“Very nice...I wonder, were these insects glued in place or dead from the freezer?, because I dought the working distance of the MPE 65mm is more than a couple of inches at best and I know how hard it is to capture shy bugs with a lens barrel looming up close to them...”
This was my response:
A fair question. I never shoot dead insects, but I do study the behavior of live critters so I can take advantage of their quirks to get close. With bees I get most of my photos in the early spring when the temperatures are low and the sun dips behind the clouds (the bees need the heat to drive their metabolism)...
5x
...or after it rains (notice the wet hair)...
2x
...or early in the morning when it's still cool...
2x
...and they are covered in dew...
2x
...sometimes they'll even crawl onto your hand to get warm...
2x
...or shoot late in the day when they have perched for the night (this one is sleeping and I'm holding onto the twig)...
2.5x
...you can even shoot very timid insects when it's windy since they would rather deal with you than the wind...
2x
...so you see there really is no such thing as a "bug lens" and that having a short working distance actually allows me to get photos that I wouldn't be able to take with longer glass...
6 comments:
So true. They also can grow accustomed to your presence. Dragonflies seem to be easily spooked at first, but then will not be bothered as much after a while.
Ouch! I'm horrified by the idea that someone can think that it's necessary to kill the insects in order to photograph them.
The images are excellent, as usual.
Thanks goshzilla and macroinstantes :)
It's just not necessary to freeze insects to photograph them -all you have to do i learn a little about their behavior...
Well said :-)
Stavros
OMG I love you blog! The photo of the wet bee is the best! I'm going to have to sit down and read more!
Cheers!
Thanks Stavros and Jules :)
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