This shot was taken a few months ago by the ponds outside my office.  I spent some time photographing one stink bug and when I found another on a different leaf – I figured – why not?

They stayed together for about thirty seconds – but this was long enough to get a decent shot.  They didn’t seem too offended by one another – but soon went their separate ways.

Stink bugs are one of my favorite insects to photograph as they are so colorful.

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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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Both shots were taken with the MT-24EX mounted and were at 1/200 second at apertures of f/11.  The camera used was the Canon 5D.  One shot was taken with the 180L while the other was taken with the MP-E 65.  With both shots, I took a number of the same subject so I then took the best representative shot from each set.  The following are the two test shots.

I hope it is obvious which shot was taken with the 180L and which was taken with the MP-E 65.

Let’s take a look at both of these shots at 100%.

At 100%, both shots still look fairly good.  The top one, of course, is the MP-E 65.  Here’s the result at 200%.

Try to keep in mind that the eye is larger from the MP-E 65 shot because the shot was taken at a higher magnification than the 1x of the 180L.  It does appear that they are quite close.  Here is the shot of the 180L magnified to 300% – where the eye is roughly the same size as that in the MP-E 65.

Obviously the MP-E 65 version is sharper, but that one is at 200% vs this one at 300%.  In my opinion if I had to pick a winner it would be the MP-E 65, due to the detail in the facets of the eye vs the detail of the top of the head on the shot from the 180L.

In truth though this is neither a scientific nor a very fair test.  With all of the gear I had on the camera, I should try to see if I can take shots higher than 1/200th with the 180L – perhaps with high speed flash sync – to see if that improves the sharpness.  Certainly there is a higher chance of camera shake with the 180L and the Wimberley brackets than with the MP-E 65.  Also, to be entirely fair both shots should have been at 1x – though the MP-E 65 is actually sharper at 1x than at 2x.

This also does not give an indication of how well these lenses work with a 21MP sensor, which I hope to show in a few months.  In the end, I may not have proven anything here but I hope to have given you an idea of the sharpness of the 180L.

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The leaf in this shot is from me.  In a previous shot some commented that the red of the Japanese maple was too strong against the green of the stink bug.  Also, in this case the stink bug wasn’t in a very good spot to photograph so I used the leaf to move it.  One thing I have noticed is that the MT-24EX on the 180L can tend to be a bit too strong.  In this case the front of the stink bug is a bit too strongly lit.  Continue on for a comparison with a similar shot on the MP-E 65 and more stink bug experiments.

Here’s a very similar shot taken last year with the MP-E 65 and the MT-24EX.

This is the shot that others generally reviewed as having too strong of a contrast.  Contrast aside, note that the lighting on the stink bug is much softer here.  In both cases I used the exact same flash – MT-24EX – and in both cases the MT-24EX had Sto-fen diffusers.  I remember reading some time ago that in macro as the light gets further from the subject it actually becomes harsher.  This still doesn’t make sense to me but these shots seem to suggest that is true.  The fix, I hope, is a Wimberley macro flash bracket that will arrive at the end of this week.  I did try adjusting the position of the heads and the angles but I was unable to soften the light as much as the shot with the MP-E 65.

Getting back to my experiment, I then decided to try photographing the stink bug on my car.  The first one is from the top.

The blue of the car is a bit dark here, but I don’t think that’s too much of an issue as in previous shots it has the tendency to overpower things.  One thing to note is that pictures with my MP-E 65 brought out the blue much stronger, further indicating that I am currently not lighting the entire shot but just the bug.  Here’s a shot I took several weeks ago with the MP-E 65.

If this is the case, the Wimberley will probably not be the only solution but I should look into also firing a 580EX to light the background when taking macro shots with the 180L and MT-24EX.  In the past I have had problems firing the 580EX from the MT-24EX but I can probably now solve the problem with Pocketwizards.  Finally, I took advantage of the lighting from the combination to get the stink bug and its shadow.

So the moral is from this experiment that I need to work more with lighting when using this combo.  Things are a bit easier with the MP-E 65, but with the 180L more thought needs to be given to the background and to preventing harsh light on the subject.

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The shot above is one I made several weeks later, when I found another one of these bugs in one of my Japanese maple bushes.  Many of your probably already know what this bug is – but for those not acquainted this is the stink bug.  Supposedly they have the ability to spray a cyanide containing mixture that smells rather bad, though I have never seen one do this.  Still, I have never bothered to handle one to find out.  Above is the aptly named “green stink bug” – one of my favorites around the garden.  They are among the most photogenic insects around here and are quite common.  For more information about this fascinating creature, follow the jump.

The above portrait is one of my favorite shots of another kind of stink bug.  I believe this one is a Parabrochymena arborea.  One interesting fact about stink bugs is they are actually bugs.  Technically speaking, only insects in the order hemiptera can actually be called “bugs”.  Stink bugs are a member of this order (in the family pentatomidae).  Some stink bugs eat caterpillars and other insects, but most eat plants.  Some are considered pests in the garden.  On the other hand, some of the predacious species are highly beneficial, so killing any stink bug you find is not a good idea.

Recently I had the opportunity to photograph two new (to me) species that I found on the side of the house.

This appears to be the Red-crossed stink bug, or Elasmostethus cruciatus.  The “cruciatus” part comes from the red “X” on its back.  This is actually not a stink bug, but instead is called a “parent bug” and is in the family Acanthosomatidae. 

I suspect that the above bug is not a stink bug either, but is still in the family hemiptera.  It looks a bit like a squash bug but I was unable to find a good match in my literature.  My only regret with taking these pictures is I wish I took them on top of an interesting flower.  The parent bug I actually attempted this, but it disappeared when I brought back something to grab it with.  The last bug I just did not have the time – as dinner was ready when I was still shooting.  Still, they frequent the sliding glass door area so I’m sure sometime this year I’ll get another chance.

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