Bugs Show 'Insect'

Well as I said its not taken with a compact and I don't think it would be easy to focus at that magnification with an evf. As I don't have a macro lens for 43rds I have yet to try.
Geoff
 
Excellent, Geoff! And Barrie, thanks so much for that description of this fellow and his bride's habits.:D Armando yours does look like a rather hulking "beast"! Certainly for those of us who are "insect challenged", that is squeamish or worse, about our insect brethren - it's easy to see where the science fiction folks get their ideas!
 
right .. took a few snapz today ... hope you've got your ID-eyes in Barrie ... first off, what I think is probably a hoverfly (though I can't make out a vena spuria -- see, I'm learning ...) ... couldn't get very close without falling down a ditch, so big crop

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winged by _loupe, on Flickr
 
right .. took a few snapz today ... hope you've got your ID-eyes in Barrie ... first off, what I think is probably a hoverfly (though I can't make out a vena spuria -- see, I'm learning ...) ... couldn't get very close without falling down a ditch, so big crop

Hi Paul,

It sure is a hoverfly, I think it's probably a species called Episyrphus balteatus. Why didn't these early naturalists take pity on us guys with no Latin education and give at least some of the commoner species English common names. I keep having to get the book out to jog my memory as to what they are called let alone spell them :D

Barrie
 
Brilliant, thanks Paul, reference book suitably annotated, now why hasn't anyone come up with a common name for Syrphus ribesii which is the one I see commonly round here.
I think there is a project underway to provide common names for the 196 Caddis flies on the UK list, so come on you scientists, some attention to the hoverflies please.

Barrie
 
Hoverfly with Latin name only

Syrphus ribesii from earlier today, more insect images later when they have been processed.

Panasonic G1 with 105mm, f/2.8 Sigma DG Macro, minimal post processing in Bibble Pro 5 and no cropping of the image from the camera.

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Barrie
 
An enjoyable photographic ramble, just a short walk from my back door

Despite a breeze this morning I found some shelter in my local lane that runs up the hill behind my cottage, and got the benefit of some sun before the clouds gathered.

All shots on a Panasonic G1 with 105mm, f/2.8 Sigma DG Macro, minimal post processing in Bibble Pro 5, no cropping of any images, all tripod mounted.

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this is some species of Longhorn beetle, actually rather a small one (there are approx 70 on the UK list) on honeysuckle, most being pollen feeders as adults

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A bee feeding on Hogweed flowers

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A shield bug, I think this one is a Parent Bug, at least a common name to use, so called because the female guards the eggs until they hatch. I didn't notice until processing the image how it's colours mimic the nettle leaves to be seen out of focus bottom right.

Barrie
 
Shield bugs are lovely.
I really don't know how you get in close enough even with that 105 not to crop, Barrie ...
This is taken with a 90 but is quite a big crop and yours are not far off this ... you must have a special insect-charming technique

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food for thought

Paul,

I've been wondering if I'm not actually a slave to the idea of cropping in camera and therefore not cropping in post processing.
I guess that idea goes back to my first digital camera, a 3Mp model where every pixel counted. Now with 12Mp at my disposal there is room for some post processing cropping, particularly when the results are downsized for posting on the web.
There are two immediate benefits I can think of, one is being able to photograph the insect from further away, thus not entering it's comfort zone and possibly scaring it away, and after all you don't see the ones that got away, very often I don't either :D, and two, by photographing from further away and cropping you obtain greater depth of field for your subject, witness our two similar photographs of flies posted today. Yours actually shows greater clarity of detail over the whole insect than does mine, despite yours being taken at a greater distance from the subject, and so yours is therefore "arguably a better photograph".
I have to admit that when faced with a rare or unusual subject I would start to photograph it from further away so as to at least obtain something of a picture, then I might be tempted to move in closer.
Given similar weather conditions tomorrow I feel a little comparison exercise coming on, repeat todays outing, well short stroll, but photograph my subjects from a greater distance and steal myself to the idea of post process cropping.
Watch this space.

Barrie
 
A Bee fest

Well it was a little cloudier today, the cloud was thicker so when it obscured the sun it was a touch cooler than yesterday, the breeze was swirly in nature and there were few sheltered corners, but I managed to find one or two and did a series of various bees feeding on Hogweed.

The first 4 shots were using a Panasonic G1 with 105mm, f/2.8 Sigma DG Macro lens and the last is a Panasonic G1 with 45mm, f/2.8 Leica DG Macro-Elmarit lens. I tried to keep further back from the subject and rely on cropping the image to produce the result. Most images use about one third to one half of the total image size produced in camera.

The raw images were post processed, including cropping in Bibble Pro 5.

The downsized images were also given a very small amount of unsharp mask in Gimp.

I have to say I'm quite pleased with the results. The first is of a Bumble Bee, I think the next three are Honey Bees with the last being a different sort of Bumble Bee.

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Barrie
 
wonderful.
it is still a mystery to me how you manage to capture bees - butterflies, flies, bugs will all sit still .. bees never! Well, not for me anyway...
 
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