Hovers, flies and some spiders :)

[LordV]

Some bug shots from the last couple of days.
Brian V.

pregnant hoverfly

http://static.flickr.com/48/141345951_969cb34c85_o.jpg

Small fly giving an aphid a suck- 3mm long 'ID'd as an Agromyzid leaf miner
adult- female.

http://static.flickr.com/55/141345952_7691ba64ee_o.jpg

I think this is a hoverfly larvae- on my aphid infested acer.

http://static.flickr.com/52/141345955_05e2fb5c94_o.jpg

One of those slimline flies

http://static.flickr.com/50/141351007_14ec3b49dd_o.jpg

Another pregnant hoverfly- melanostoma scalare I think (green halteres)

http://static.flickr.com/45/141977243_de2397072f_o.jpg

Bubble blower on my car

http://static.flickr.com/54/141982544_f093382c30_o.jpg

Anyone found the ball? baby orb web spider bundle.

http://static.flickr.com/49/141985772_50ddf442d8_o.jpg

[Omri Alon]

Great series! The pics are so wonderful and interesting :D The hoverfly larva is awesome!

[dazzlebea]

Wow, what an interesting lot! Great shots, all of them, but for some reason the last two stand out for me ( I like the reflection of the fly in your car).

[Mathiau]

Any PS doen to them? i am doing alot of macro bugs myself now with my tokina 100mm and just curious what you do to get them so rich in color and so sharp.... all natural lighting?

[pxl8]

Any PS doen to them? i am doing alot of macro bugs myself now with my tokina 100mm and just curious what you do to get them so rich in color and so sharp.... all natural lighting?

The exif shows they were all shot with flash. That's probably the one thing that makes the biggest difference to a shot. It helps pick out all the details and provides a nice even light. The downside, IMO, is that everything ends up looking the same after a while :(

[Mathiau]

DOH - i always forget about looking @ the EXIF info :D guess i need to get the ring flash kit :D

[iSpark]

Really nice shots Brian, I like them all :)

[Blue S2]

Those are all really well done! The last shot with the spiders...i have never seen anything like that!

[racketman]

Spider ball is great.Birds would make short work of them if they found it. Do you take all your photos in your garden?

[Parmcat]

Brian,

Your shots are so inspiring....

I so want to catch any hoverfly...

Can you please tell me what the working distance (on average) of your fly shots is?

Thanks...please keep these inspiring shots coming!

Parm

[dpastern]

Lovely shots Brian, especially the slimline fly on the blueish background and the pregant hoverfly and the spider ball :)

Dave

[pxl8]

Of course Brian, we'll all know when you get a new car :D

[Bald Eagle]

All great shots, my favorite is the Spider Ball, a most Excellent Capture.:D :D :D

[LordV]

Great series! The pics are so wonderful and interesting :D The hoverfly larva is awesome!
Thanks Omri :)
Not positive on the ID of the larvae yet but think it's a hoverfly judging by descriptions I've read (often slug like). Love to get a shot of one chewing an aphid.
Brian V.

[LordV]

Wow, what an interesting lot! Great shots, all of them, but for some reason the last two stand out for me ( I like the reflection of the fly in your car).
Thanks Bea :)
Brian V.

[LordV]

Any PS doen to them? i am doing alot of macro bugs myself now with my tokina 100mm and just curious what you do to get them so rich in color and so sharp.... all natural lighting?
Thanks Mathiau :)
Very little PS on them apart from the spider shot (focus stacked from 4 pics) and the shots on monocolour BGs (car and dustbin lid) I tend to have to increase the saturation a little bit. As pxl8 said they are all flash shots but with settings that give a fair amount of natural light).
Brian V.

[LordV]

DOH - i always forget about looking @ the EXIF info :D guess i need to get the ring flash kit :D
I'd think about a flash bracket, off camera cable and a diffuser (with a normal flash ) rather than a ring flash setup.
Brian V.

[LordV]

Really nice shots Brian, I like them all :)
Thanks iSpark :)
Brian V.

[LordV]

Those are all really well done! The last shot with the spiders...i have never seen anything like that!
Thanks Blue S2
Common orb web spiders always do this for a few days after hatching. They seem to form little balls when they are cold otherwise they just wander around the nursery web.
Brian V.

[LordV]

Spider ball is great.Birds would make short work of them if they found it. Do you take all your photos in your garden?
Thanks RM, Yes they are all from my garden- I'm sort of trying to record all the bugs/ flowers I get in it though the year. At the moment it's loaded with hoverflies.
Brian V.

[LordV]

Brian,

Your shots are so inspiring....

I so want to catch any hoverfly...

Can you please tell me what the working distance (on average) of your fly shots is?

Thanks...please keep these inspiring shots coming!

Parm
Thanks Parm :)
The front of the lens is around 10cms from the bugs.
Brian V.

[LordV]

Lovely shots Brian, especially the slimline fly on the blueish background and the pregant hoverfly and the spider ball :)

Dave
Thanks Dave :)
That's a dustbin lid- a favourite perch for flies when the sun gets on it.
Brian V.

[LordV]

Of course Brian, we'll all know when you get a new car :D
You'll probably see it descend into a rust heap :). It's my old company car (2.8Ltr VW passat 4 wheel drive) - I love it and don't do that many miles in it now.
Brian V.

[LordV]

All great shots, my favorite is the Spider Ball, a most Excellent Capture.:D :D :D
Thanks BE,
I was determined to get a decent shot of them- Took a similar shot last year when I first started doing macros- think this is a lot better :)
Brian V.

[Leorooster]

Great series. The baby spiders are very cute ;)

[LordV]

Great series. The baby spiders are very cute ;)
Thanks Leorooster :)
Brian V.

[Mathiau]

Thanks RM, Yes they are all from my garden- I'm sort of trying to record all the bugs/ flowers I get in it though the year. At the moment it's loaded with hoverflies.
Brian V.

:D iam planning to do up my garden here and making sure i get flowers and plants that bigs like just so i can get pics of them!


as for the flash braket and such, how much would a nice kit run ?

[LordV]

Hi,
You would need something like this lot for the flash setup.
Brian V.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=15544&is=REG&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=12972&is=REG&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=93262&is=REG&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation

[yb98]

Beautiful shots, all of them !

Do you use the a home made diffuser ?
If yes do you have a web page explaining how you did ?

[rgravel]

Hi,
You would need something like this lot for the flash setup.
Brian V.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=15544&is=REG&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=12972&is=REG&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=93262&is=REG&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation

That's exactly the information I needed. Thanks a lot for that.

I did use a setup similar to yours last year, minus the bracket, and liked it a lot. I even managed to try and compare the Sigma 105 and 150, and eventhough the 150 should be better, I got better results with the 105. Have you tried your lens with a 1.4 TC ?

Your pictures a wonderfull. :)

[LordV]

Beautiful shots, all of them !

Do you use the a home made diffuser ?
If yes do you have a web page explaining how you did ?
Thanks yb98 :)
The diffuser is just made form a plastic milk bottle, duct tape and paper kitchen towel, also originally lined it with aluminium foil but have since removed that.
No real details on construction but there are some pics of it further down in this thread.

http://www.digitalgrin.com/showthread.php?t=15634
Brian V.

[LordV]

That's exactly the information I needed. Thanks a lot for that.

I did use a setup similar to yours last year, minus the bracket, and liked it a lot. I even managed to try and compare the Sigma 105 and 150, and eventhough the 150 should be better, I got better results with the 105. Have you tried your lens with a 1.4 TC ?

Your pictures a wonderfull. :)

Thanks Robert :)

I have tried my 105mm with a 1.4XTC but was not impressed- seemed to get much better detail with extension tubes which I now use routinely.
Brian V.

[LordV]

:D iam planning to do up my garden here and making sure i get flowers and plants that bigs like just so i can get pics of them!


as for the flash braket and such, how much would a nice kit run ?
whoops- misplaced reply here
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showpost.php?p=1491789&postcount=1

[Mathiau]

awsome, thanks for the info :D more money to spend i shouldnt..lol


P.S - what flash do you have ?

[LordV]

awsome, thanks for the info :D more money to spend i shouldnt..lol


P.S - what flash do you have ?
I just use a sigma 500 super dg.
Brian V.