This Robber fly was captured by me at 3 times the life size in my garden. No tripod was used. I got a person to hold a sheet of A4 paper at the background to prevent it from being dark as in these pictures.
Macro Monday HQ is at Lisa's Chaos.
Digiscoping on the cheap
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People come to me in the streets regularly, telling me about the great
comfort they get from my bad pictures. “Until I read your posts I thought I
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1 hour ago
22 comments:
Wow. The lighter background sure makes the color in the eyes stand out more.
Great shot, Amila...Do I see whiskers at the tip of its'nose? This shot could definately be used in an alien movie!
He is scarey looking! Great picture! So, there is hope without a tripod??
stunning and mesmer eyes ing Amila! Thank you
Wow, great capture! I'm amazed to look this fellow right in the face. Have a wonderful week :)
Wow! this is simply a stunning photo.
Quite a macro...an actual one at that :-) Wonderful details...and hand held! Two questions: First: how'd you get him to stay still for it...and Second: how'd you get 3x?
Amila: What an amazing macro of the eyes. You do such a wonderful job on close-ups.
I'm always fascinated by robber fly eyes. So many of them are vivid iridescent green. This is an amazing photo.
What an AMAZING macro shot! Thanks for sharing your process in responding to June's questions.
Hugs and blessings,
AWESOME! Love all the colors in the eyes!
Hi Vickie,
Thanks! And that plus the facial profile shows better this way, I think.
Hi Kim,
Thanks! Yes they are.
Robbers make cool subjects for macro photography.
Hi Lin,
Thanks! Yes, there's hope with no tripod - with practice and "technique", the latter which is explained in my reply to June.
Hi RD,
Thanks. Actually different angles of light create different hues in this, which is quite cool.
Hi Rosidah,
Thanks! Robbers look awesome when captured head on.
Hi Jama,
Thanks! I am pleased you think so.
Hi June,
Thanks! It's all to do with "technique" which I will reveal since you have asked the "correct questions". (I usually do not "volunteer information" just as one of your former Presidents. You'll have to excuse my "addiction" of using quotation marks here as I have been reading far too much cnn, bbc and al jazeera sites lately).
Coming to the first of the two questions: "...how'd you get him to stay still for it?"
Super glue. Just kidding. Well, I study the behaviours or as I'd like to call it the "personalities" of the subjects. So far, I have photographed 5 species of robbers all with different "personalities".
To achieve good macro shots using my camera and lens set up I have to get as close as 1 foot or less (for this particular shot less than 3 inches from it). "Personalities" of some of the robbers are best termed as "backward" and they do not let us take too much liberties in violating their personal space.
This particular robber prefers to hunt from a "favourite" perch. Therefore, it has the habit of returning to the same perch after each aeriel hunt to land to devour its prey. And it is not "backward". And I think with about 200 shots taken of this particular species, I have now sort of developed a bit of "chemistry", if you know what I mean.
Therefore to get him to "pose" for me was not too much of a problem.
Having said all these, I should mention an "unorthodox" technique I used to prevent "camera-shake", in absence of a tripod (this will change soon as I believe I will have far more "keepers" with subjects like this robber if I use a tripod). That was by taking an arm chair out to the spot where the subject was in order for me to sit and rest my elbows on the arm of the chair to effectively make myself an "elbow-pod".
Your second question:
"how'd you get 3x?"
By using the canon MP-E 65mm lens. It allows life size up to 5 times the life size serious macro photography. Further reading: My dSLR "body" is 40D. And I used a Canon MT-24 EX Macro Twin Lite Flash.
Hi Tom,
Thanks! Yes their eyes look really pretty when photographed at close range.
Hi Doug,
Thanks! If you know a robber expert at the museum let me know, please as I am keen to get this and others identified.
Hi HRG,
Thanks! I moved my reply to June and others below your comment as I needed to edit what I wrote slightly. Glad you liked to hear it!
Hi Lisa,
Thanks! I am glad the colours came off well thanks to my amazing flash.
COOL! (but ugly too. LOL)
Awesome picture. I've been thinking of you with the news out of Sri Lanka. Hope all is well and good with you.
Great macro works.
Hi YETG,
I know you mean!
Hi Nancy,
Just logged in to my blog to break the monotony of celebrations. It's been a mesmerising May. Thanks a lot!
Hi Yen,
Thank you! Good to hear from you.
Wow, this is an excellent capture. The details are fantastic.
Hi Chriss,
This robber is remarkably tolerant and it is fun to work with. Thanks!
Wow! That is a wonderful macro! I think it is a beautiful insect, but then I find most animals interesting! And fun to see details you never see with your own eyes! Great job!
Looks like an alien! Wonderful macro photography!
Wonderful shot, great colours. Does look kind of alien.
That is just stunning!! Bravo, Amila.
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