Just another photo thread. **More added.**

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Eli

Super Moderator | Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
50,419
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Awesome pics as usual.. I am particularly fond of caterpillars, although you seem to pick out th evil looking ones. :Q :D

The "pet" spider I've had for the last 2 months that made an eggsack about a month ago...

Well, the eggsack hatched. When I first picked her medicine bottle-home up, I was like.. "Damn, she sure did sh!t a lot".. Then I noticed all the sh!ts had legs. :Q

I wish I had a good camera to take pictures of the momma and the little babies, I bet you could get some interesting "power of 2" shots with a baby and the mother in the same shot.

Maybe even babies and empty eggsack..
 

Sketcher

Platinum Member
Aug 15, 2001
2,237
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Holy Mother that Hickory Horned Devil is Awesome!!

And you climbed up after that thing :). What'd you do with it later? More pics, let it go, cook it for dinner ;) j/k.
 

Wallydraigle

Banned
Nov 27, 2000
10,754
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Originally posted by: Sketcher
Holy Mother that Hickory Horned Devil is Awesome!!

And you climbed up after that thing :). What'd you do with it later? More pics, let it go, cook it for dinner ;) j/k.


I put them back in the same walnut tree in which I found them. This evening I found one of them, but couldn't spot the other two, which isn't surprizing, since they're a bit hard to see up in the treetops.


Thanks for all the compliments everybody! I'm thrilled to be able to share a tiny bit of the hidden world with so many others.
 

Wallydraigle

Banned
Nov 27, 2000
10,754
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Here's a couple of ambush bugs. I've waited literally a year to take these shots. Last year around this time I tried and tried to get some decent shots of ambush bugs, but I didn't have the specialized gear that I have now. They are finally starting to come out again, and I get another chance. I still want to get some shots of them feeding.

In my area I'm pretty sure we have just one species, but there are three main color forms. The yellow and white forms seem to be most common. The green form seems to be much rarer, at least in my locale, and I don't have a picture yet.

The total size of an ambush bug is only about a centimeter long. Their heads are no more than two millimeters across, so that should give some scale to these shots. I was lucky to find both of these in the same white ageratum. They also like to hang out in golden rod, iron weed, and even Queen Anne's lace. They get the name "amush bug" because they sit in a flower, depending on the flower they are in they can be perfectly camouflagued, and when another insect comes to drink from the flower, they strike with lightning speed, snaring their meal praying mantis style. I've seen them take butterflies many times their size. They use their long proboscis to drink their victims' juices while they are still alive. Bee keepers have deep misgivings for the ambush bugs.

Hope you enjoy these.
 

dxkj

Lifer
Feb 17, 2001
11,772
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Originally posted by: lirion
Originally posted by: HajikuFlip
Are those digitally put on a black background? Nice pics...:)


No, I use flash along with very small apertures, so there is very little ambient light in these photos. The flash exposes the subject, leaving the background very dark.

Cool, I was wondering the same thing.
 

911paramedic

Diamond Member
Jan 7, 2002
9,448
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Originally posted by: lirion
Well, here it is. I actually found two more about the same size in the same tree. Since the name of this creature is the hickory horned devil, I named this photograph Satan
That thing deserves its own horror film.

 

Sketcher

Platinum Member
Aug 15, 2001
2,237
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Originally posted by: lirion
I want a Canon EF 50mm f/1.0 L USM.
Just can't stay away from those $1,500.00 lenses can you lirion ;). f/1.0 ... wow. I noted DavidP's review 1.0 vs 1.4. Neat stuff but I'm thinkin' I'm happy with my 1/8 :).

Now, that 180 Macro is another story. What you guys are able to do with that lens w/out tubes, extensions or filters is quite amazing. Amazing enough that I'm actually thinking about forgoeing the 100mm Macro and saving for the 180. It'll take a year longer but - well, there I go again spending money I'll not likely have :(.
 

Wallydraigle

Banned
Nov 27, 2000
10,754
1
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Originally posted by: Sketcher
Originally posted by: lirion
I want a Canon EF 50mm f/1.0 L USM.
Just can't stay away from those $1,500.00 lenses can you lirion ;). f/1.0 ... wow. I noted DavidP's review 1.0 vs 1.4. Neat stuff but I'm thinkin' I'm happy with my 1/8 :).

Now, that 180 Macro is another story. What you guys are able to do with that lens w/out tubes, extensions or filters is quite amazing. Amazing enough that I'm actually thinking about forgoeing the 100mm Macro and saving for the 180. It'll take a year longer but - well, there I go again spending money I'll not likely have :(.


Well, it's a really special piece of glass and it's harder and harder to get everyday. I can't help it if I have expensive wants ;) Just after the 200mm f/1.8 was discontinued I splurged and got one of those. I knew I'd probably only be able to get one or the other for a long long time, so I had to make a tough choice. I haven't really used it that much yet. It was more or less an investment in the future. If I am ever put in a position where I have to make a living with my camera that lens will certainly help. There is a lot of quick money to be made by photographing people's kids playing sports. It's not something I would enjoy doing, but I could if I had to, and that lens would help me out a lot. Also the 200mm f/1.8 has a certain effect on potential clients. If you've ever seen one in person you'd understand why. When they see that monstrosity come out they know you're for real. Since I got it used (technically used, in reality it was someone's backup and had never even been mounted as far as I can tell) if I ever decide to sell it I probably won't lose a single cent. Really it was silly not to buy.

The 50mm f/1.0 on the other hand would probably not see much use. Most likely I'll never get one :( It's just something to dream about.

Probably my next macro related purchase will be a TS-E 90mm f/2.8. It's a pretty exotic piece of glass, and at first glance doesn't seem particularly macro or have anything to do with my style at all. What's special about this is that the lens on it's own focuses down to almost 1:3. Not many people know this, but all of Canon's Tilt/Shift lenses will accept Canon's teleconverters. I can pop my 1.4xII and some tubes on the TS-E 90mm and easily get 1:1 or even greater, and still have decent working distance. What's special about the TS-E lenses is that they give you the ability to tilt the plane of focus so that it is no longer parallel to the film. This gives the appearance of much *much* greater depth of field, even at close distances, even at small F numbers. And what is that good for? Oh, I think I could find a use or two for it :D It would be a mushroom lens straight from the hand of Jesus himself, a divine gift to us lowly mortals doomed to wander the earth :Q And at only $1100 it makes a perfect stocking stuffer, what a bargain, what a deal.


But anyway, a year is a long time. I'd get that 100mm now, and later if you need to you can sell it and get the 180mm. Good glass holds its value extremely well, and people are always looking to buy used 100mm macros, they're very popular. In fact if you get a used one now, if you ever sell it you probably won't lose anything, and you might even come out ahead. Just be sure you get the new one with USM and full time manual focus. I don't think you'd regret having the 100mm.

[Yoda]If to the L side you go, forever will it dominate your paycheck.[/Yoda]
 

Wallydraigle

Banned
Nov 27, 2000
10,754
1
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I found another horned devil. This one was near the same tree where I found the others, but it had wandered onto a maple tree where the branches crossed. Maple isn't one of their regular foods, although it was still eating it, so maybe that's why this one is yellow. I don't know, but this is definitely not the norm for this species. I shot this vertically, so I had to do some work on it so it would fit a desktop. You can probably see it if you look closely, but if not I won't point it out :D This was taken with my D60 and 180mm macro lens, along with my flash setup I described earlier. I call this one Beelzebub. Hope you like it.
 

TechnoKid

Diamond Member
Feb 12, 2001
5,575
0
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Originally posted by: lirion
I found another horned devil. This one was near the same tree where I found the others, but it had wandered onto a maple tree where the branches crossed. Maple isn't one of their regular foods, although it was still eating it, so maybe that's why this one is yellow. I don't know, but this is definitely not the norm for this species. I shot this vertically, so I had to do some work on it so it would fit a desktop. You can probably see it if you look closely, but if not I won't point it out :D This was taken with my D60 and 180mm macro lens, along with my flash setup I described earlier. I call this one Beelzebub. Hope you like it.

Would make a great "wanna fight?" or owned pic.

Very nice photography, btw.