Wasps in flight

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Linden.g
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Wasps in flight

Post by Linden.g »

Wasps have returned to the same underground nest for a third year. They always make interesting subjects. I'm using the Canon 5D mark II with MP-e65mm on high speed rig. Please note image 2 is a composite of two images http://www.flickr.com/photos/13084997@N ... 8697012197

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Last edited by Linden.g on Wed Jul 20, 2011 6:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.

MarkB1
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Post by MarkB1 »

Great shots of wif. I think I prefer #2. Well done.

That's a hell of a complicated looking setup you have there. When is the portable version coming out? ((:

Simon W
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Post by Simon W »

No. 2 for me too, I love formation flying. Amazing shot Linden.
Simon W
EOS 5D Mk 3; Olympus BH-2; Zerene Stacker
Melbourne, Australia

DeVil
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Post by DeVil »

Amazing shots, well done!

orionmystery
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Post by orionmystery »

Nice shots..#2 is so cool!

rjlittlefield
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Post by rjlittlefield »

#2 is beautiful, but do I read correctly at Flickr that it's a composite?

--Rik

DQE
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Post by DQE »

Great photos!

I enjoyed reading the flickr post about your "bugs in flight" rig. It is sure better than trying to manually catch one in flight!
-Phil

"Diffraction never sleeps"

Linden.g
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Post by Linden.g »

Hi rick, yes sorry, I intended to add this, I've edited the caption to state that it is a composite. To make up for this I've also added an older image showing that wasps do fly in close proximity. This was taken with Nikon D200 on the same equipment
Linden

Image
Last edited by Linden.g on Wed Jul 20, 2011 8:50 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Simon W
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Post by Simon W »

Bother, I hoped it was a natural perfect shot!

Great rig you have there Linden. You must get funny looks if you go to your local gardens though.

Would have killed for such a rig once. Took my wife to a local beach park, in the middle of one of our droughts/hot summers, with a roast chicken picnic. Seriously, by mid-meal there must have been 500 flies attempting to lift the entire chicken from our rug! You could feel their wings there were so many. Would have made for an impressive shot with your rig. If you ever try it, make sure you credit me with the idea! :D
Simon W
EOS 5D Mk 3; Olympus BH-2; Zerene Stacker
Melbourne, Australia

Linden.g
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Post by Linden.g »

Hi Simon sorry for the misleading image, I hope my new addition makes up for it. Flies look great when captured in flight.

Linden

Simon W
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Post by Simon W »

Yes, that new pic is great.

The first formation picture was so perfect, I have to admit that I thought you'd stuck 2 on matchsticks, so to capture them so well in flight, separately or otherwise, is a great achievement. Expecting a perfect airshow formation is a bit much.
Simon W
EOS 5D Mk 3; Olympus BH-2; Zerene Stacker
Melbourne, Australia

rjlittlefield
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Post by rjlittlefield »

That new image may not have the aesthetic appeal of the formation shot, but it's pretty astounding anyway.

The situation shown in this new image reminds me of an interesting video sequence that I caught maybe 15 years ago when I was playing with a camcorder. I had the thing on its "sports" setting, which was some crazy short exposure time -- 1/4000 second comes to mind. I was lying on the ground next to the opening for a nest of yellowjackets, filming entrances and exits. The place looked like an airport speeded up by 100X or so. Everything like clockwork, perfectly coordinated, until all of a sudden crash, scrabble, gone! It was all over before I could really tell what had happened. On review of the video, one outgoing yellowjacket had decided to take off just as another was coming in to land. They butted heads. The flying one was knocked backwards in the air, the other one back to the ground. Then the flying one headed into the nest, the one on the ground took off ... and danged if they didn't do it again! The third passage was clean, and the airport went back to business as usual. Very cool, never saw anything like it again.

--Rik

DQE
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Post by DQE »

rjlittlefield wrote:That new image may not have the aesthetic appeal of the formation shot, but it's pretty astounding anyway.

The situation shown in this new image reminds me of an interesting video sequence that I caught maybe 15 years ago when I was playing with a camcorder. I had the thing on its "sports" setting, which was some crazy short exposure time -- 1/4000 second comes to mind. I was lying on the ground next to the opening for a nest of yellowjackets, filming entrances and exits. The place looked like an airport speeded up by 100X or so. Everything like clockwork, perfectly coordinated, until all of a sudden crash, scrabble, gone! It was all over before I could really tell what had happened. On review of the video, one outgoing yellowjacket had decided to take off just as another was coming in to land. They butted heads. The flying one was knocked backwards in the air, the other one back to the ground. Then the flying one headed into the nest, the one on the ground took off ... and danged if they didn't do it again! The third passage was clean, and the airport went back to business as usual. Very cool, never saw anything like it again.

--Rik
Sounds like there are limits to the collective/hive way of life where nobody is in charge and somehow everyone knows just what to do all the time!

A little Air Traffic Control might help such situations! (grins)
-Phil

"Diffraction never sleeps"

Linden.g
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Post by Linden.g »

Ok guys, just to show that they do fly in formation I dug out a couple of older images, the first is a composite of 4 images showing just how close these insect fly within the same flight path. The second is a single image with two wasps flying together. Please note the ghost wing image is due to the different trigger delay times between two Nikon flash units which are different models. I have now corrected this displacement by retarding the flash units with more rapid trigger time.

Image

Image

rjlittlefield
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Post by rjlittlefield »

I like that last one a lot! :D

By the way, I notice you caught that left one in its wings-reversed position, getting lift on the backward stroke also.

--Rik

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