Awesome insect images
 

If you have any interest in photographing insects, check out this site:

http://www.pbase.com/rovebeetle/mostly_beetles

Notice how small the beetles are. He has combined multiple images to get increased DOF. The pictures are quite outstanding, and illustrate how beautiful beetles can be. Creepy crawlies? Hardly.

BRILLIANT. :cool:

Hence my thoughts on a precision focussing stage.

Don

Great site Leif, thanks

Beautiful creatures when seen like that. I just hope they were not killed deliberately just for the shot though as even with such small creatures that goes against the ethos of the wildlife photographer. What do others think?

Funny you should ask that question. I recently asked just that question on Bird Forum:

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread....451#post914451

Mike's right, after all it makes it more challenging to try and creep up on the subject, if the shot works,great if not it can just become a tad frustrating.

Alan

Strange, but I came back to this thread to make a similar point. I can understand that for scientific study it may be "necessary" to kill the specimens but I am not prepared to do so just for the sake of getting a pretty photo. That is not to say that if I came across a dead specimen that I wouldn't take full advantage of the opportunity.

Dave

I agree with you Mike. When I looked at the site I went through the same thought process.

I am with Intermos on Bird Forum. It is all about having a sense of proportion.

If you cut the grass, you kill lots of insects, maybe hundreds, and no-one cries "mass murder" or even cares. Go for a walk in the countryside and you walk on some. Go for a drive and you kill huge numbers, most on the windscreen and some under the tyres. Few of us have a second thought about splatting an irritating fly. So taking a few common beetles (one per species) is no big deal, as long as the habitat is not destroyed, and as long as there are plenty of the species about.

The real problem is that modern agriculture is destroying the habitat, with fields that are little more than deserts of grass for livestock, or deserts of food crops, with pesticides killing the few insects that can live in those deserts. That is why I donate small sums to conservation bodies such as the RSPB.

Personally I would feel ill at ease taking anything uncommon such as a Stag Beetle, which I feel is so magnificent that it should be left. But a Nettle Weavil? Or a common species of Ladybird?

True but I still don't like deliberately killing just for my pleasure. As all wildlife is red in tooth and claw Leif's argument means it is for us to be judge and jury over what it is OK to deliberately kill so how about some birds or start some egg collecting and I'll decide what is OK - if its pretty I might let it live. Oh I am a stirrer aren't I? But it is interesting. However I'm not going to fall out with anyone. :)

No, you are going to an extreme, and misrepresenting my viewpoint. I suggest you take a read of the BF thread, and Intermos's posting. He makes some good points.

When I was young it was not uncommon to take birds eggs to blow, and collect. Today that is considered wrong, chiefly I presume because it would seriously threaten the survival of many species. However, people do go out and kill certain birds and catch certain fish for pleasure, and it does not threaten their survival. I do not oppose that, though some people do.

Many people would argue that birds are sentient, and they can display a considerable degree of intelligence, especially some parrots. No doubt that can suffer. Whereas an insect is an altogether different creature, with little in the way of a brain, and displaying simple stereotypical behaviour.

However I find some viewpoints contradictory. Some people who condemn taking a few common beetles, or bagging a pheasant will happily eat a battery hen that was imported as raw meat from the Far East, where the animal was kept in the most appalling conditions. Or buy pigs kept in appalling conditions, and transported long distances over land in cramped lorries (though the UK now has stricter laws than most of Europe on such matters). Or go to a 'wildlife centre' and see an animal that displays signs of neurosis due to confinement in a small unnatural space. They will also board an aircraft for a flight during which the engines will hoover up millions of insects and incinerating them.

So it is right to splat millions of insects on windscreens, to incinerate them in jet engines, to slice them up in lawn mowers, to walk on them, to kill them when taking a bath with soap, but not to kill a few to take some photographs that demonstrate to others how beautiful they are? Obviously it is a matter of personal opinion, but I find that view hard to understand.

In my opinion it is a matter of perspective and proportion.

Personally I do not eat meat, and I hate zoos and circuses, apart from living displays of lower creatures such as insects, and reptiles. But I do not condemn those who scoff meat at every opportunity.

Well I did say I was stirring a little and you make some valid points and I agree with the second part of the quote the only trouble is there are people who would take some of your arguments (however valid they are) to the extreme and don't even care what happens to the environment and the ''dumb'' creatures in it as long as it does not directly impinge on their lives. At one end of the spectrum there are Buddhists who sweep the pavement in front of them as they walk so as not to stand on anything so sacrosanct is all life to them to the other end where there are people who don't care at all. We all consciously or unconsciously make our own judgement and more importantly so do governments. Personally I still would not deliberately kill anything just to take a photograph however illogical that is. I am happy to agree to differ - Pax!

Focus stacking can be done in the wild
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lordv/tags/focusstack/

Here is a tutorial
http://www.flickr.com/groups/macrovi...iscuss/163367/

and here is the yahoo group for combinez
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/combinez/

I've never had much success myself but then that is because I hand hold and move around the insect too much. You really need a tripod and focusing rail for this.

My brother is fascinated by micro photography. He's been given a Field Microscope 45 mag (Macroscope). He wants to photograph specimens through the macroscope. At present he has a Nikon Coolpix 7600 7.1 MP 3x zoom lens 7.8 - 23.4mm f2.8 - 4.9 and has been trying to work out a way of sleeving the camera to the macroscope. Has anyone overcome the problems involved and/or know of any relevant sites? I think we'll have another member soon!!! - he spends more time on his hobby than I can manage at present :o

I have only heard of connecting an SLR to a microscope with an adaptor and T mount not with a bridge camera but perhaps someone else knows better?