Tag: fly

Series of Four #11 – Macro photography – Critter Art

Series of Four

This is the eleventh Blog in the “Series of Four” series. Each blog focuses on a different aspect of photography, either technical or creative.  To see the full set of “Series of Four” blogs, click here.

Macro photography – Critter Art

Macro photography is the art and science of taking hyper-closeup photographs.  I have enjoyed macro photography immensely.  It takes you into another world which looks very alien but which is actually around us all the time.   A certain amount of specialised equipment is used such as marco lenses, extension tubes etc. but you will be surprised how much you can do with the equipment you have, assuming you are prepared to get up close to whatever spider, fly or other critter you want to capture.

Today I came across two dead ‘daddy-long-leg’ insects on my windowsill (A crane fly in the insect family Tipulidae).  I took out my macro lens (see the setup I used at the end of this post) and a couple of hours later here are the results – Critter Art.

 

Here are the unfortunate insects on the windowsill – there are hundreds of them around at this time of year but I have never looked at them this closely before. 

The equipment

The equipment I used was as follows:-

  • 2 insects (dead* in this case which make it a lot easier),
  • 1 dining room table (with spouse permission)
  • Canon 1D MkIII camera
  • Canon EF100mm f/2.8 Macro USM  Lens
  • Canon Macro Ring Lite MR-14EX  Flash
  • DG Extension tubes
  • Yongnu MC-36R remote release
  • BENBO 1 tripod
  • I used the manual settings of 1/125 sec, f/9, ISO 100

(* The insects were already dead – promise – but it does tend to make them more cooperative.)

 

 

Series of Four #10 – Creatures in Motion

Series of Four

This is the tenth Blog in the “Series of Four” series. Each blog focuses on a different aspect of photography, either technical or creative.  To see the full set of “Series of Four” blogs, click here.

Creatures in motion

Generally the aim is to freeze motion and to avoid motion blur but that is what rules are there for – to be broken.  I have a few images in my collection where the sense of motion makes the image.  The instant is prolonged – a butterfly takes off, a baboon leaps with its baby, a thief escapes and a puppy runs for the pure joy of it.  To be different (and to add one to the Series of Four) a fly is frozen in flight…. 

An extra image – a fly frozen in motion as it flies.

  •  A chipmunk escapes from the bird feeder in Vienna, Virginia, USA
  • A Queen Butterfly, Leu Gardens, Orlando, Florida, USA
  • Toffee dog, Caterham in Surrey, England
  • Monkey and child, Kakamega rain forest, Western Kenya
  • A  syrphid fly, Caterham in Surrey, England

 

 

Capturing flies flying

One of my interests in photography is capturing the ordinary in extraordinary ways.  It is fascinating to see the ordinary facets of life around us from unusual perspectives.  For example, there are billions of flies in the world – they are generally regarded as a menace and an irritation and yet they perform a critical role in cleaning up nature’s mess.  I took time out recently to try to capture some images of flies in my garden in Surrey, England.  The challenge was to photograph them actually flying.  I used my trusted Canon 1D MkIII with a Canon 100mm Macro lens and ring flash. Continue reading “Capturing flies flying”