I found a number of these flies on a bank of yellow flowers next to a small stream.  I must admit that even after attempting to look it up, I have no idea what type of fly it is.  At first I thought it was a face fly, but according to what I read face flies are quite a bit bigger than this one.

I rather like this view of it.

Here you can clearly see that the fly is getting pollen all over it.

These photos were taken during my weekly photo shoot at some ponds next to the building where I work.  I was a bit reluctant that day to go out and shoot as I had a lot of work to do and had a lot of meetings that day, but I was quite glad that I did! (and yes I finished my work too)

Sometimes it is very nice to just force yourself to go out there and shoot.

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I noticed that there were quite a few flies that were hanging out on ferns.  When I approached them, they did not flinch too much so I knew that I had a good thing going.  I ran back and grabbed my camera to get some shots.

In this shot, I used the shadow/highlight technique to get more out of the fly.  I think I like the effect on the fly itself, but not on the leaf it rests on.  In the future I’ll probably just play around with dodge and burn.  Here is a shot without the effect.

Of course, I was excited to get some decent shots and brought the camera back to the rest of the party – who were in the middle of dinner.  The wife panicked and thought that there were giant flies in her backyard and I consoled her by explaining that my camera shows things up close and that they really weren’t that big.

Of course, I’m not sure when we will be invited back again…

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Mystery solved: How to harvestmen climb?

Here you can see a closeup of two of the legs of the harvestman.  On the ends of each leg are claws.  They obviously use these claws to grasp onto things.  This shot was taken around 3x magnification and is blown up 150%.

Of course, with each mystery solved a new mystery comes along.  This harvestman was found on a fallen leaf.  Therefore the new mystery is – what are those things coming out of the leaf?  My guess is they are some kind of mold or fungus, but I truly do not know.

New mystery: What is this thing?

I wasn’t actually trying to get a picture of this.  The actual shot is of a centipede that I found under a piece of wood and that was the subject I was focusing on.  However, when I edited that shot over the weekend I noticed this thing.

My guess is it is some type of root or a sprout.  I’m sure a botanist would have a better idea, but it sure looks strange.

Mystery: What are these green spots on this fly?

I posted this picture a few weeks ago and thought little of it.

However, when I edited this weekend I noticed these green spots.

The original shot was taken around 2x and this shot is blown up to 278%.  You can see a number of green spots on the back of the fly.  The spots go along the entire back.  What are these?  Are they just the way the fly looks or are they some kind of fungus?

These came up just from editing a few pictures.  In the future I think I need to look at my macro shots more carefully as I’m sure there are a number of new mysteries already there waiting for me.

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At first I was rather excited because as I prodded it to move to the leaf I smelled something curious.  Had the stink bug actually fired at me?  After all, it is well known that stink bugs defend themselves through a foul smelling mixture that they spray at potential attackers.  I then heard my neighbor cussing that something he had opened really stunk, which culled the excitement.  A closer sniff of the bug revealed that it was not the stink bug itself.  Perhaps it did spray, but I couldn’t smell it.

I then moved the stink bug to a primrose that I felt was more photogenic.

It didn’t seem enthralled to be there and soon took off.

I let it go, knowing that it certainly will not be the last stink bug I photograph this year.  I always enjoy photographing them due to their bright green color and interesting eyes.  The next time though I think I’ll try finding a leaf that matches the color as close as possible and try some photographs on it.  I’m not sure the strong colors of the flower really helped the shot in this case.

Another interesting episode came with an ant that I found crawling in one of our recycle bins.  It took off when I tried to photograph it and crawled into the bin.  I watched it for a bit until it came to the very edge of the recycle bin and we stared at each other for about a minute.

I’m not sure of the species.  It did not appear to be a carpenter ant, but I didn’t get a good enough shot of the entire body to be able to identify it.

Finally, I did not have too much luck with the flies that day – who were a bit skittish, but I did manage to get one fly.  Interestingly it was wingless – though I’m not sure why.

Why this particular fly did not have wings will have to go in my mystery bin.

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I also learned a new trick.  One thing to make sure to not do when photographing flies is to get in their light.  I played around with this one to see how much it does truly matter.  Sure enough, whenever I stood in its light, the fly took off.  Therefore I approached from a direction such that my lens would not cast a shadow on the fly.

However, I found that it wasn’t in a very good position to get a shot.  So I leaned a bit to the side in order to cast a shadow just to the edge of the fly.  Sure enough, it moved a little bit and turned to get this shot.

Also that day, I found a cool looking springtail.  I’m not sure the name of it, though it shouldn’t be too hard to look up given the interesting markings.  I found it on our shed while looking at midges.

I also found this on the composting bin.  It looks like another midge, though the legs appear longer than the ones I normally see.  Perhaps it had to spread them out longer due to the material.

I also found my friend, the six legged spider, in her normal location.  I took a few shots, but none came out this time.  All in all, things are speeding up right now and I have a feeling there will be more and more interesting things outside!

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For instance, as an aside I have finally figured out a routine for learning foreign languages.  As those of you who know me well know, I speak a good number of foreign languages but I have a problem keeping up with languages I am not actively studying.  I believe I have finally figured out how to do this.

In terms of photography, I have been able to reflect on my current skills and goals.  For instance, I have realized that I need to move up a level in my macro photography to fully understand composition.  Right now, I’m content with just getting a good shot of a bug from a good angle.  However, I need to also take into mind the angles and curves in the shot and other aspects in order to make the shot actually interesting.

Here’s an example of the difference.  The following is a shot of a fly I took some time ago.

I don’t think this is a bad shot, but unless someone is interested in flies it really doesn’t give any impact. In other words, though it is a decent shot technically, artistically it isn’t that great.

In this shot, I deliberately tried to get the curve of the leaf coming from the lower right corner of the shot.  In my opinion, this makes the shot much stronger.  I have received much better feedback from this shot, which I took recently, than the other shot.

This is the direction I now realize that I must take my photography.  I must start paying more attention to the composition of my shots and how I can make them more interesting.

This respite has also given me the chance to read more books and get familiar with video, which I expect to start getting involved with once I receive the new camera.

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If anyone knows the species for these flies, I would appreciate an ID.

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I took this shot of a very patient fly, though I was a bit heartbroken that it took off just after this and I might have been able to get the shot off.  Still, I don’t think this one is so bad.

The post processing may be a bit much on this shot.  What do you think?  I had to edit the JPG because I haven’t downloaded the latest Adobe Camera RAW that supports the 40D and I don’t have Canon’s RAW converter installed.  When I buy Photoshop CS4 I’ll be able to edit this better.

One thing that struck me was how spoiled I am with RAW.  Only after going back to JPG do you realize how much less dynamic range it has.  I also think the camera did too much processing of the JPG, resulting in some rather ugly banding that I tried to fix.  On my old 5D I turned all processing off.

Harvestmen make excellent subjects because they rarely run away – unlike many garden spiders (though note that the harvestman is not a spider).  I liked the arrangement of the legs on the cinder block, and tried to capture that in this image.  This shot probably would have been better with the 180L but I didn’t feel like going back into the house and changing the lens.

I was very tempted to move the top leg on the right just a little bit up in order to be symmetrical, but in general I am against doing changes like those.

I cropped this shot a bit in order to deliberately place the leafhopper in the middle of it.  Leafhoppers are one of my favorite subjects because they are so brightly colored.  This one appears to be of the ‘army soldier’ variety.

I think I will revisit the post processing of all of these shots when I buy CS4, but in the meantime I think it was a very successful weekend in terms of photography.

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I took all of these about two months ago shortly before shooting a house for Nelya.  She didn’t mind too much that I showed up quite dirty from my previous shoot.

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I take most of my fly images with my MP-E 65.  Once in awhile I use my 180L but I like the larger size of the fly that I can achieve with magnifications higher than 1x.  Of course, this requires that I get even closer to the fly.  When I use my 180L, it is much easier to get shots but I tend not to like them as much unless it happens to be a large fly.  For lighting, I always use a MT-24EX.  For the most part, taking high quality pictures of insects with only ambient light is not practical.

The problem most people have is not in the gear, but in scaring the fly off.  Flies are very skittish (they are used to us swatting them) and will take off at a moment’s notice.  Even today the majority of flies I attempt to photograph take off before I can get a shot off, but with patience I can get the shots I want.  The first piece of advice that most people offer is to not get in the fly’s light.  I have found this rule to also be true, so it is always a good idea to know where the sun is.  This also makes it a bit easier to photograph flies on overcast days.

As is true with all insects, mornings, late afternoons, and colder days are the best times to photograph.  However, I have noticed that many types of flies only come out when it is warm and sunny.  You can find flies in almost all types of weather, and certainly it is a good idea to start out on cold days, but you’ll also have to get used to photographing them on the hot, sunny days as well if you want more varieties of flies.

On the hot, sunny days, I try two different strategies.  The first strategy, which I find does not work as well, is to work very softly and keep a lookout.  When you see a fly, slowly approach it with your lens and hope to get close enough to get a shot off.  This is how I search for a number of different insects, but has a high failure rate.  More often than not the fly gets away before I even have a hope of getting a shot off.  However, with patience I eventually find a fly that is more patient.

The other approach, which requires more patience, has a much higher probability of success.  Basically you find a spot where flies seem to frequent and you “set up shop”.  Basically sit down, sit still, and wait.  Eventually, when you see a fly, slowly move your lens toward it.  Since you were already there, it will pay less attention and you’ll have a better shot of getting it.  In my experience, I also notice a number of other insects that I would not have otherwise noticed.  The shot above used this technique.  The other major advantage of this method is you often get more shots off of the fly.

In terms of framing, always try to get the fly from the front.  Side and back views (which are all too common) are just not interesting.  It might take a bit more patience to wait for the fly to face forward, but the end shot will be worth it.  I don’t bother even taking the shot if the fly is facing the wrong way.  Some side shots, though, can be interesting.

The main key is to keep in mind the way the fly is facing as you want the shot to be interesting for your viewers.

One thing to take away from all of these approaches and advice is that you must be patient.  Fly photography is something that is best done in solitude, with no one to distract you.  It is also something that usually fails when you are in a hurry.  However, with some patience and time you’ll find that these shots are not very difficult to achieve.

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