Hoverfly Hovering

Images of undisturbed subjects in their natural environment. All subject types.

Moderators: rjlittlefield, ChrisR, Chris S., Pau

missgecko
Posts: 252
Joined: Sat Jul 04, 2009 1:59 am
Location: Australia

Hoverfly Hovering

Post by missgecko »

I sat by this bush all afternoon attempting to catch hoverflies hovering. Must be better things to do on a Saturday afternoon. :roll: However, out of about 20 million shots and my eyes that now look like this :shock: these two are about the best which are not brilliant but but my stiff body is pretty pleased with them - even though they are somewhat blurred. Will try this again in about 2 years time.

Image

Image

Cheers
Sam

'To see a world in a grain of sand And heaven in a wild flower. Hold infinity in the palm of your hand And eternity in an hour.' William Blake

AndrewC
Posts: 1436
Joined: Thu Feb 14, 2008 10:05 am
Location: Belgium
Contact:

Post by AndrewC »

I admire your persistence :)
rgds, Andrew

"Is that an accurate dictionary ? Charlie Eppes

Harold Gough
Posts: 5786
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2008 2:17 am
Location: Reading, Berkshire, England

Re: Hoverfly Hovering

Post by Harold Gough »

missgecko wrote:my stiff body is pretty pleased with them - even though they are somewhat blurred. Will try this again in about 2 years time.
You seem to be slow to loosen up! :D

Harold
My images are a medium for sharing some of my experiences: they are not me.

missgecko
Posts: 252
Joined: Sat Jul 04, 2009 1:59 am
Location: Australia

Post by missgecko »

And you're very fast on the uptake Harold!!! Made me laugh :D
Sam

'To see a world in a grain of sand And heaven in a wild flower. Hold infinity in the palm of your hand And eternity in an hour.' William Blake

Ken Ramos
Posts: 7208
Joined: Thu Jul 27, 2006 2:12 pm
Location: lat=35.4005&lon=-81.9841

Post by Ken Ramos »

Shots like this are difficult at best for me but I notice that it seems you were focusing more on the body (abdomen) of the fly, leaving the head to chance with DOF. Someone once told me to always focus on the "eyes" when photographing insects (in this instance, a Syrphid fly in flight, taking a lot of practice and skill to accomplish). Anyway nothing ventured nothing gained as they say, though I think it may have been better with the head/eyes having been focused on primarily. Good shots though just the same. Could I have done better? Doubt it! :lol:

missgecko
Posts: 252
Joined: Sat Jul 04, 2009 1:59 am
Location: Australia

Post by missgecko »

Thanks for that Ken. Good points made and I'll keep them in mind when I next attempt flying bugs, or at least hovering. Thank heavens for digital cameras!!!! I'm full of admiration for photographers who used cameras before digital. It must have been a challenge (considering I'm using a camera where I can literally take hundreds of shots, wack them onto the computer and find the best photo). Sorry, got a bit off track there.
Cheers
Sam

'To see a world in a grain of sand And heaven in a wild flower. Hold infinity in the palm of your hand And eternity in an hour.' William Blake

Ken Ramos
Posts: 7208
Joined: Thu Jul 27, 2006 2:12 pm
Location: lat=35.4005&lon=-81.9841

Post by Ken Ramos »

missgecko wrote:Thanks for that Ken. Good points made and I'll keep them in mind when I next attempt flying bugs, or at least hovering. Thank heavens for digital cameras!!!! I'm full of admiration for photographers who used cameras before digital. It must have been a challenge (considering I'm using a camera where I can literally take hundreds of shots, wack them onto the computer and find the best photo). Sorry, got a bit off track there.
Cheers
Digital is convenient and a real time saver. :D Redlights, messy and oftentimes stinking chemicals, as a thought are not missed very much but, I am afraid that one day, all of that will be an ancient and lost art. :(

beetleman
Posts: 3578
Joined: Fri Aug 04, 2006 4:19 am
Location: Southern New Hampshire USA

Post by beetleman »

You did great missgecko. I have nothing like this in my collection of photos (and believe me, I have tried) :smt023
Take Nothing but Pictures--Leave Nothing but Footprints.
Doug Breda

missgecko
Posts: 252
Joined: Sat Jul 04, 2009 1:59 am
Location: Australia

Post by missgecko »

Thanks for that Doug. I've become a bit infatuated with the flowering bush that attracts these hoverflies and just can't help lurking around there with my camera. Hopefully soon it will finish flowering soon and I'll get my life back. :D

Ken - I must admit I never experienced taking photos the long way. My limited photography history was putting film into the camera, snapping off 24 shots and then taking it to a chemist to have it processed. Hopefully there are people out there who still do it the way it used to be done.
:D
Cheers
Sam
Sam

'To see a world in a grain of sand And heaven in a wild flower. Hold infinity in the palm of your hand And eternity in an hour.' William Blake

Harold Gough
Posts: 5786
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2008 2:17 am
Location: Reading, Berkshire, England

Post by Harold Gough »

missgecko wrote:I must admit I never experienced taking photos the long way. My limited photography history was putting film into the camera, snapping off 24 shots and then taking it to a chemist to have it processed. Hopefully there are people out there who still do it the way it used to be done.
Sam,

I do it the not-so-long way, in that I use reversal films and rarely use the additonal stage of prints. I have never used the local pharmacy, only a pro standard processing lab, usually via mail order. I use films of my choice, rather than the free (who knows what) film of some mail order firms who mostly serve snappers.

Harold
My images are a medium for sharing some of my experiences: they are not me.

missgecko
Posts: 252
Joined: Sat Jul 04, 2009 1:59 am
Location: Australia

Post by missgecko »

Harold, I've never heard of reversal film. :shock: Would you mind explaining it for me?
Cheers
Sam

'To see a world in a grain of sand And heaven in a wild flower. Hold infinity in the palm of your hand And eternity in an hour.' William Blake

Harold Gough
Posts: 5786
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2008 2:17 am
Location: Reading, Berkshire, England

Post by Harold Gough »

missgecko wrote:Harold, I've never heard of reversal film. :shock: Would you mind explaining it for me?
Cheers
Trannies! It's called reversal because development gives a positive, not a negative. E6 is good shorthand, now that Kodachrome has gone, with C41 for print film

Harold
My images are a medium for sharing some of my experiences: they are not me.

rjlittlefield
Site Admin
Posts: 23561
Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2006 8:34 am
Location: Richland, Washington State, USA
Contact:

Post by rjlittlefield »

missgecko wrote:I've never heard of reversal film.
Commonly called "slide film", in these parts. But it's made in bigger formats also, like for view cameras.

--Rik

Harold Gough
Posts: 5786
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2008 2:17 am
Location: Reading, Berkshire, England

Post by Harold Gough »

rjlittlefield wrote:
missgecko wrote:I've never heard of reversal film.
Commonly called "slide film", in these parts. But it's made in bigger formats also, like for view cameras.
True, but not strictly functionally so until mounted. Owning a light box makes projection mostly an activity for sharing with a group of people. Annoyingly, loupes for close inspection have the focus set to allow for the thickness of a mount, making the use with strips of film a bit tricky. So far as I know, unmounted trannies are unacceptable for publication.

Film camera reviews often make quite a point of the viewfinder image being only, say, 95% of the final image on film. It seems to be forgotten that it allows for the edge being covered by the mount.

Harold
My images are a medium for sharing some of my experiences: they are not me.

Post Reply Previous topicNext topic