12 posts tagged “insects”

I often think that there is a misconception out there that photography as an art form is easy, especially as there is an excellent range of cameras which do a remarkably good job even set to auto where we can just shoot away to our heart’s content. Now, it’s true, in my opinion, that the top of the range digital cameras do a fantastic job but I also feel that the photographer needs to know what they are trying to actually achieve in the photograph and it is another form of art after all where the person looking through the lens has to consider composition, lighting, focal point, background, colour, texture, mood, personality, focus etc before pressing the shutter. You will understand that I’m not talking about quick snapshots in this article but photography as an art form.

I have included this post due to my current photography competition which I am running entitled “New Year Garden Guests” which is open to amateur photographers like myself .  I am not a photography expert but I do have professional training in art and design.  I thought that these examples I am about to show you and discuss might give you some tips and inspiration for the competition.

Ok, this is a real example of a mini photo shoot I had with a garden guest - the fantastic stick mantid which has personality plus!  I have only ever seen two and this series is from my second sighting and he appeared quite out of the blue when I was in the bathroom, believe it or not, and I happened to see him on the outside of the window.  Now, I have to confess at this point that I am particularly “obsessed” with any form of wildlife in my garden since I purchased my camera and it has opened up a whole new world that I never knew existed to the point where I do not want to weed my yard for fear of killing some of these critters I have photographed.  How’s that for the ultimate excuse in not working  in the garden!

Shot 1 is the very first photograph I took (outside my bathroom window) simply to show you that this is a real photo shoot.  This is what I consider a to be a “snap shot” and a picture that is taken quickly, without any thought, simply to capture the moment or evidence of what you saw. The only bonus is that he happens to be looking right at the camera. I was using an additional macro lens to take these photographs.

Shot 2 is an improvement as I have zoomed in to get rid of the ugly, unnatural background of the window but there is still the ugly brick background with some strong shadows which detract from the mantid.  He is looking up at the camera which is good and his head is a focal point but still not the ideal shot.

Shot 3 is much better as I have zoomed in further on the mantid’s face which is nice and sharp and has minimised the ugly brick wall background but it’s still not the ideal background due to the lines  and distant brick wall.

In "When it's Safe to Cross", my stick friend started to travel away from the window, onto the concrete path.  This shot has some interest as he is crossing from a man made environment to more natural environment and there is a bit of character about him, pausing to reflect which way he will go, like crossing a road,  so I called it “When It’s Safe to Cross”.  This is where you can introduce personality into your shots and come up with some clever titles to express the moment.  I have also slightly darkened the background which detracted from the insect and created a soft halo around the mantid’s face.

Now the best ones from the shoot and I love the photograph which I have called "Tip Toes" as it really portrays the praying action they have and he almost looks like he’s playing the piano with his head semi tiltled saying “Am I doing alright?” I like the composition and there is the rule of thirds which is important in composing an image.  The soft background makes the stick mantid really pop  and become the focal point plus the personality aspect has been brought out.

Checkin' You Out

"Checkin' You Out" works because it purely focuses on the mantid’s head which is what I was interested in and he is looking straight at me.  To help minimise and softly darken the background I have used a vignette effect or filter which goes in a circular direction in this shot and basically creates a soft black border which blends nicely into the existing background.

Shot 4

2 comments

Shot 4 I love for many reasons - the detail of this wonderfully prehistoric looking creature and he appears to be washing his face with his tiny talons or whatever they actually are.  I love the composition as he is placed diagonally across the  frame and again off centre.  The background is soft and natural, making the stick mantid really pop out and that eye just seems to be looking at you the whole time.

I hope you have found this helpful and what I didn’t mention before was patience and having lots of it while you wait and wait for the critters to get into different positions without scaring them.  This guy just LOVED the camera though and was so slow moving that he was a great model!  I took lots of shots from many different angles as well which you simply must do - try profile, from above, down low, close-up etc. One thing I never ever do is to remove a creature from their natural environment for the sake of a photograph - if it’s not meant to be then there will be other days.

Remember, if you want to enter the “New Year Garden Guests” Photo Competition please sign up for my Newsletter (look for the chimp on the side bars of my website).  You will also get 3 free wallpapers to download and lots of other tips and goodies in the newsletter plus more info about the competition, the prizes, closing date etc.
 

I've been watching and photographing a couple of huge Orchard Swallowtail Caterpillars for the past week and they are the biggest caterpillars I have seen.  I was keen to keep an eye on them to perhaps be lucky enough to witness the transformation to cocoon and butterfly. If you get upset easily you may not want to read this story.

It takes four weeks for the caterpillar to mature, ready to turn into a pupa and these ones in my garden are very developed.  They have a "Y" shaped gland behind the head, the osmeterium which you can see in both of the above photographs I took.  This pops up when the caterpillar senses danger and it is a bright red colour which I also noticed gives off an odour so I wasn't game to get too close!

After Christmas, I photographed them again but there was another critter on the branch sitting very close to one of the caterpillars which I didn't think anything of until I went out again the next day and the caterpillars were gone - they had completely vanished! I searched for a pupa or anything that remotely resembled one but found nothing.  I was intrigued then about the other bug and when I found out what it was I was completely horrified!

Here is the evil "bad guy" and he was actually killing the caterpillar!  He is an assassin bug, named because of the way they feed on their prey. If you look closely you will see that he is piercing the caterpillar with a sucking mouthpart which is a weapon (proboscis) with which to kill other insects.  He is sucking out the body fluids of the caterpillar and feeding on them - you can see why I was horrified and it explains why the caterpillars had vanished.  I was upset for the rest of the day after discovering this.

I have seen this miniscule critter twice in my garden and despite looking up my reference books and scouring the internet, I cannot identify this bug. He is tiny, measuring about 1cm in diameter and I don’t know if he is a young butterfly/moth/grasshopper who will grow into something larger or if this is as big as he gets.  I have nicknamed him Casper the Friendly Ghost as he is so ghostly white, almost transparent like his identity!  It’s really bugging me, excuse the pun and there must be someone out there who can identify him.  Please put me out of my misery and I would really appreciate any help you can offer.  Here are some pictures of my friendly ghost …

 

I have always loved dragonflies but have never been able to get up-close & personal with them until I started photographing them using a macro lens. I really adore this lens and taking shots with it is my favourite passion in my photographic endeavours. As an artist, I get such a buzz when I look at the macro images on my computer screen and visually indulge in the patterns, textures and colours nature has to offer. It doesn’t get any better than this and it is also very educational as I am learning about all the creatures with whom I share my garden. Here are a few of the dragonflies and damselflies I have managed to capture so far.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I spotted this butterfly in the garden when I was feeding the comets early this morning and I sprinted into the house to grab my camera. I ended up chasing this butterfly all over my garden before she finally rested on a leaf. (I'm sure my neighbours must think that I am a bit of a freak!)  In my photography experience, to date, it is so rare for a butterfly to land, let alone sit for any reasonable length of time to actually take a decent photograph.  I couldn't believe what I was seeing and while this magnificent creature was resting, I managed to take quite a few shots of her...  very rewarding.

Just recently, in Brisbane, Australia, we have had an unusually high amount of butterflies and I particularly remember first noticing them while driving to work one morning. That same week the Brisbane Traffic Centre reported "early morning motorists on the busy Centenary Highway in Brisbane's west were forced to slow down and clean their windscreens after encountering the butterflies."

These butterflies are called Caper Whites and I found this poor critter in my art room one afternoon.

On a similar vein, this article then caught my attention on the National Geographic Magazine website:

Butterflies spatter the shoreline of the Juruena River in Brazil’s new 4.7-million-acre (2 million hectares) Juruena National Park. Several different species flock to the riverbanks to sip mineral salts from the sand.

Mike posted a few days ago about "Spring Butterflies" and even although I have seen a few butterflies in my yard, there are lots of moths around and they are getting into the house.  Now, these things freak me out but I would never be cruel to one - they are very large brown moths called "Granny's Cloak Moths" and I discovered this poor critter behind a cushion when I was dusting.  I decided to take some macro shots of the insect and on closer inspection, they are actually quite beautiful with a distinctive patch of iridescent purple/blue on the stripey brownish, black wings and I love the name of them which seems so apt.  They have big long tongues by the look of it as well and this one's tongue was rolled up.

When I see these insects, they always remind me of the movie "Silence of the Lambs" and the scene where Jodie Foster first enters the killer's house where they are flying around everywhere!

I am enjoying three weeks holiday at the moment and I have had the chance to get out and about as an artist and photographer for awhile.  I visited a local ’spot’ that I had read about which is about a ten minute drive from my house.  This place is beautiful and is off the beaten track in the Redlands area of Brisbane.  This place has been featured on TV and in magazines so I thought I had better go and check it out!

Now, I have to explain at this point that I am an art teacher who spends most of her time with her students in her art room and this is my first time in about a decade since I have gone out on a “photo shoot” so I was feeling a bit apprehensive about taking photos in a public place especially as I am still learning the “art of photography”.  Pushing my fears aside,  I packed my camera gear including lenses, tripod and a freshly recharged battery, sketch book, pens, nibblies and drink, cash, etc and set off on my photographic journey….

When I arrived, there were very few people around which was good and as I was taking all of my photographic equipment out from the boot of my car, I thought that there must be an easier way of carrying all this gear - the dear old tripod for instance, is a necessary evil but does not make for easy trekking through bushland!

This is what I saw once I stepped into this beautiful oasis … a garden area by a lily pond and covered multifunction area for Wedding receptions, concerts, guest speakers etc.

As I started to wander through this “nature’s paradise”my first thoughts were “what a spectacular setting to get married in”.  If my husband and I could do it all over again this is definitely where it would be.  Throughout my wanderings I could hear a cacophony of bird and nature sounds which is a sign that I was a guest in a very special wildlife habitat.

This place is enchanting and very special and as the day progressed I got more confident with my photography to the point where the surroundings took over and other people were incidental.

Here are some of my favourite photos which I took:

I was getting hungry and decided to have a break for a short while - this was my view from where I sat on a
wooden seat, sipping my milkshake and munching my cookies.

Feeling recharged after lunch I retraced my steps to where I had seen some interesting flowers but I got sidetracked and saw the most amazing animals I have ever come across, grazing in a neighbouring paddock.  I had seen these animals when I first arrived but they were over the far side and I thought that they were horses. They had obviously decided to try the grass at the other side and luck was on my side as I quickly swapped lenses to capture these gorgeous animals.

I have never seen alpacas in the flesh and at first they struck me as looking like camels, only smaller and cuter.  There were two white and one brown one in the field.  They were surrounded by a wire fence but allowed me to get very close with my camera and did not seem phased, infact, the brown alpaca was a real ’show off’ and he just “knew” that he was being photographed and did the whole head tilt thing and every time my camera focus noise beeped, he would adopt a new pose.  I totally fell in love with him and I want an alpaca in our back yard - boy do they munch grass big time and huge mouthfuls at a time are devoured.  You just never know what wildlife you will encounter and this was a magnificent bonus.  I have one more surprise left though …

I was feeling very weary from all my photographic encounters and after taking a few more shots of flowers on my way out, I decided to head off home.  On my way down I caught site of an animal moving in a property on the left-hand side and pulled over to get a closer look.  Facing me in the distance was a red-necked wallaby.  I grabbed my camera and tried to get as close to him as I could but it was private property.  I took a few steps closer and he was perfectly still, looking straight at me so I grabbed a few shots and then he bounded off - this photo is not very good quality but it was the perfect ending to a fabulous day.

Can anyone help me identify this insect?  I took this photograph today and the bug was on a palm frond in my yard.  It looked much flatter than a wasp or bee and more moth like in silhouette.  I am in the Redlands area of Brisbane, Australia.

 

Click on the text here Interactive Forest to take an enchanting walk through this forest and see, hear and learn about the flora and fauna along the way.

Original site can be found here: http://w3.upm-kymmene.com/upm/forestlife/index.html