Twas a good day for huntin'

Soldato
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Hunting bugs that is. I thought it was going to be a horrible day for photography, but I headed out anyway and was welcomed by a bit of sun and loads of insects.. which was nice;

1.
Plant_of_smooth_red_by_MessiahKhan.jpg

2.
Clean_your_legs_by_MessiahKhan.jpg

3.
Countdown_to_launch_by_MessiahKhan.jpg

4.
Beaky_by_MessiahKhan.jpg
 
Soldato
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Shostakovich said:
I love all your photos on here, beautiful.

I am, though, bamboozled as to where you find all these exotic creatures!!

Thank you. 95% of the shots I post are taken in the back garden or in the fields out back. Every time I head out I come across something new. Since im relatively new to Photography, ive never really looked at stuff in so much detail, so im excited to see what late summer/autumn will reveal in terms of bugs. :)

Spie said:
Excellent shots as usual.

Cheers. :)
 
Soldato
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Fstop11 said:
ooh I am a bit keen on them :)

Good work my good man.

Cheers:)

n30_mkii said:
Really love the composition of the first, it really does stand out for me....Good work keep it up....Do you use any lighting equipment or reflectors? Or just rely on the sun?

Thank you. Nope, all my work is shot with natural light. I don't think a reflector would work too well with insect macro shots anyway, as by the time you had set it all up, the insect will have flown off. I do want a ringflash or dual head flash though, as days like today forces me to up the ISO to get acceptible shutter speeds and aperture.
 
Soldato
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Cheers guys. Here's another one from today. Took a bit more work than the others to make it look decent. The leaf was too tatty and detracted focus, so I tidyed it up a bit. If possible, could someone also identify the thing as well. I saw 2 of them today, the first being very camera shy.

Spotted_by_the_light_by_MessiahKhan.jpg
 
Associate
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Superb shots. You clearly have an eye for bugs!

For me the first two are the pick of the bunch, the first one leaps off the screen and the second has a really pleasing (if more subtle) composition.

That last one looks interesting - like hoodmeister, I would be interested to see the leaf in all its tatty glory!
 
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They are brilliant yet again, number one in particular, although I still have my suspicions you ship some of these things in.

I just went out again and I found... a garden spider and some flys :rolleyes:
 
Soldato
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Fantastic shots, as usual! Looking at the exif i see you're using centre-weighted metering. Is that recommended for Macro stuff, generally?
 
Soldato
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wez130 said:
nice as usual messiah, but i bet you can't name half if them

You sure get some exotic stuff up your end. I'll have to get over there some time

Autumn is great for dragonflies

Cheers. Erm.. Hoverfly, ladybird grub, grasshopper, fly, spider, damsel fly, and no idea. Did I pass? :p One place ive been today(Will post the pics in a bit) was up the Durham coast, off Easington Colliery. It was amazing for flowers and insects and I would really recommend it sometime. Im deffinately heading there again. And the last few years we have had a dragonfly lay its eggs in our garden. hopefully it will come back this year.

brocksta said:
I love all of them, but the first is my favourite. Love the deep red colour and the clarity of the shot. Everytime i see your macro stuff, im more tempted to get a macro lens

Cheets. Yeah, red is my favourite colour and works so well in shots like this. Go on, buy the lens you know you want to. ;)

Helium_Junkie said:
I love your photos MK, seriously jealous

Thank you. No point being jealous.. get out there and bug hunt. ;)

hoodmeister said:
Liking that last one, because of the leaf. Would be interested to see an "untidied" version of it.

I'll get todays uploaded, then i'll see about posting an unedited version of that one. I think I didn't like it because im a fan of very simple, graphic images often with a studio type look. This time nature was a bit too messy imo.

Syk3 said:
What lenses you got now ?

The stock 18-55mm and the 150,, f2.8 Sigma. I think next one my list is the 10-20mm, then the 'Bigma'. That lot should keep me going for a while.

Nicos Rex said:
Superb shots. You clearly have an eye for bugs!

For me the first two are the pick of the bunch, the first one leaps off the screen and the second has a really pleasing (if more subtle) composition.

That last one looks interesting - like hoodmeister, I would be interested to see the leaf in all its tatty glory!

Cheers. Im getting better at spotting them now. I can walk along and quite often spot things from some distance, just from movement, colour or shape. Helps walking really slowly though. I think no.2 is my favourite of the set due to the bugs pose.

Raikiri said:
They are brilliant yet again, number one in particular, although I still have my suspicions you ship some of these things in.

I just went out again and I found... a garden spider and some flys :rolleyes:

Hehe, I can assure you they are all found in my garden or in the fields out back. Don't let the fact that you can only find flies and spiders put you off. Just keep looking and eventually you'll find the weird and wonderfull ones. :)

Scam said:
Fantastic shots, as usual! Looking at the exif i see you're using centre-weighted metering. Is that recommended for Macro stuff, generally?

Cheers. No idea tbh. I tend to stick to centre weighted, or spot metering due to how I prefer shooting. I like to meter off the subject, then compose the shot. Same if im using AF.. i'll have it on single point AF, lock focus on the subject, then compose the shot.
 
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