The Aphid Farmer (with vid)

TimmyG

TimmyG

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So I went out looking for spiders again today, but after about 5 minutes I spotted this ant farming his little herd of aphids, so just watched that for a while instead ;)


182/365/2013 - The Aphid Farmer by Tim.Garlick, on Flickr

I also shot some video (which is a nightmare trying to handhold and focus) but I mainly wanted to try our Premiere Elements which was a recent purchase:

[VIMEO]69509984[/VIMEO]

Hmm...not sure I got quite the right soundtrack..
 
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Officially one of the strangest things I've ever seen but it truly is great. What was your light source for the image, it looks backlit?
 
Hi Russ, it was my flash with home made diffuser directly over the top (well underneath in reality, I flipped the image in post) of the subject. I think some light got into my lens as the result was a bit hazy in places and needed some pp work. Thanks!
 
That's great, Tim. Ants move so quickly that they're tricky to catch, especially on cloudy days. I've just bought a diffuser for my flash but am struggling..
 
Thanks, if you find one guarding a herd of aphids they'll pretty much stay in the same spot. Just wait for him to come into focus ;) but yeah they are pretty fast little beggars otherwise!
 
Love the photo. Really like the direction of the light. Almost like it's in golden hour too.

Video is brilliant. LOL at the music :) Not quite suited but still cool. Added a little humour to an already cool video :)


Think macro vids could be a little addictive. Did you set up on tripod for this one? Focus is 100% better than in my one which I was hand holding.
 
Ha ha, thanks. The music I selected in the end because it was late and I was fed up trying to find some copyright free stuff that matched perfectly. It's not that bad, but the electric guitar solo is probably a bit much :)

I did put my camera on a tripod, but then I made the school boy error of hand holding the branch in front of the camera to get focus, so its still got a lot of shake. As I said, I was just really trying to get some footage so I could play around with Premiere so I'll put more thought into it next time. But yes, I can see these diy wildlife videos becoming a bit addictive too ;)

Thanks
 
Ants farming aphids has always fascinated me. Luckily I get them a lot on a grape vine in the garden. Great shot!
 
The lighting is great on this Tim
Excellent detail - are they on a nettle?
 
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