Hoverfly flight shots

Bit hard to miss this hoverfly when it's around- you need sunglasses to look at it . Xanthogramma pedissequum.
Natural light sigma 105
Brian V.

Nice shots Brian although I'd prefer to see a bit more of the face and the un-natural backgrounds spoil things a little.

If I approach a hoverfly in flight it moves away. How on earth was it done Brian?

These hoverflies are the easiest to get flight shots with, the males hover on the spot and wait for a female to come along, they dart after anything that moves at the right speed and come back if it's not a female.

You can get within a foot or so if you keep low and let them drift towards you or move closer when they are facing away. Pre-focus roughly and then fine tune constantly, normally you get a second or two before the hover drifts too far and you need to re-frame.

With other hovers your best chance is when they're approaching a plant or flower as they normally hover for a few seconds before they land. I did post some more detailed tips last year if you search the forums...

nice ones brian... as pxl8 said the backgrounds kinda rain on the parade
the second shot is by far my fave

Sweet shots, I love the black and yellow paint job !!

Fantastic shots Brian.

Excellent flight shots. I've been trying to get some in flight shots but every time I seem to forget what this exposure stuff is all about whenever trying something different :P

excellant shots indeed and the background fades just right so you hone in on the hoverfly...great capture...eyes

great shots brian, I actually really like the last one, nice colours- i haven't managed to get any more hovers in flight since my last lot- they seem to know what I'm up to now .

More great photos Brian, and really useful tips from PXL8! Quite useful for a beginner like me

Great work Brian, my favorite is the second one as well.

Nice shots Brian, and thank you for the tips Andy, much appreciated.

Dave

Thanks for the comments all
I actually liked the backgrounds for their simpicity
As pxl8 mentions you just need to watch what they are up to for a while. This one was doing territorial patrol and tended to come back to one of several spots after chasing other flyers away. The large Volucella hoverflies do the same thing. Some of the smaller hoverflies such as Episyrphus balteatus go through a routine when feeding where they fly upto a flower a taste it with their feet several times (looks like they are kicking it) so you can predict what they are going to do next. After watching them it's just some patience, get into the right position and some fast manual focusing . I also only click the shutter when I'm pretty certain I have reasonable focus- the above shots turned out to be numbered alternately so I was getting 1/2 shots with pretty good focus.
Brian V.