Shots

Bugs on a Wet Weekend – and a first Damselfly of 2012

April 29, 2012 Chris 0 Comments Canon 50D, Canon MPE-65mm, Canon MT-24ex Macro Flash, Damselfly, Dung Fly, Large Red Damselfly, macro, Stack, weevil, White Mill

Another wet weekend. Only out on the Saturday this weekend. The wet weather is continuing, so thought of going to Troublefield Nature Reserve, however a visit there showed it water logged, and not worth visiting this year – as they’ve got cows grazing there again. So no spring flowers as they’ll eat them all again – which is what the sign on the reserve tells you to do. I strongly believe that as it’s a small and not often visited reserve, the Dorset Wildlife Trust just use it as a grazing land to make money from the grazing. I see no benefit from the grazing at the wrong time of year – which appears to continue again this year like last, despite various complaints.

So moving on from there went again to White Mill. The river had flooded the land recently and the fields were a quagmire – so no bugs about, and was getting wet feet. Thought about going over to Bradbury Rings, but spotting this moth on nettles on the path to the fields, decided to take it ( it is a 2 shot panorama – as I only had the MPE-65mm with me, so to take it in full it needs two shots on that lens with my 50D).

2 Shot Moth Panorama. Taken on Canon 50D with Canon MPE-65mm Lens. ISO 100 F11 1/250. Flash from Canon MT-24ex Macro Flash.

This encouraged some further hunting around, and I spotted several dung flies – taking this one on a flower. I like the way it stands out from the background – black I know – and some won’t like this.

Dung fly on flower – about 2x Mag. Taken on Canon 50D with Canon MPE-65mm Lens. ISO 100 F13 1/250. Flash from Canon MT-24ex Macro Flash.

I then spotted this Weevil, sheltering in the nettles from the weather.

Weevil on Nettle (about 2x Mag). Taken on Canon 50D with Canon MPE-65mm Lens. ISO 100 F13 1/250. Flash from Canon MT-24ex Macro Flash.

Sitting to take a drink on my photo mat – essential to keep dry when lying on the ground at the moment – I spotted my first Damselfly of 2012 clinging on to some nettles opposite. This is the first bug to defeat my latest diffuser – with obvious light reflecting from its eyes. Tried various setting and positions to minimize – but it still won.

Large Red Damselfly (about 1x Mag). Taken on Canon 50D with Canon MPE-65mm Lens. ISO 100 F4 1/250. Flash from Canon MT-24ex Macro Flash.

As it was no moving, I experimented with different F ratings – including this wider open one – focused on the Damselfly’s eyeball – this gives you an idea of what the view looks through through the viewfinder when not using an DOF preview features on the camera.