Beginner General goings on in the garden.

GarethB

GarethB

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I've recently been inspired by a number of great photographers here at TP and their amazing macro images of insects.
So I decided to get out into the garden, and practice on whatever I could find.

It turns out that it's pretty much hoverflies and bees, but they do make great subjects....hoverflies especially, since they are quite tolerant of humans, quite small and yet jolly interesting close up.
I hope my humble offerings are worthy, and I'd welcome any tips and advice from the experts here whose work I admire greatly.

My camera is the Canon 7DmkII, and my lens of choice is the Sigma 105mm f/2.8 macro, both of which I'm very happy with.
I've recently been using a set of extension tubes, which are excellent, and I'm currently testing a flash rig, which is proving to be quite bulky, heavy and cumbersome, but I'm determined to make it work.

First up - the hoverflies:


hoverfly 10 by Gareth Bellamy, on Flickr


hoverfly 9 by Gareth Bellamy, on Flickr


hoverfly 8 by Gareth Bellamy, on Flickr


hoverfly 6 by Gareth Bellamy, on Flickr

....and now the bees:


bee 8 by Gareth Bellamy, on Flickr

....I'm slightly annoyed that I 'clipped' the wing on this next one, but I couldn't believe my luck at catching it in flight with frozen wings at only 1/250th of a second!!:eek:


bee 7 by Gareth Bellamy, on Flickr


bee 6 by Gareth Bellamy, on Flickr

....and finally, I found this spider lurking in the shed, does anyone know what kind of spider it is?....whatever it is, it looks like I'll have a few hundred more any day now!:giggle:


spider 1 by Gareth Bellamy, on Flickr

Many thanks for looking folks!:)
 
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WoW that`s a great set and good focus and lighting, looks like you have found your Niche.
I have a friend, well ex neighbour who has written several books on Hoverflies and has a FB group, So I would say Hoverflies are quite interesting and have a purpose in the pollinating of flowers along with other insects.
Shot No would have been my fav if it wasn`t for the flower head in the way of the wings.
 
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Graham said:
WoW that`s a great set and good focus and lighting, looks like you have found your Niche.
I have a friend, well ex neighbour who has written several books on Hoverflies and has a FB group, So I would say Hoverflies are quite interesting and have a purpose in the pollinating of flowers along with other insects.
Shot No would have been my fav if it wasn`t for the flower head in the way of the wings.
Click to expand...

Thank you so much for the encouraging comments Graham!
I've only recently begun learning about/photographing insects and more specifically hoverflies (mainly due to their abundance/proximity and tolerance of me bungling about, shoving lenses in their tiny faces!:giggle:) and they are indeed a fascinating species.

You missed the number of your (almost) favourite however, but if you meant the one I think you meant, then that is also my (almost) favourite too! I agree, shame about the obscured wings!
By the way, was it image #4, the final image of the hoverfly set, titled 'hoverfly 6'?
 
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GarethB said:
Thank you so much for the encouraging comments Graham!
I've only recently begun learning about/photographing insects and more specifically hoverflies (mainly due to their abundance/proximity and tolerance of me bungling about, shoving lenses in their tiny faces!:giggle:) and they are indeed a fascinating species.

You missed the number of your (almost) favourite however, but if you meant the one I think you meant, then that is also my (almost) favourite too! I agree, shame about the obscured wings!
By the way, was it image #4, the final image of the hoverfly set, titled 'hoverfly 6'?
Click to expand...
My feckin keyboard, seems to be messing about again, yes No 4.
Thanks
 
Cracking set Gareth (y)
 
Nice work Gareth keep at it

Its a cellar spider
 
Here's a couple more of the usual suspects.
They were taken yesterday since it was quite breezy today.

I've been testing out my dual flash rig, so I was able to use it to 'freeze' the motion of the hoverfly's wings.
They are quite heavily cropped (especially the hoverfly)


hoverfly 12a by Gareth Bellamy, on Flickr


fly 2 by Gareth Bellamy, on Flickr

Thanks for looking. :)
 
Tintin124 said:
Best way is to create a new thread but lighting looks like it's on it's way
Click to expand...

Thanks Bryn.:)

Tintin124 said:
Best way is to create a new thread....
Click to expand...

Oops....old habits die hard!:facepalm:
But I will do that in future, I wasn't sure if I should clutter up the boards with my 'practice' images!;)
 
Haha have a look at my past... best way especially when starting is to get a few posts out as good to look back and see where you've been.
 
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