Fully into summer now, with plenty of wild flowers blooming and insects of all kinds out and about. A recent hike at the Tolleston Dunes turned into a bugfest. Both literally in terms of the mosquitos, and photographically. When it comes to getting closeup shots of insects it helps to have a telephoto lens with a high magnification factor, that way you can get great images without having to be so close that you frighten off your subject.
The image at the top of this post was the last photograph I took that day. Near the upper left hand corner there is a Weevil, which looks like a beetle with a vacuum hose attachment where the face should be. I like how it appears as if the flower just above it is prepared pounce on the insect.
You would think that a green fly, on a green plant, with a green background would be difficult to spot. But the metallic sheen of this “Long Legged” fly makes it hard to miss. The metallic appearance is actually a diffraction effect.It is hard to miss brilliant orange Butterfly Weed. This rather large hornet had the whole plant all to itself. Another reason for long focal length macro lenses, you are less likely to get stung.And of course, Butterfly Weed attracts butterflies as well as hornets.The harry, spiky beast on the right is a Plume Moth. First time I’ve ever seen one. Nature always has something new to discover, the more you look the more you see.This is not another hornet, or bee. It is actually a Hover Fly. The eyes and wings give it away.Lately I have been practicing taking photographs of insects in flight. A lot of flys, bees, etc. can be challenging to get clear photographs of because they are constantly moving about. If you spend enough time watching, you will notice that some species tend to buzz and hover about the same flower, or patch of flowers. In these situations it is not too hard to catch them in flight between brief landings. The key is to bump your shutter speed as high as you can, sacrificing aperture and ISO in order to freeze their motion.The little white bump on this Black Eyed Susan. Look close (click on the image to view it full size) and you will see the rear end of a spider just to the left of what is its egg sac. I don’t think this particular spider choose a good location. The flower is right on the edge of the trail and the egg sac is in a very visible location.
