Banana Wasp

[Don Ellis]

Not his scientific name... just a visitor to one of the village banana trees. There's a new bunch of fruit forming and these flowers appear at the tail ends of the baby bananas. Leela tells me that when they drop off, kids pick them up and squeeze whatever nectar is left onto their tongues.

http://www.kleptography.com/dl/fm/banana_wasp2-750.jpg

He's about one and a half inches long and the lens was about three inches away. I was standing on a four-foot-high narrow wall with a ravine on one side and tile shards on the other, reaching as far out as I could to capture this guy while his buddy was flying around my head checking out my camera angles and tasty bits.

Taken with a G2 and a Hoya +10 macro lens -- one of 180 shots. 1/50th second, f8.0, ISO 50, 420EX set to -2/3 flash exposure.

Don

[johnmate]

Great shot Don.

Can't wait until my Hoya -10 filter is there. Ordered it last week.

[bigdave]

Nice shot Don. I've seen so many bee/wasp macros that picture a yellow or orange flower. Yours is the first I've seen depicting purple. Well done.

[marie]

its beautiful and so clear don
the flower itself looks like a big insect , something like one of those fly eating plants
and how the shot shows the wasp in action is terrific

the buddy didn't get your tasty bits then ?
you mention camera angles and tasty bits
a picture of you, taking this picture , standing on a four foot wall, ravine ready , and tile shards
(wot ? ) on other side
and the wasps mate flying around your head
( the tasty bits are there ? : )

if only there had been someone close by with a camera also and catch that whole scene.
( and you wearing your mask too ??? ) ?


marie

[Don Ellis]

bigdave wrote:
Nice shot Don. I've seen so many bee/wasp macros that picture a yellow or orange flower. Yours is the first I've seen depicting purple. Well done.
Thanks, David... the photo is a little busy but these guys don't stand still so you have to take what you can get for a background. I've tried focusing on a particular flower and doing my statue imitation until one arrives but I have to stretch to get these shots and my arms generally begin falling off before they stop by.

I just posted another under "Wasp World."

Cheers,

Don

[Don Ellis]

marie wrote:

its beautiful and so clear don
the flower itself looks like a big insect , something like one of those fly eating plants
and how the shot shows the wasp in action is terrific

the buddy didn't get your tasty bits then ?
you mention camera angles and tasty bits
a picture of you, taking this picture , standing on a four foot wall, ravine ready , and tile shards
(wot ? ) on other side
and the wasps mate flying around your head
( the tasty bits are there ? : )

if only there had been someone close by with a camera also and catch that whole scene.
( and you wearing your mask too ??? ) ?

Hi, Marie,

You reminded me that I was going to say something about "watch your back." It does look like the flower is on the attack... and the mouth is certainly big enough.

My tasty bits are still intact. I'm not particularly afraid of the wasps and I don't wear cologne on our dates, so I think that helps to avoid attacks and attractions.

No need to wear my mask... wasps are one of the few things not yet implicated in the spread of SARS.

Thanks for your comments. Trust me, I've done you a favor by not including myself in the photo. :)

Don

[G2booga]

Excellent shot. Something to aspire to.

[G2booga]

Don

I would really appreciate it of you could you tell us more about how you used your 420EX when you took this shot, in regards to positioning the flash. I have not considered using my 420EX because it seems so big for close up work and I wondered how effective it would be anyway.

[Don Ellis]

G2booga wrote:
Don

I would really appreciate it of you could you tell us more about how you used your 420EX when you took this shot, in regards to positioning the flash. I have not considered using my 420EX because it seems so big for close up work and I wondered how effective it would be anyway.


Hi Andrew,

Funny you should mention that... I was alternating between a Hoya +4 close-up filter and a +10 macro lens. I have a feeling I was using the +4 here, which means that I was back farther than I would have been with the +10 and the light path was clear of leaves.

It's only been three days since I began photographing this banana tree and already I've learned two things: 1) the shade thrown by the big banana leaves means that flash is often helpful for these shots -- especially since I want as much depth of field as possible with the macros filter/lens, and therefore I'm often getting unacceptably slow shutter speeds with only natural light, and 2) the 420EX is routinely firing across the top of the insect/flower when I'm too close or is getting blocked or tangled up in the leaves, rendering it pretty annoying and often useless.

So today I went out and bought the Canon off-camera flash cord which allows TTL metering and gives you a couple of feet to play with. Fortunately, the G2 is light enough to hold in your right hand while your left hand is positioning the flash -- at least that's the theory; I'll let you know in a day or so.

Price? US$58 in Hong Kong. It better work like I plan. :)

Thanks for your comments.

Don