Wheelbug and Prey

[Mike B in OKlahoma]

I didn't do much bug photography last summer, and now am regretting it...So I went through some "ancient" files to reminisce over old times. This was shot with my Canon 10D on my second field excursion with my 180mm macro lens. The wheelbug has just about sucked the poor caterpillar dry.

180mm macro lens, tripod support, natural light

[Ken Ramos]

Awesome You know that has to be an awful way to go. They say those things can really put a hurting on a human if they should get pierced by them, some may even have an allergic reaction to them.

[Danny]

Aw Mike, just incredible work. These are the sorts of shots I dream of. Pure nature macro IMO. Love it, it tells a story and we get to see it. Magic !!.

All the best Mike, BTW, never seen these here, we probably don't have them.

Danny.

[beetleman]

Yep, it is kinda strange seeing a bug post by you mike Excellent lighting and DOF

[Bruce Williams]

Excellent action photo Mike and what an interesting bug too (sadly we don't get them in the UK ).

Well I'd never even heard of wheel bugs until your post, so of course it sent me scuttling off to Google some basic information. They sound fascinating in every way. I came across these pics of their egg clusters & hatchling on the BugGuide website and thought you might be interested.

Bruce

[MacroLuv]

Very nice macro Mike.
That 180 mm lens gives really fine blurred background. Canon lens?
You photographed it with tripod. Is it any chance to make it handheld?
By the way I've ordered Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro Lens. Should I inevitable have a tripod too?

[Mike B in OKlahoma]

Very nice macro Mike.
That 180 mm lens gives really fine blurred background. Canon lens?
You photographed it with tripod. Is it any chance to make it handheld?
By the way I've ordered Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro Lens. Should I inevitable have a tripod too?

I use a Canon 180mm lens, but if I had to replace it, I would probably go with a Sigma or Tamron 180mm. For US prices (I can't say anything about Europe) the Canon costs twice as much, and isn't that much better. The only advantages to the Canon are being able to not worry about incompatibility with new digital cameras, and being able to use Canon teleconverters with the lens. These are significant advantages, but not enough to justify double the price!

For this shot, shutter speed was pretty fast because there was a lot of sunlight, (I had to look this up) it was 1/160th second. I'd be nervous about handholding the 180mm lens at 1/160th second, but a sharp shot would probably be possible if you were lucky. When I use flash-only illumination for my snake shots, I routinely handhold at 1/250th second, and if I have a good stable hold on the camera, I rarely lose shots to shake. There is a rule of thumb that claims that your shutter speed should be 1/(focal length) or less. For myself, I don't think this is very applicable to macro photography, where I think magnification is probably more important than focal length. I still find that I can usually get sharp shots at 1/250th second, though.

A tripod is useful for a lot of macro shots. Different people have different techniques. For insect shots, I _USUALLY_ prefer to handhold. This makes stalking and camera positioning a LOT easier. It has disadvantages, though. It doesn't work with longer exposure times. And if you want to stack photos using software as many people are doing here, hand-holding would make it almost impossible to get repeated shots at the appropriate distance to stack. To actually answer your question, rather than talk about it, I don't think a tripod will be required for your 100mm macro, but I think there may be times when you'll really want to use a tripod for a particular technique or shot. Since you are serious about this stuff, I recommend you consider a tripod and ballhead as a future purchase if you don't already have them. They aren't essential, but will give you more options. This is especially true if you get into landscape photography or get a larger lens for wildlife photography!

[Mike B in OKlahoma]

Yep, it is kinda strange seeing a bug post by you mike Excellent lighting and DOF

It was bug photography that actually got me into macro....But in the past year, I've been more interested in landscape shooting than macro. As a result, I haven't shot much macro except when I don't have a lot of time, or the weather is bad...Then I go to the zoo for my beloved snake shots!

If you are bored, do a search on the old website (without the 2 in the name), and you'll find quite a few of my insect shots.

[Mike B in OKlahoma]

Well I'd never even heard of wheel bugs until your post, so of course it sent me scuttling off to Google some basic information. They sound fascinating in every way. I came across these pics of their egg clusters & hatchling on the BugGuide website and thought you might be interested.

Bruce, the egg shots are interesting! Egg shots for insects are problematic for me. The rare occasions I spot insect eggs, I almost always have no idea what sort of eggs they are!

[MacroLuv]

Thanks Mike! I will see how it behave in practice. Should be easier to handhold 100 mm than 180 mm. Besides, 100 mm is effectively 160 with magnification 1.6 if you consider 1.6 crop factor? Does Canon 10D has 1.6 crop also?

[Danny]

Yes Mike is just as good at shooting high ratio macro than he is anything else. Becoming an all rounder. So are birds in your plan Mike, or just a maybe and see where you land ???. Anyway, I've always loved your work, no matter what it is. Even tree stumps mate

All the best Mike, again, excellent shot and work sir.

Danny.