Animals Show us your Wildlife

mizmar · Mar 28, 2022

So how do people do closeups of insects, these days? @Dave Dunn ? @jonf ?

When I was little and had a Zeneth D - I save up and bought extension tubes. Fascinating. Just curious.

jonf · Mar 28, 2022

mizmar said:
So how do people do closeups of insects, these days? @Dave Dunn ? @jonf ?

When I was little and had a Zeneth D - I save up and bought extension tubes. Fascinating. Just curious.

Much the same techniques. I use a 150mm macro lens on a full frame DSLR. The specialist macro lens goes in close up, and also gives good resolution down to very small apertures. This enables me to get at least a bit of depth of filed even at 1:1 ration.

For lighting I use a ring flash or a diffused standard flash. For extra close up I use extension tubes.

The grasshopper was about 3cm long, it was basking in the sun in the graveyard at Lingfield, in Surrey, England.

Jeanette · Mar 28, 2022

Birds of prey display at Beaulieu last summer, caught on my phone camera.

Pete Thomas · Mar 28, 2022

mizmar said:
So how do people do closeups of insects, these days?

Cheap and cheerful macro lens for iPhone, £6 from Amazon

Dave Dunn · Mar 29, 2022

mizmar said:
So how do people do closeups of insects, these days? @Dave Dunn ? @jonf ?

When I was little and had a Zeneth D - I save up and bought extension tubes. Fascinating. Just curious.

The fly, of which I happened to pick an out of focus picture by mistake, you only see little thumbnails when choosing a picture on the phone, was just taken with the phone's camera, then cropped. The spider picture too was cropped, but taken with a Canon Coolpix point and shoot camera.
Without using a macro lens, I find it best not to try and take extreme close-ups as they are more likely to be out of focus, so cropping a photo taken from perhaps 10 cm away gives better results.

Sue · Mar 29, 2022

My husband is a keen moth person (I can't recall the word) and has a moth trap to collect and identify the moths in our garden

. They are all released humanely - unless the blackbirds are feeding and they wait patiently watching where he releases them and they try to catch them to feed on. He photographs some of them using a mirrorless camera and Olympus 60mm macro. Some are bug ugly but these are three of my favourites. Garden Tiger moth, elephant hawk moth and Canary Shouldered Thorn. He hasn't managed to trap a Privet Hawk-moth, the largest UK moth, probably too far north.

Dave Dunn · Mar 29, 2022

Sue said:
My husband is a keen moth person (I can't recall the word) and has a moth trap to collect and identify the moths in our gardenView attachment 19995. They are all released humanely - unless the blackbirds are feeding and they wait patiently watching where he releases them and they try to catch them to feed on. He photographs some of them using a mirrorless camera and Olympus 60mm macro. Some are bug ugly but these are three of my favourites. Garden Tiger moth, elephant hawk moth and Canary Shouldered Thorn. He hasn't managed to trap a Privet Hawk-moth, the largest UK moth, probably too far north.

View attachment 19993 View attachment 19994

When you develop this depth of perception, your whole world becomes a wonderland.
You can sit anywhere for hours, totally mesmerised by the interactions going on around you, it truly is magical.

TimboSax · Mar 29, 2022

Meet George. I will hug him and pet him...

A tiny spec (less than 0.5mm?) bumbling around on a window ledge when he stopped to let me take a pic. He is a carpet beetle, but not a very good one because he was in the bathroom, where there are no carpets.

Targa · Mar 29, 2022

@Sue, isn't the word for a 'moth person' lepidopterist, same as 'butterfly person'?

Pete Thomas · Mar 29, 2022

TimboSax said:
He is a carpet beetle, but not a very good one because he was in the bathroom, where there are no carpets.

For some odd reason it seems that's what they do, we found a few congregating on the bathroom windowsill.

Sue · Mar 29, 2022

Targa said:
@Sue, isn't the word for a 'moth person' lepidopterist, same as 'butterfly person'?

Yes, that's it! Thank you, I couldn't remember and John wasn't here to ask earlier.

Targa · Mar 30, 2022

@Sue, would you ask Mr Moth Person what this is that was on my camellia last year while I try to remember where my Observer's book is.

Pete Thomas · Mar 30, 2022

Don't forget we also have our special threads TOTM (Tune of the Moth) and BOTM (Ballad of the Moth)

Targa · Mar 30, 2022

Pete Thomas said:
Don't forget we also have our special threads TOTM (Tune of the Moth) and BOTM (Ballad of the Moth)

Should have had a special one last Sunday for Mothers day.

mizmar · Mar 30, 2022

Don't forget we also have the Profs corny joke thread

Sue · Mar 31, 2022