Minnesota sampler (image added)

rjlittlefield · Post by **rjlittlefield** » Fri Sep 16, 2011 1:49 pm

It's turning fall in Stillwater, Minnesota -- frosted pretty hard night before last. Here's a brief sample of what's still around finishing out the year.

Small hoverfly on goldenrod.

Unidentified caterpillar.

Crab spider on sunflower.

Canon T1i, MP-E 65 at 2X-3X, 580 EX II in E-TTL mode with Opteka diffuser near lens end, camera on M 1/200 f/11, slight crops.

--Rik

Edit: title changed on Sept 30. Initial post Sept 16.

DQE · Post by **DQE** » Fri Sep 16, 2011 5:29 pm

I especially like the crab spider, with its fine hair shown on seemingly every surface. Such a hairy critter! Not sure I've seen this pattern of hair in a crab before.

Retro · Post by **Retro** » Fri Sep 16, 2011 5:55 pm

It's nice to see the master of computation and analysis still has a magicians eye.

Very nice work Rik
Jim

abpho · Post by **abpho** » Fri Sep 16, 2011 6:05 pm

I give Rik the status of Wizard. Like the Wizrd of Oz.

Good work. Cheers Rik!

SONYNUT · Post by **SONYNUT** » Fri Sep 16, 2011 6:37 pm

It is getting chilly here.

orionmystery · Post by **orionmystery** » Sat Sep 17, 2011 7:51 am

Nice set, esp like the crab spider.

Jan l'Amie · Post by **Jan l'Amie** » Sat Sep 17, 2011 9:29 am

Very nice pic's, esp the last one.

rjlittlefield · Post by **rjlittlefield** » Sun Sep 18, 2011 8:32 am

Thanks, guys. It's fun to take a break from all that analysis stuff.

--Rik

rjlittlefield · Post by **rjlittlefield** » Fri Sep 30, 2011 10:17 am

It's now two weeks later. The sunflower seems long past attracting any bugs, but the spider hasn't given up yet!

This is a cell phone shot, zoomed and looking through a 10X pocket magnifier, full frame.

Hope you enjoy.

--Rik

Jbailey · Post by **Jbailey** » Fri Sep 30, 2011 10:39 am

Excellent photos, Rik.

It does feel good to squeeze a few more photos out of the waning season, doesn't it?

Jim

DeVil · Post by **DeVil** » Sat Oct 01, 2011 7:34 am

Nice set!

DQE · Post by **DQE** » Sat Oct 01, 2011 8:28 am

We're seeing a similar pattern near Portland, Maine, where I live - the crabs are still out in moderate numbers but with no prey except at noon on unusually warm days (above 65 or so degrees F). They do make great subjects in that they are usually still enough to allow me to drag out my tripod and rails to see if I can use such things on at least some live bugs. The crabs here seem docile enough to not care that my MPE-65 + MT-24 rig is sitting an inch or so from their faces. Then I quickly learned that the Kirk rails I have are too coarse for my taste (25 mm per knob turn), at least at 3X+ magnification...

ChrisR · Post by **ChrisR** » Sat Oct 01, 2011 1:05 pm

Are you guys getting strange weather ?
-
You haven't denied it Rik, so you must be working on a stacking App for that phone?