Fujifilm S5pro, Micro-nikkor 55mm f3.5, Nikon 4T diopter, SB-800, handheld 0.1s exposures
Female Neurigona quadrifasciata (most likely different specimens)
This is a series of shots taken with the flash in strobe-mode (which means the flash fires multiple times during a single exposure).
The exposure time is around 1/10s and the strobe frequency is set between 50-90Hz.
If you do the math you will realize how fast these flies are. What impresses me the most is their incredibly short reaction time. The first strobe usually sets them off and 0.10s later they have traveled roughly ten times their own body-length.
To put this in perspective: In track and field sprints, the sport's governing body has a rule that if the athlete so much as flinches within 0.10 seconds after the gun has fired it's a false start. This figure is based on tests that show the human brain cannot hear and process the information from the start sound in under 0.10 seconds.
The reason behind this little project of mine was this: Every time I tried to take a photo of these flies they managed to disappear from the frame during the short (in human terms) time between me pressing the shutter release and the exposure being made. I realized that they took off on the pre-flash that is sent out a fraction of a second before the exposure is made (to allow the camera to meter for the flash exposure correctly). I was fascinated by the fact that they were not even in the frame when the exposure was made. No species I've photographed before has reacted this fast!
/John
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