Post your insects

[Geoff F]

Still a few late Red Admirals around.



And these flies which are common during the summer. Mesembrina meridiana, commonly known as Noon Day Flies due to their habit of sitting around in the sun.



Also a few Harvestmen which I will post in the spiders thread, if I can find it. If not, they will appear here shortly.

[Franci]

beautiful!

[Letrow]

Still a few late Red Admirals around.

Beautiful detailed colours on those wings Geoff, I like it a lot.

[Geoff F]

A bit of a tricky shot, Peter.

Rather nervous subject and that post is in a hedge so it was a struggle to get square.

Tried shooting without flash to avoid subject disturbance, but kept picking up bright areas in the background as well as the post causing exposure problems. All of which tended to make the dark areas of the wings lose details.

Flash at -2 compensation worked best.

[gregj1763]

A couple from yesterday using my 90mm Tamron. The second photo I had a 32mm keno tube attached. Very hard to get the focus ok with such a narrow depth of field.
Oh well, keep practicing.







Cheers, Greg

[Geoff F]

Long bodied subjects are always difficult to have totally in focus, Greg, unless you are absolutely square on to them. What I sometimes do is to crop closer so the seriously out of focus area is outside the frame.

Is that a real insect or something you have stitched together from spare parts?

Looks a bit like some form of cricket/grasshopper but with Lacewing wings!

I wouldn't know where to start with identification.

[twistedtwiddler]

Hello everyone!

I have always loved taking photos and planning to invest in a decent camera. I really like taking photos of both insects, flowers etc and love taking photos of the stars. Would anyone please be kind enough to advise me on the best camera(s) to buy for nice and crisp photos - and possibly one i could attach to a telescope later down the line . Also i am going to visit the northern lights soon and would love to capture some images and share what i can

Thank you!
Maria

[twistedtwiddler]

this really makes the fly look cute!! lovely pic (2nd one down)

[Geoff F]

Hello everyone!

I have always loved taking photos and planning to invest in a decent camera. I really like taking photos of both insects, flowers etc and love taking photos of the stars. Would anyone please be kind enough to advise me on the best camera(s) to buy for nice and crisp photos - and possibly one i could attach to a telescope later down the line . Also i am going to visit the northern lights soon and would love to capture some images and share what i can

Thank you!
Maria

Let's start by you informing us as to how much of your money we can spend, Maria.

The best of the 'bridge cameras' can take reasonable macro shots under good conditions and for a realistic price. However, if you want to go down the very best quality route with Dslr cameras and lenses you could expect to pay somewhere around £1,000 for a camera body and the same for each lens.

But this is somewhat variable depending on many factors so could be a little less; or more!

I know people who attach cameras to telescopes for serious bird photography but this is a specialised, and expensive, pastime.

[twistedtwiddler]

Thank you for your reply, i am looking to spend around £200- 300 (max), i did like the idea of attaching a camera to a telescope- but that would be much later down the line- if there were not many other options!

Maria

Let's start by you informing us as to how much of your money we can spend, Maria.

The best of the 'bridge cameras' can take reasonable macro shots under good conditions and for a realistic price. However, if you want to go down the very best quality route with Dslr cameras and lenses you could expect to pay somewhere around £1,000 for a camera body and the same for each lens.

But this is somewhat variable depending on many factors so could be a little less; or more!

I know people who attach cameras to telescopes for serious bird photography but this is a specialised, and expensive, pastime.

[davidedric]

Hi,

I don't normally shoot insects (or any macro) but I was going through some old images and I found this one. Antlions are very common in East Africa, you see their little pits which are traps built by their larvae, but you very rarely get to see one. Our guide found one for us - it's not a great photograph but maybe of interest. I've taken the liberty of posting a larger image, too, so you can see how small the little beggar is! If they were a few centimetres long I'd think I'd stay well clear!

[rtbaum]

They must be circopolar, as I remember these as a kid in northern Michigan. They provided a lot of entertainment for me many summers

[davidedric]

Gosh you are right! I had no idea. There are more than 2000 species, and they have their own web site www.antlionpit.com Aaaaaarrrggghhh here they come

[Letrow]

Yes, we have them in Europe as well. They make great traps as larvae. I have not seen any adults near where I live.

[Franci]

Some insects still around in December: a hoverfly



and a butterfly trying to disguise


a couple of spiders are in the corresponding thread

[Fit]

Some great shots recently!

[Letrow]

Nice shots Franci. I have been searching for insects this weekend, but there isn't much anymore. Winter is coming.

[gregj1763]

Some insects still around in December: a hoverfly

Great images Franci. Here is the Tasmanian version, taken yesterday





Cheers, Greg

[Franci]

Ok Greg, I give up! your colours are great!

[shaz]

Very Nice..