NikonGear'23
Images => Nature, Flora, Fauna & Landscapes => Topic started by: Øivind Tøien on June 27, 2020, 08:35:40
-
I had my timing perfectly with me for my last house/dog sitting, as the lilacs on location were just coming out. I knew from a previous occasion that the Hummingbird Clearwing moths could possibly show up, and so they did! I captured 2-2.5K frames over several days. Lighting kept changing, and the Hummingbird Clearwings kept coming back. It was an immensely fun challenge that I just could not resist every time I passed by even after my first long session. At 10 frames per second this only amounted to about 4 minutes of pressed shutter button! Of course a very large amount went directly to the bin - about 400 made it to jpgs. For almost all of them I used the 300mm f/4 PF on my D500. I experimented with shutter speed and found that 1/4000 second gave the best balance between freezing movements and noise, although I also tried a few up to 1/8000 second if lighting was good - first time I ever used these short shutter speeds. I also tried a few high speed and real time videos plus a few captures at 15 frames per second with my AW1. There was no problem getting close as long as they were on the lower branches.
#1
(https://otoien.zenfolio.com/img/s/v-10/p3919617781.jpg)
#2
(https://otoien.zenfolio.com/img/s/v-10/p3919617785.jpg)
#3
(https://otoien.zenfolio.com/img/s/v-10/p3919617784.jpg)
#4
(https://otoien.zenfolio.com/img/s/v-10/p3919617789.jpg)
#5
(https://otoien.zenfolio.com/img/s/v-10/p3919617787.jpg)
#6
(https://otoien.zenfolio.com/img/s/v-10/p3919617822.jpg)
#7
(https://otoien.zenfolio.com/img/s/v-10/p3919617823.jpg)
#8
(https://otoien.zenfolio.com/img/s/v-10/p3919617818.jpg)
#9
(https://otoien.zenfolio.com/img/s/v-10/p3919617820.jpg)
#10
(https://otoien.zenfolio.com/img/s/v-10/p3919617826.jpg)
#11
(https://otoien.zenfolio.com/img/s/v-10/p3919617837.jpg)
#12
(https://otoien.zenfolio.com/img/s/v-10/p3919617842.jpg)
#13
(https://otoien.zenfolio.com/img/s/v-10/p3919617843.jpg)
Link to a slow motion video captured at 400 frames per sec. playing back at 30 frames per second showing how the clearwing searches for an open petal:
https://otoien.zenfolio.com/img/s/v-11/o190588485/c1/p3919619872-215.mp4 (https://otoien.zenfolio.com/img/s/v-11/o190588485/c1/p3919619872-215.mp4)
Links to three short clips captured at normal speed just to show how quick and erratic they are, wings not really visible to the eye:
https://otoien.zenfolio.com/img/s/v-11/o190588485/c1/p3919620322-200.mp4 (https://otoien.zenfolio.com/img/s/v-11/o190588485/c1/p3919620322-200.mp4)
https://otoien.zenfolio.com/img/s/v-11/o190588485/c1/p3919620323-200.mp4 (https://otoien.zenfolio.com/img/s/v-11/o190588485/c1/p3919620323-200.mp4)
https://otoien.zenfolio.com/img/s/v-11/o190588485/c1/p3919620319-200.mp4 (https://otoien.zenfolio.com/img/s/v-11/o190588485/c1/p3919620319-200.mp4)
(There are also some older high speed videos in the same folder from 8 years ago at the same location.)
-
Very nice pictures/videos and story! I had the pleasure of having this moth in my garden last year, but it is a bit to early in the summer to find it here yet.
-
Thanks for sharing :)
-
Great work - splendid effort in getting these. And thanks for the background details.
-
Beautiful captures, composition and colours.
-
Thanks all of you for the enthusiastic comments, I really enjoyed capturing these.
-
Thanks for sharing these Oivind, youre really getting your eye in.
I got a reminder how hard it can be to capture insects in flight this week.
A lake near us had hundreds of Dragonflies. Because it has been over 30°C here, the really interesting ones never rested.
-
Very god job Oivid thank you :)
-
That looks very challenging and you got wonderful results.
Thanks for sharing it!
-
The season is pretty well over here in Vermont, but the hummingbird moths, fortunately, love lilacs and rhododendrons. They can be pretty hard to catch well, but I especially like their colorful tails.
-
These are incredible captures of the artwork of the nature. Thank you for sharing!
-
Waow, this is excellence at work ! Thanks for sharing, pictures and story.
-
Thanks all for further comments. I am really glad you enjoyed them.
Yes, dragonflies in flight is a challenge I have not mastered, Colin. I wish there were more of them around to prey on the mosquitoes that keep pestering me while attempting to capture dragonflies and other subjects! A note is that that some dragonflies species are perchers that regularly interrupt flight while other species are able to fly more continuously.
-
Add my appreciation to all the other comments. These are splendid! Cheers, John
-
Thanks beryllium10 for the kind words.
-
A delightful series !
Very good job showing the subject under different direction of light.
I always prefer back lit ones. ;)
I didn't see any of these moths this year... :(
Francis.
-
Øivind, you even make moths look good!
-
Very nicely captured! Thanks for sharing ;)
-
Thanks Rosko and Jacob and Erik. Yes backlight is always wonderful, and challenging not getting the sun rays hit the front element of the 300PF.
Jacob, these are not going to eat your wool sweater any time soon :) . They are very useful pollinators, and the caterpillars are plant eaters.
-
These are superb captures, Øivind! I can see the body of this unique creature from different angles. Thank you for sharing!
-
These are superb captures, Øivind! I can see the body of this unique creature from different angles. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for your kind comment Akira. The different angles are facilitated by the way the Clearwings tend to circle their way around strands of lilacs.
-
Øivind, I finally had a look at your photos here and I'm amazed. Excellent work and thank you for sharing them! I also really enjoyed the slow-motion video.
-
Thanks Bill for the kind words. Yes, although the quality of the high speed video capture on the 1 series Nikon is not the greatest, it is a nice tool to explore the small world where things tend to happen really fast.
-
Impressive shots
-
Thanks Armando.
-
Stunning shots!
-
Thanks for the enthusiastic comment Peter.
-
phantastic work. I know how fast they are. This is a real challenge
-
Thanks Frank, the challenge is part of the joy with it.
-
Remebered abouth those shots at nikongear. Phenomenal catches, really great! thanks for sharing. Those were so exotic, the images looking phenomenal. Never thought i will find one of those Hummingbirds. Okey, some time flies.. yeah what is that? the hummingbird in the garden, some days ago. Various "Taubenschwänzchen" around, the Hawk variation. action with the d850, micro nikkor 60mm and also 70-200+canon 500, played with the iso as well,, very tricky to catch "him" "her", have fun, bye bye,richard
(https://malus.exotica.org.uk/~zeg/humhawkmoth/_DSC5654humhawkmoth003b.jpg)
please the full size here https://malus.exotica.org.uk/~zeg/humhawkmoth/_DSC5654humhawkmoth003.jpg (https://malus.exotica.org.uk/~zeg/humhawkmoth/_DSC5654humhawkmoth003.jpg)
(https://malus.exotica.org.uk/~zeg/humhawkmoth/_DSC5649humhawkmoth001b.jpg)
please the full size here https://malus.exotica.org.uk/~zeg/humhawkmoth/_DSC5649humhawkmoth001.jpg (https://malus.exotica.org.uk/~zeg/humhawkmoth/_DSC5649humhawkmoth001.jpg)
(https://malus.exotica.org.uk/~zeg/humhawkmoth/_DSC5616humhawkmoth004b.jpg)
please the full size here https://malus.exotica.org.uk/~zeg/humhawkmoth/_DSC5616humhawkmoth004.jpg (https://malus.exotica.org.uk/~zeg/humhawkmoth/_DSC5616humhawkmoth004.jpg)
(https://malus.exotica.org.uk/~zeg/humhawkmoth/_DSC5587humhawkmoth005b.jpg)
please the full size here https://malus.exotica.org.uk/~zeg/humhawkmoth/_DSC5587humhawkmoth005.jpg (https://malus.exotica.org.uk/~zeg/humhawkmoth/_DSC5587humhawkmoth005.jpg)
(https://malus.exotica.org.uk/~zeg/humhawkmoth/_DSC5517humhawkmoth007b.jpg)
please the full size here https://malus.exotica.org.uk/~zeg/humhawkmoth/_DSC5517humhawkmoth007.jpg (https://malus.exotica.org.uk/~zeg/humhawkmoth/_DSC5517humhawkmoth007.jpg)
(https://malus.exotica.org.uk/~zeg/humhawkmoth/_DSC5503humhawkmoth006b.jpg)
please the full size here https://malus.exotica.org.uk/~zeg/humhawkmoth/_DSC5503humhawkmoth006.jpg (https://malus.exotica.org.uk/~zeg/humhawkmoth/_DSC5503humhawkmoth006.jpg)
(https://malus.exotica.org.uk/~zeg/humhawkmoth/_DSC5655humhawkmoth002b.jpg)
please the full size here https://malus.exotica.org.uk/~zeg/humhawkmoth/_DSC5655humhawkmoth002.jpg (https://malus.exotica.org.uk/~zeg/humhawkmoth/_DSC5655humhawkmoth002.jpg)
-
Congratulations with encountering and capturing these wonderful little creatures, fentriss. The one with the frontal view of the shiny proboscis is outstanding (#3 from bottom) and the isolation and extended proboscis in the last one is also really nice. Could some of these benefit from bringing up the darker parts a little? In some of them some parts of the moth blends a little too much into the background.
-
I once got lucky, d850 - afd180mm f/2.8 crop.