Summer Insects

Here are some insects from last July and August.

great spangled fritillary (June)

Japanese beetle on hyssop (focus stack of 4 images)

large milkweed bug on milkweed (focus stack of 6 images)

male ebony jewelwing, a damselfly

northeastern hammertail, a robber fly (focus stack of 5 images)

Is it just me, or does this ant have transparent rings in its abdomen? (focus stack of 2 images)

immature large milkweed bug on milkweed (focus stack of 5 images)

twice-stabbed stink bugs on hyssop (focus stack of 4 images)

Zethus spinipes, a wasp, on celosia

I Entered a Contest

Several months ago, while reading a photography magazine, I came across the announcement of a contest. I looked at the handful of photos that accompanied the announcement and thought, "I can do that." This was not a local or even national contest. It was the global Close-up Photographer of the Year (CUPOTY 6). I paid my euros soon after seeing the announcement. Then my confidence waned and I had a hard time choosing pictures to submit. I didn't submit my pictures until the day after the deadline, and I'm not even certain they were accepted.

I entered in the insects category. The "shortlist" has been published, and I can see why my pictures did not receive a mention. The great majority that made the shortlist are beyond my capability. Here are the pictures I submitted. I've posted most of these before.

Monarch caterpillar (2019). I chose this photo for its action: Did the caterpillar cause the stem to break?

Honey bee (2019). This one pleases me. The background is clean and the angle makes the image more interesting.

Black swallowtail caterpillar (2024). I chose this because of its simplicity.

I chose this because of the unexpected perspective.

Long-legged fly (2024). I chose this for the slightly low angle and the wave of the leaf's edge.

Honey bee (2024). I chose this for its artistic nature.

Three Bees

Bees are probably my favorite insect subjects, not least because the missing gardener's plantings attract them April through October. If butterflies were half as abundant I might have a different favorite.

This honey bee was part of a failed focus stack. I was going to delete all the shots, but I decided I like this one.

 

A few days after I bought the extension tubes, I was madly trying to get more detailed shots than I could get without them. I moved the camera too much as I was shooting, and the collection of shots did not have enough of this bumble bee in focus. I was going to delete the set, but the missing gardener's comment made me reconsider. A pollen-covered bee is pretty cool.

Focus stack of 2 images

Carpenter bees are my favorite bee, partly because they're large as bees go. Their green eyes and a yellowish patch (males) help give them something I recognize as a face.

As is well-known, bees are busy, so it can be difficult to take a good picture of a bee and even more difficult to get multiple shots for a good focus stack. However, bees are still before they get going in the morning. This eastern carpenter bee spent a chilly (60° or lower) night on a flower. In the morning, I was able to get plenty of shots for focus stacks, and I managed to control the camera's movement to get good focus front-to-back.

Focus stack of 12 images

More Magnification!

Previously, I expressed a need for more magnification. Now I have it in the form of a set of three extension tubes. These attach between the camera body and the lens and somehow permit closer focusing. There are no optics involved; these things are basically empty spacers with electrical contacts that let the camera and lens communicate.

 

The closest I can get with my 100mm macro lens.

The same ruler with the macro lens and 56mm of extension tubes (yeah, I blew the focus).

Woo-hoo! I can get shots of small bugs!

Not quite. As with many things in photography, there is a trade-off. Yes, there is greater magnification, but the penalties are an even shallower depth of field, a need for more light, and magnified camera shake. The one that has been cooking my shorts the most is depth of field.

I started out using all three extension tubes and could barely orient myself. I looked through the viewfinder and couldn't find the bug that was 16 inches away from my eyes. When I did find it, I couldn't get a decent shot because it popped in and out of focus so easily. If I managed to settle in and shoot a burst for a focus stack, I found that I moved the camera too much and parts of the bug were not in focus in any of the shots.

I would have to improve my technique or use a tripod, but a tripod isn't handy for insects that move.

Something that has helped is not using all the extension tubes. I usually want maximum magnification, but if I can't take a good picture maximum magnification doesn't do any good.

Here's another illustration of the magnification. My neighbor had a bald-faced wasp's nest (or white-faced hornet or bald-faced hornet or a bunch of other names) in a garage light, and I obtained one of the fallen comrades before the exterminator arrived.

Macro lens only

Macro lens and 36mm extension tube, focus stack of 5 images

Some More Bugs

More bugs from my yard.

Large milkweed bug on milkweed. Focus stack of 8 images.

Great spangled fritillary

A better shot of a bicolored striped sweat bee (previous post)

Orchard orbweaver. This is the underside of the spider. Focus stack of 2 images.

Bumble bee on a purple coneflower. Focus stack of 9 images.

Orchard orbweaver (Same species, different individual. This one was along the road in the ravine near my house. Also the underside). Combo of two photos: One of the spider and one of the shadow.

Condylostylus patibulatus. Neither the Seek app nor Wikipedia gave a common name for this long-legged fly. Focus stack of 6 images.

I need more magnification! This is the uncropped shot of the long-legged fly. I can crop the photo or zoom in to make the bug bigger, but the details don't look good because relatively few pixels are devoted to the bug.

Some Bugs

The Missing Gardener's plants and the neighbor's cherry tree have attracted bugs this year. I used a macro lens for all shots.

eastern carpenter bee

Eastern carpenter bee. Focus stack of two images

 

Eastern calligrapher, a hoverfly. Focus stack of two images.

mining bee

Bicolor striped sweat bee. I hope I see it again; I need better pictures. July 24: I did see it again.

eastern black swallowtail

 

I use the Seek app from iNaturalist and Ohio Department of Natural Resources field guides to identify bugs. I use the Seek app and the Missing Gardener to identify plants.

2023 Part 4: Creepy

 Creepy, crawly, and squishy things from 2023.

a Malagasy leaf-tailed gecko's foot (Columbus Zoo, focus stack of 2 images)

Fall webworm (focus stack of 9 images). It has that ghostly look that the focus-stacking software can produce, but the individual shots look like this.

female eastern carpenter bee, I think (focus stack of 11 images)

male eastern carpenter bee (focus stack of 6 images)

male eastern carpenter bee (focus stack of 3 images)

Giant prickly stick insect (Toledo Zoo). If I recall correctly, it's about 3 inches long.

Pacific sea nettle (Toledo Zoo)

Focus Stacking Advantages

Good macro photography technique says to get the subject square to the camera (parallel to the focal plane). That's because the depth of field--the zone that's in focus--is very shallow.

The camera was directly above this flat bug, so the body and head are in focus. Click an image to compare pairs. (f/6.7  1/3000s  ISO 800  #5 of 8 images)

Focus stacking most prominently added more of the flower. It also improved the bug's legs and antennas. There are artifacts, too, in the form of a reflection on the left side and distorted petal edges.

 

This fly is not square to the camera. It didn't respond when I asked it to move, so what could I do? I like the shot, though. (f/5.6  1/500s  ISO 800  #2 of 5 images in the stack)

Focus stacking added the fly's wings, the fly's legs, and the stem it's standing on.

 

I'm attracted to bees' faces, and this one was square to the camera. Without focus stacking, that's all I'd have. With it, I got its wings, legs, and hairs on its body. (f/6.7  1/350s  ISO 800  8 images)

None of these struck me as being particularly good... (f/5.6  ISO 800  1/750s)

 

 

 

 

... but the 5 pictures stacked together turned out nicely.

Sometimes I can experiment with how much background to include in the stack. (f/4.8  1/250s  ISO 1600  3 images)

Which one do you prefer? (5 images)