Perpetual insect photo thread

[Falconest174]

I keep it on the D7k body so I won't have to search in my new Tamrac bag for it.
I like it. It seems to focus much quicker than the old 70-300. it is heavier and more solidly built. Love the VC that gives my unsteady hands the help they need. The only thing missing is the macro ability that the old lens had. The reason for the Sigma 150.

[blindeye]

Thanks for the positive comments guys.
-Brandon

[Anthony]

A different location and these are about 50% of the original image. The dragonflys here seemed less skittish; the green one was huge probably about 3" long. I think the background on the green one is to busy but i wanted a bigger DOF to get the wings in.

[Falconest174]

Anthony;
very nice d'flies. It is hard sometimes to get a shot without getting a busy background. DOF desires sometimes trump the best compositional desires. I sometimes try for a draftsman type of shot to get the best detail on the wings.

[kgosden]

Anthony,

Love that brilliant red one, stunning coloration.

[Anthony]

Thanks for the coments; I was lucky with the red one as it kept flying back to the same spot if it was disturbed.
It is the first one I have seen that colour but I belive it is a Common Darter and is supposed to be "one of the most abundant dragonflies in Europe".

That was still with my 15-85 and as I say about 50% of the original. A neighbour has lent me a 70-200 2.8 L to try and I did not get on very well and since being home I have found a switch on the side which was set on 2.5-infinity and it should have been on 1.4-infinity? I will have another go with it tomorrow on the other setting as long as my arm is up to holding the lens again!

He also let me try a EF 40 f2.8 STM which was interesting and it highlighted a slight back focusing problem I have - I had already suspected that I had a problem.

[stuarts1031]

Scottish bumblebee taken on a Scottish Thistle at Invergordon, Scotland.

[D70FAN]

[QUOTE=Scottish bumblebee taken on a Scottish Thistle at Invergordon, Scotland.[/QUOTE]

Not wearing bumble tartan so we don't know the clan. Is that a single-malt thistle?


Good capture.

[Anthony]

A Migrating hawker ( I think ) taken with a EF 70-200mm lens. As posted above it is easier with a longer lens but this is still probably less than 50% of the original photo; a 300 or 400mm lens is the next purchase when I give the 70-200 back.

I sometimes try for a draftsman type of shot to get the best detail on the wings.

I have three versions of this photo: a slightly different angle as well as a square on the back but they are both to busy. This was by far the best angle although I had to crop like this as there was an out of focus leaf coming in from the right.

[Sir Les]

Came upon this praying mantis clinging to an outside wall of my house yesterday. I've lived in Australia for over 40 years, and although I know there's lots of species here, this is the first one I can remember seeing. She's about 10cm (4") in length, with a bright white stripe down her back. I say 'she' because if the wings are absent, it's usually a female. It was hard to get an interesting shot because she's hard up against a vertical wall. The first photo was taken with a Nikon D7000 and Nikkor 18-200 at 200mm.



A close-up shot of the head taken with a Nikkor 60mm micro shows the large well-separated compound eyes (apparently they can detect movement up to 35 metres away), and the three small yellow-coloured simple eyes arranged in a triangle between the antennae. Also apparent is how cyborg-like the neck and knee joints are, with exposed multi-coloured connecting threads of gut, nerve and muscle fibres. The stuff that sci-fi movies are made of -- fascinating and revolting at the same time!