Although it’s still spring, the temperature has been in the low 30Cs the last few days. The birds and their offspring are scarce but the wildflowers and insects are everywhere you look at the reserve. My first bee and flower photograph of the season, always a cheerful combination!
The temperature has been up and down the last little while, it was -20C earlier in the week and +4C today but the skipper above is pure summer! They are pretty common in our area and a favourite of mine to photograph. I started doing more insect photography last year and look forward to a lot more when the warmer weather returns.
It’s been a good year for frogs at the lake. When birds and insects were in short supply, there were plenty of frogs to photograph. One spot in particular is dotted with tiny frogs, most submerged up to their necks. There is something very appealing about frogs and best of all most times they’ll sit still for a portrait!
A long title for a tiny subject. I’d stepped out today hoping to photograph some wildflowers. I spotted a slew of these daisies and as I lifted my camera to my eye I noticed this tiny fly on the edge of the petal. The subject of the photo quickly changed from flower to insect. I snapped away hoping the fly would turn towards me. That didn’t happen but I did manage to catch the reflection on its wing. A pretty good outcome I’d say.
None of these photos feature true bugs. The spider is an arachnid and the other two are insects. The damselfly was taken with my 70-200mm lens, the fly and jumping spider with my 105mm. I use my longer lens most of the time with an eye to taking bird and other wildlife shots. I find that I can get pretty decent close-up shots of insects with it as well although I have to crop the image more. With a bit of encouragement from “my partner in crime” I have been getting more familiar with my macro lens, extension tubes and flash. The spider and fly are recent shots taken with this set up. I’ll be using it more often.
I was keen to get out with my 105mm lens and and do some close-up/macro photography after a very long, cold winter. We spotted the first dragonflies in our area a few weeks ago, their colouring is getting more spectacular as the days pass and there are increasing varieties of them to photograph. I came across this meadowhawk along the trail and did my best not to cast a shadow which I knew would chase him off. Happily he didn’t spook and I managed to get this shot.
These photographs are some of the first I have taken of such small insects. Unlike many insects that fly off as soon as they see you, ladybugs don’t seem bothered by your presence so they make excellent subjects. This shot was taken with a 105 mm lens which let me get closer to them than I could before. I also used a flash which allows you to control the light and gives you greater shutter speed, reducing the “shake” factor. As I take my shots hand-held this is very useful.
