Recommend me good locations for macro photography

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ziggy©

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Just curious as to where you guys find your insects and bugs. Someone has suggested a nature reserve but i dont know of any near where i am (N11).


I did visit Bushy park a few days ago and there were quite a few dragon/damsel flies but it was hard to get any of them to stay still for more than a few seconds. Maybe i need to visit a better location.

I dont mind driving between 1 and 2 hours for a location if it is worth it. What is your favorite location for macro photography?
 
Try your local canal, river or park with a pond.

If you are coming to Bushy Park again come south down the A3 to Ripley 20 minutes and go down to the Wey Navigation. There are loads there and if you go early you might catch some deer, heron and a kingfisher(I know they are not macro). Wisley Gardens is close as is Wisley Common which has a pond in the middle, so does Ockham Common but watch out for strange men in the undergrowth. Garden centers can be good if they are big but you do feel a bit out of place.
 
I did see some deer in bushy park but they were a bit boring. I dont mind the heron and kingfisher.

I am looking at Wey Navigation on Google and Flickr and it does look like there are some interesting spots on there.
 
As well as waterside locations I find nettlebeds are good, and this time of year all the sweet cicely and cow parsley flowers are covered with insects. They might look bare at first glance, but get down close and there are all sorts there.
 
ziggy©;3712473 said:
Just curious as to where you guys find your insects and bugs. Someone has suggested a nature reserve but i dont know of any near where i am (N11).


I did visit Bushy park a few days ago and there were quite a few dragon/damsel flies but it was hard to get any of them to stay still for more than a few seconds. Maybe i need to visit a better location.

I dont mind driving between 1 and 2 hours for a location if it is worth it. What is your favorite location for macro photography?
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Try going earlier/later in the day or when it is a bit overcast. The insects are slower and easier the photograph when they are cool. HTH
 
PINNACLE said:
Try your local canal, river or park with a pond.

If you are coming to Bushy Park again come south down the A3 to Ripley 20 minutes and go down to the Wey Navigation. There are loads there and if you go early you might catch some deer, heron and a kingfisher(I know they are not macro). Wisley Gardens is close as is Wisley Common which has a pond in the middle, so does Ockham Common but watch out for strange men in the undergrowth. Garden centers can be good if they are big but you do feel a bit out of place.
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Sounds slightly worrying :nono:
 
open a jar of jam and leave it in your garden for a couple of hours then position it close to the foliage of your choice and set up your kit. you'll get a shot sooner than you think!
 
My garden has been the source of many of my macro shots. Turn over a stine, get woodlice, earwigs, spiders, millipedes, etc. etc.
Turn over a few leaves, and get spiders and flies. On the flowers are aphids, greenfly, ladybirds. And flying around the bushes are the hoverflies and bees.
Then there's the flowers and plants themselves.

My garden is not very big, and has the kids toys in it all over the place, but there are dozens of potential shots to be had... :)
 
ziggy©;3712803 said:
Whats the story with the strange men in the undergrowth? :)
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Ockham Common or the bit by the cafe just off the A3 is a well known cruising ground and these guys go there to be friendly to each other in the bushes. Pain in the r's if you ask me, they pop up out of nowhere, my lurchers have scared a few as we have walked through which has been amusing.
 
you should be able to get decent macro shots anywhere there are insects, at your bushy Park, if there are Dragon Flies etc to photography, maybe you just have to be a bit more patient and get there at the right time when they are slightly less active, plus if you start to look carefully into the grass, you'll find all sorts of bugs and beetles to photograph. Just remember though like any other nature that you try to photograph, they are wary of us so you can’t just walk up to it and stick a lens in it's face and expect it to be stay there, approach carefully, quietly and if possible low to the ground...

I hope this helps, good luck with your macro photography, I do luv it so much but can't afford a proper setup...

one last thing, how can you find deer boring, they're lovely to watch???

Lee
 
ziggy©;3712473 said:
I did visit Bushy park a few days ago and there were quite a few dragon/damsel flies but it was hard to get any of them to stay still for more than a few seconds. Maybe i need to visit a better location.
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A good place to go is in the Woodland Gardens alongside the Longford River. Lots of bugs etc. to be seen.


Stratman said:
I saw a grass snake the last time I was in Bushy Park.
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I was only having a nap.
 
PINNACLE said:
Ockham Common or the bit by the cafe just off the A3 is a well known cruising ground and these guys go there to be friendly to each other in the bushes. Pain in the r's if you ask me, they pop up out of nowhere, my lurchers have scared a few as we have walked through which has been amusing.
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haha that was not the sort of macro shots i had in mind:lol:
 
PINNACLE said:
Ockham Common or the bit by the cafe just off the A3 is a well known cruising ground and these guys go there to be friendly to each other in the bushes. Pain in the r's if you ask me, they pop up out of nowhere, my lurchers have scared a few as we have walked through which has been amusing.
Click to expand...

Stratman said:
I saw a grass snake the last time I was in Bushy Park.
Click to expand...

I saw a trouser snake last time I went to Ockham Common.... oh wait... :shake:
 
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