Robber fly wins easily!
Wasp vs robber fly.......
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Thanks Robert.
I hope you really enjoyed South Africa and get the chance to do so again. It's always hard to know how much kit to take with on a trip, and as many of the organised safaris are almost completely vehicle based the opportunities for macro photography could well be mostly limited to the rest camps. Nevertheless South Africa can be a great place for macro if you can get to the right places. I would say one wants to head for the tops of the koppies (small hills) preferably walking up a gully facing the sun.
Although it is possible to go hiking in the Kruger Park under the guidance of an armed game ranger, I like most others have only experienced this wonderful place from the car. Birds and mammals are generally more wary of people on foot anyway, but it does make one less able to appreciate the smaller things in the environment.
I have found robber flies to have a significant presence just about everywhere I've been - right from the fynbos of the Southern Cape to the dry Karoo as well as in the grassland and the bushveld areas. I had sort of assumed that they are one of the top insect predators wherever you go. I see them most times I go walking. If I see them with prey - particularly if it's brightly coloured, it's always special, but not particularly unusual.
The lens is an Olympus 60 mm f 2.8 macro - usually when I go walking I take just it and the 20 mm f 1.7 panasonic pancake lens in a small pouch. That basically covers insects, plants, flowers, landscape and my companions. If I think I'm likely to miss out on birds or mammals, I might take the 40-150 mm f 2.8, but I do feel the extra weight and have often wished I had rather taken more refreshments instead.
I hope you really enjoyed South Africa and get the chance to do so again. It's always hard to know how much kit to take with on a trip, and as many of the organised safaris are almost completely vehicle based the opportunities for macro photography could well be mostly limited to the rest camps. Nevertheless South Africa can be a great place for macro if you can get to the right places. I would say one wants to head for the tops of the koppies (small hills) preferably walking up a gully facing the sun.
Although it is possible to go hiking in the Kruger Park under the guidance of an armed game ranger, I like most others have only experienced this wonderful place from the car. Birds and mammals are generally more wary of people on foot anyway, but it does make one less able to appreciate the smaller things in the environment.
I have found robber flies to have a significant presence just about everywhere I've been - right from the fynbos of the Southern Cape to the dry Karoo as well as in the grassland and the bushveld areas. I had sort of assumed that they are one of the top insect predators wherever you go. I see them most times I go walking. If I see them with prey - particularly if it's brightly coloured, it's always special, but not particularly unusual.
The lens is an Olympus 60 mm f 2.8 macro - usually when I go walking I take just it and the 20 mm f 1.7 panasonic pancake lens in a small pouch. That basically covers insects, plants, flowers, landscape and my companions. If I think I'm likely to miss out on birds or mammals, I might take the 40-150 mm f 2.8, but I do feel the extra weight and have often wished I had rather taken more refreshments instead.
- MarkSturtevant
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