218. Bug(s) - August 20-26, 2017
Don-
After a week of searching for and taking pictures of bugs I
finally took one last night that I wanted to use.
I used a tripod to hold the Nikon D810 with an
LED flashlight to provide illumination. The lens was a Nikkor
105mm f2.8, therefore shot at 105mm.
Exposure is 1/3 sec; f.8; ISO 100.
After a week of searching for and taking pictures of bugs I
finally took one last night that I wanted to use.
I used a tripod to hold the Nikon D810 with an
LED flashlight to provide illumination. The lens was a Nikkor
105mm f2.8, therefore shot at 105mm.
Exposure is 1/3 sec; f.8; ISO 100.
Byron-
I found this "bug" outside on an inside corner. Unfortunately for him, he (or she) met his (or her) demise by flying into a spider web. I used a bellows with an enlarging lens mounted on one end. For light I used 2 flashes. One was a straight flash while the other had a warm filter with a Byro-snoot. It was aimed at the background. The distance from bug to background was about 3 inches. I didn't give me much room to work.
The lens was set to f16, Shutter speed was 1/100 sec, the warm flash was -2 ev. the straight flash was TTL with no reduction.
I found this "bug" outside on an inside corner. Unfortunately for him, he (or she) met his (or her) demise by flying into a spider web. I used a bellows with an enlarging lens mounted on one end. For light I used 2 flashes. One was a straight flash while the other had a warm filter with a Byro-snoot. It was aimed at the background. The distance from bug to background was about 3 inches. I didn't give me much room to work.
The lens was set to f16, Shutter speed was 1/100 sec, the warm flash was -2 ev. the straight flash was TTL with no reduction.
Darin-
SHHHhhhhh! Don't say anymore... I think my phone is bugged.
SHHHhhhhh! Don't say anymore... I think my phone is bugged.
Kevin-
Bug, bug bug. What to do with the theme bug? The question was bugging me. Generally speaking bugs are not something I enjoy having around. Do you have a fondness for chocolate covered ants? Thank you but you can eat them all. Perhaps you enjoy hanging around with hopefully not in your household pests like cockroaches? Are pesky, purposeless, flies trying to eat your food before you can? And then there are stinging bugs like mosquitoes, bees, hornets, wasps and yellow jackets. Get then all in a small confounded space, step in and twirl around while waving your arms. They will love you, I promise!
So I wanted to go with a gummy bug. There was a time in my life when gummy anythings were my favorite candy snacks. Gummey Savers, Gummy Bears, Gummy Worms, Gummy, Gummy, Gummy. There were even Gummy Bugs. Perfect I thought, employ the Byron strategy of photographing something that you eat. Until I discovered they are not longer on the market.
Okay, as a compromise I have a giant spider in storage downstairs. It sits on the porch leading up to Halloween. I’ll photograph that! Until I went down to discover that it was so old the plastic was cracked, the legs were falling off, etc.
Amazon to the rescue! Hey I need another spider for the porch anyway as Halloween is getting close.
Took the large hairy spider to the studio. Set up a black background and rigged some cobwebbing behind. The spider has evil looking LED eyes. Turn out all the lights in the studio to allow for a long exposure so that eyes show up. Wait, it needs on more thing - a tiny, tiny bit of smoke from a smoke machine. Done!
Nikon D4s, mounted to a Manfrotto 055CXPRO4 tripod with a Acratech GP ballhead, 105mm f/2.8 Micro Nikkor lens, ISO 100, f/11 at 4 seconds.
If bugs bug you, you would not want to find this hairy beast looking down at your sleeping face.
Bug, bug bug. What to do with the theme bug? The question was bugging me. Generally speaking bugs are not something I enjoy having around. Do you have a fondness for chocolate covered ants? Thank you but you can eat them all. Perhaps you enjoy hanging around with hopefully not in your household pests like cockroaches? Are pesky, purposeless, flies trying to eat your food before you can? And then there are stinging bugs like mosquitoes, bees, hornets, wasps and yellow jackets. Get then all in a small confounded space, step in and twirl around while waving your arms. They will love you, I promise!
So I wanted to go with a gummy bug. There was a time in my life when gummy anythings were my favorite candy snacks. Gummey Savers, Gummy Bears, Gummy Worms, Gummy, Gummy, Gummy. There were even Gummy Bugs. Perfect I thought, employ the Byron strategy of photographing something that you eat. Until I discovered they are not longer on the market.
Okay, as a compromise I have a giant spider in storage downstairs. It sits on the porch leading up to Halloween. I’ll photograph that! Until I went down to discover that it was so old the plastic was cracked, the legs were falling off, etc.
Amazon to the rescue! Hey I need another spider for the porch anyway as Halloween is getting close.
Took the large hairy spider to the studio. Set up a black background and rigged some cobwebbing behind. The spider has evil looking LED eyes. Turn out all the lights in the studio to allow for a long exposure so that eyes show up. Wait, it needs on more thing - a tiny, tiny bit of smoke from a smoke machine. Done!
Nikon D4s, mounted to a Manfrotto 055CXPRO4 tripod with a Acratech GP ballhead, 105mm f/2.8 Micro Nikkor lens, ISO 100, f/11 at 4 seconds.
If bugs bug you, you would not want to find this hairy beast looking down at your sleeping face.
Paul-
I took a fairly predictable direction in portraying this week’s theme by opting to photograph a bug. And once that was decided, an even more predictable (for those among you who know me best) decision in choosing to make it an origami bug.
There’s really nothing novel or experimental about the way I shot it—for the most part because I devoted what time I had to folding it (it took 2+ hours) and using a technique I have wanted to try for a few years: wet origami. I’ll spare you the history, debates, and personally interesting details about this approach, save to say one is working with paper that has been sprayed with water (and occasionally re-sprayed as the folding sequence progresses) to lend new ways to shaping paper and conveying texture.
Of course, please don’t use this result is an excellent example of what can be achieved by an expert folder employing the wet folding technique. Think of it as more like one of the first 5,000 pictures taken by a professional who has been shooting for most of his/her life. Practice, practice, practice…
Here’s the buzz: Nikon D5200; 18-55mm focused at 26mm; ISO 1600; -1/2 EV; 1/6 sec. at f/13; aperture mode; matrix metered; auto WB. The camera was hand-held
The model has been stylized and, therefore, not true to the result original design, but is meant to look like the Asian long-horned beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis), also known as the starry sky beetle, or the sky beetle. It is native to eastern China, Japan, and Korea. This species has now been accidentally introduced into the United States, where it was first discovered in 1996, as well as Canada, and several countries in Europe, including Austria, France, Germany, Italy and the UK.
Paraphrased from Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_long-horned_beetle
I took a fairly predictable direction in portraying this week’s theme by opting to photograph a bug. And once that was decided, an even more predictable (for those among you who know me best) decision in choosing to make it an origami bug.
There’s really nothing novel or experimental about the way I shot it—for the most part because I devoted what time I had to folding it (it took 2+ hours) and using a technique I have wanted to try for a few years: wet origami. I’ll spare you the history, debates, and personally interesting details about this approach, save to say one is working with paper that has been sprayed with water (and occasionally re-sprayed as the folding sequence progresses) to lend new ways to shaping paper and conveying texture.
Of course, please don’t use this result is an excellent example of what can be achieved by an expert folder employing the wet folding technique. Think of it as more like one of the first 5,000 pictures taken by a professional who has been shooting for most of his/her life. Practice, practice, practice…
Here’s the buzz: Nikon D5200; 18-55mm focused at 26mm; ISO 1600; -1/2 EV; 1/6 sec. at f/13; aperture mode; matrix metered; auto WB. The camera was hand-held
The model has been stylized and, therefore, not true to the result original design, but is meant to look like the Asian long-horned beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis), also known as the starry sky beetle, or the sky beetle. It is native to eastern China, Japan, and Korea. This species has now been accidentally introduced into the United States, where it was first discovered in 1996, as well as Canada, and several countries in Europe, including Austria, France, Germany, Italy and the UK.
Paraphrased from Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_long-horned_beetle
Jerry-
I revisited the Japanese beetles that have infested my raspberry bushes on an annual basis. They are great photo models, being fairly big and colorful.
For this image I used an old 105mm f4 Micro Nikkor lens on an adapter for the Sony a6300. I think the exposure was f16 @ 1/100, ISO 6400.
I revisited the Japanese beetles that have infested my raspberry bushes on an annual basis. They are great photo models, being fairly big and colorful.
For this image I used an old 105mm f4 Micro Nikkor lens on an adapter for the Sony a6300. I think the exposure was f16 @ 1/100, ISO 6400.