Bees, flies, a spider and a snail.(far too many pictures:) 56k warning)

[ATBphotography]

Heres a few pictures of some random little creatures that i managed to take today whilst dodging the british weather.What do you think? BE HONEST i don't mind how harsh you are about the pictures, i'm always trying to improve so give me some new ideas on how to better my technique and composure if you can think of any. All of the pictures were taken with a 65mm mp-e all at f/16 except the baby snail which was taken at f/5.6 to isolate the face.
(Sorry there are so many pictures i went a bit mad):oops:

1. This was taken on a pile of old red bricks that have been standing there since time began.

http://andrewbennettphotography.co.uk/spider2.jpg

2. I was perched in a pile of mud staring into a hedge looking for flies etc. when these two love-bugs landed, virtually infront of the viewfinder, Great.
http://andrewbennettphotography.co.uk/mating2.jpg

3. This is an old decomposed holly leaf that was in one of the hollows of the red bricks.

http://andrewbennettphotography.co.uk/leaf2.jpg

4. I don't know what this is but he/she can really move fast.
http://andrewbennettphotography.co.uk/flything.jpg

5. Just a set of random flies
http://andrewbennettphotography.co.uk/flyonleaf3.jpg

6.

http://andrewbennettphotography.co.uk/flyonleaf2.jpg

7. I was quite proud of this one it was taken at iso100, f/16 at 1/60th handheld with the 65mm mp-e.(no-flash)
http://andrewbennettphotography.co.uk/flyhandheld.jpg

8. This is a 60% crop of a flies head taken at 3:1 with the mp-e
http://andrewbennettphotography.co.uk/flybig-eyes.jpg

9. A fly just about to take off.

http://andrewbennettphotography.co.uk/fly6.jpg

10.

http://andrewbennettphotography.co.uk/fly5.jpg

11.

http://andrewbennettphotography.co.uk/fly3.jpg

12.

http://andrewbennettphotography.co.uk/fly1.jpg

13. These bee's came just before about the 10th rainfall of the day to raid the Pansies in the back garden.
http://andrewbennettphotography.co.uk/beepansy.jpg

14.

http://andrewbennettphotography.co.uk/beeonpansy2.jpg

15. in this one you can only just about make out, but the bee is actually hovering to get the pollen from this plant.

http://andrewbennettphotography.co.uk/bee-hoveringonflower.jpg

16. A baby snail , I think - i don't think he/she is a slug because she was hanging around by a larger snail, - Any ideas when they get their shells, or is this just a slug that thinks he's a snail.

http://andrewbennettphotography.co.uk/baby-snail.jpg

Thanks for looking.

[Omri Alon]

Great shots :D My only advise is to divide these into more than one thread (in the future) :lol:

[dazzlebea]

I've always wondered what the 56k warning is?

So many great pics it is hard to comment on single ones. So this'll have to do: wonderful :D

[ATBphotography]

Thanks for your kind comments :)
- I think perhaps thats a wise idea to divide the pictures into more than one thread. I went a bit crazy.
-The 56k warning thing is just something i said to warn those who do not have broadband that the download times may be quite long as there are so many pics - sorry for the confusion.

[racketman]

As I understand it the MPE 65 has its best resolution at about f8. Obviously with a very narrow DOF this would make focusing tricky but you might want to give it a try. That said there are some very nice shots there with only a few really in need of more sharpness.

[tommykjensen]

Wonderfull photos. Lots of colors and details.

As You already pointed out 16 imbedded photos is a tad to much. If You have a lot of photos You want to show we recommend just posting a few and a link to a gallery where the rest can be viewed. If You look at my signature then I have links to a thread about using thumbnails with links to external photos which is a technique You could also use.

Oh and welcome to the forum.

EDIT: oops the link I wanted to refer You to was not in my signature but it is here: http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=157706

[ATBphotography]

Thanks Tommy thats probably what i'll do next time. Thanks for the link.

Thanks also to Racketman, the very first post that i made, everybody who posted said to use a really small aperture so i went out today and shot almost entirely at f/16, I suppose then that the key to eventual photographic success is to get that balance right in choosing when to shoot with a small aperture and when to shoot with a large aperture.

[LordV]

Lovely series :)
Brian V.

[dpastern]

They're all lovely shots Andrew, you've done very well :)

Dave

[ATBphotography]

Thanks for your kind comments Dave and Brian. :)