shake. This may be down to the camera lens and flash coming in at under 1kg. The modified Olympus flash gives me 1/320 sec on the E-M1. Oly are a bit strange in this area. A simple Olympus/Panasonic flash gives 1/250 sec. If I used my other Olympus flash any shutter speed can be used but the power drops of as the speed goes up. The E-M5 speeds were slower. Buy a generic flash and the speeds go down. Seems to be to 1/200 on the E-M1 and 1/180 on the E-M5. They have recently introduced a zero shutter shake option on tbe E-M1 though. Win some loose some just like the electronic view finded.

I'm beginning to favour a 75-300mm zoom plus achromatic close up lens over the macro lens. A lot more working room but it's a handful at 300mm and I suspect over 1:1. I haven't really got a feel for depth of field yet so to avoid wasting shots I'm just sticking with F14 and varying mag/distance at the moment. I'm wondering if framing can be used to get an idea of dof as it can with normal photography.

John
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[Geoff F]

Most basic flashes have a max speed around 1/200, but that is a lot better than my old film camera which just had 1/60.

The alternative is high speed flash, where available, and yes power does reduce with higher shutter speeds. But that is only really an issue when shooting a scene which is several yards away and quite dark.

I started macro photography with a Canon 70-300 lens plus an extension tube; but I never had one keeper when handheld at 300 mm.

[jdathebowler]

Just to remind people that it is a good time to be taking photos of insects here is a Syrphus Hoverfly.
John

[deetheturk]

Nice capture John!

[marlunn]

Seems to be a lot of these around at the moment

Hand held, natural light
F8 1/400th ' ISO 800 Nikon d5200 sigma 150 macro

[deetheturk]

Nice capture Mark, well done bud!

[marlunn]

Thanks David, it was one of about 4 keepers for the day so quite pleased

[Jims]

An old one but I like it. Get quite a lot of these lone bees nowadays.

SOOTC apart from a crop.

[Geoff F]

Is it stuffing a piece of leaf into a nest hole, Jim?

Rather looks like one of the Leaf Cutter Bees to me (Megachile). They are solitary bees.

Getting a good wing vein shot like that is always useful for identification.

[deetheturk]

Nice capture Jim!

[Jims]

Is it stuffing a piece of leaf into a nest hole, Jim?

Rather looks like one of the Leaf Cutter Bees to me (Megachile). They are solitary bees.

Getting a good wing vein shot like that is always useful for identification.

thanks.

yes I believe it's a leaf cutter lone Bee, seem to be quite a few living round this way. Seem to be a Very placid Bee when they are around.

[Jims]

Nice capture Jim!

Thanks.

I have been enjoying using my Nex5n a lot recently. Mainly since I set myself some challenges to improve my photography before moving on to a camera I have set my eyes on.