NikonGear'23

Images => Nature, Flora, Fauna & Landscapes => Topic started by: rosko on October 01, 2015, 12:57:43

Title: Flying insects.
Post by: rosko on October 01, 2015, 12:57:43
Some different insects in flight taken with different lenses and cameras.

#1&2: Carder bee (Bombus pascuorum)

Df + micro nikkor 105mm f/4.

Thank you for watching, Francis. :)
Title: Re: Flying insects.
Post by: rosko on October 01, 2015, 13:00:26
# 3 : Dragon fly Hawker (Aeshnidae)

D300 # Sigma apo 150mm f/2.8.
Title: Re: Flying insects.
Post by: rosko on October 01, 2015, 13:03:15
#4 : Bee fly (Bombylus major)

Df + CV 125mm f/2.5 apo lanthar.
Title: Re: Flying insects.
Post by: rosko on October 01, 2015, 13:05:33
#5 Bee fly (bombylus major)

D300 + macro Sigma apo 150mm f/2.8
Title: Re: Flying insects.
Post by: rosko on October 01, 2015, 13:07:52
#6 : Hover fly (Syrphidae)

Df + CV 125mm f/2.5 apo lanthar.
Title: Re: Flying insects.
Post by: rosko on October 01, 2015, 13:10:06
#7 : Hover fly (Syrphidae)

Df + micro nikkor 55mm f/3.5 Auto (non AI).
Title: Re: Flying insects.
Post by: rosko on October 01, 2015, 13:12:39
#8 Hawk moth (Sphingidae)

D700 + CV 125mm f/2.5 apo lanthar.
Title: Re: Flying insects.
Post by: rosko on October 01, 2015, 13:15:15
#9 : Hawk moth (Sphingidae)

Df + micro nikkor 105mm f/4.
Title: Re: Flying insects.
Post by: elsa hoffmann on October 01, 2015, 13:41:02
wow nice work Rosko - wish I did that
Title: Re: Flying insects.
Post by: Jakov Minić on October 01, 2015, 13:51:01
Nice captures Francis. I like #6 the most.
Title: Re: Flying insects.
Post by: Gary on October 01, 2015, 16:02:44
Nicely done. I suspect you have infinite patience.
Title: Re: Flying insects.
Post by: Andrea B. on October 01, 2015, 17:32:47
Super stuff Francis!!
I do love shooting bees & flies & wasps myself. I know how hard it is to get the little guys frozen in flight. You did great!

What speeds were required for this? Did you use continuous focus AF-C? Did you use single AF point or multiple? Just curious. "-)
Title: Re: Flying insects.
Post by: Bjørn Rørslett on October 01, 2015, 17:45:59
Sometimes you just are in the perfect spot. This sequence, of a female dragonfly homing in on her favourite place to lay the eggs, was taken with the 300 mm f/4.5 ED-If plus PN-11 extension, F4 camera. The focusing travel was severely limited, but fortunately for me, the dragonfly landed exact in the centre of my focus plane.

(I was shooting an endangered, rare, and red-listed aquatic species, Sparganium gramineum, that day, so had set up for that end and the dragonfly was just an added bonus)
Title: Re: Flying insects.
Post by: rosko on October 01, 2015, 22:00:24
Thank you all for your kind comments !

@Gary : Sometimes I am patient, sometimes I am not...When I am not, I shoot flowers instead ! :P


@Andrea : I use ''A'' mode so I do control the shutter speed by setting the aperture.

I set the aperture according to the light available (and the distance from the subject, the closer, the smaller aperture to get more DOF).

If I shoot a fast insect, or in low light, I set more isos.

You can predict  the speed depending on each insect : bees, bumble bees are fast and fly randomly, so is better to install your gear on a tripod an focus on a flower with deep DOF. Any bee will land on it eventually.

Syrphidae (Hover flies) and bees fly : These creature fly stationary but for a short time (few seconds) : better to focus before and then move back and forth your  hands held cam. of course, you will need several tries before get one in focus !

Dragon flies : they fly very fast and randomly. Big ones rarely land. however I noticed they wander according a circuit and they fly stationary, often on the same location but few seconds. So, i get ready until they come back.

Wasps : too fast. No possible to freeze one without a special device (laser triggered)

Butterfies : possibly doable (Zygenias and Sphingidaes) if you are lucky ! ;D the hummingbird was rather easy to catch, though.

Did you use single AF point or multiple? Just curious. "-)

Important point : I never use AF. When I had the apo Sigma 150mm I used to turn AF off.

Even in still macrophotography AF bothers me. I use  now manual macro lenses only.

Did you use continuous focus AF-C?

Yes, I do sometimes when I move the camera back and forth instead turn the focus ring.


@bjørn: Great document ! I never could get one like that, mostly because the location is full of vegetals, stalks or leaves or very often too far on clean area I can't reach.

Using a long lense + extention ring is a good idea and needs, as you said, some luck. But it worth trying ! :D



Title: Re: Flying insects.
Post by: Bob Foster on April 19, 2023, 15:11:14
I was looking at options to frame a clump of narcissus when a Hyles lineata appeared in the viewfinder. Substantial crop of an image made with Df, Non-Ai Nikkor SC 50mm f1.4 , 1/1000 f5,6, ISO 100.
Title: Re: Flying insects.
Post by: ColinM on April 19, 2023, 22:08:26
I was looking at options to frame a clump of narcissus when a Hyles lineata appeared in the viewfinder. Substantial crop of an image made with Df, Non-Ai Nikkor SC 50mm f1.4 , 1/1000 f5,6, ISO 100.

I'm always impressed when people capture insects in motion without using flash
Looks like an impressive moth too Bob
Title: Re: Flying insects.
Post by: knb on April 20, 2023, 00:32:00
Not so easy to catch them in flight, that is for sure. Impressing pictures earlier in this old thread too.
Title: Re: Flying insects.
Post by: Bob Foster on April 20, 2023, 01:54:18
Thank you Colin and Kjetil.

I'd call this a random event were it not for being set up to deal with the wind blown flower petals. That the moth flew close to the zone of focus was fortuitous. When I've set out to deliberately photograph flying insects I have had a very high reject rate despite using a lens better suited to the purpose.

Bob
Title: Re: Flying insects.
Post by: Andrew on April 20, 2023, 10:18:43
Just fantastic!!!

All of them....
Title: Re: Flying insects.
Post by: Matthew Currie on April 20, 2023, 16:46:58
I can't find any hummingbird moth pictures right at the moment, but I've had considerable fun trying to grab them just right.  They're a little easier to get in the air than bees, because they hover over the flowers, as butterflies do, while bees tend to land.

As spring approaches, I hope to continue my neverending quest to get a good dragonfly in flight.  The number of rejections here is nearly 100 percent and I have yet to get a really good one.  I got close last year.

Title: Re: Flying insects.
Post by: Bob Foster on April 21, 2023, 14:34:37
That's close indeed, Matthew.