"Handsome hovercraft"
May, 2014Views
283
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Awards
Top Shot Award 21
Outstanding
Absolute Masterpiece
Outstanding Creativity
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
I captured the photo in my Mom's garden on an absolutely random day. It was actually the first time I had seen this flower fly. I live in Gaborone, Botswana.Time
It was an early, foggy, Friday morning on the 21st of March, 2014. Around 6:15 if I recall right. I'd woken early to rather shoot the sunrise as usual but instead found this stripped delight.Lighting
Because most of my photographs aren't staged, I rely on natural light. The fog in the atmosphere, coupled with the early morning's feint sunlight diffused a calm and soft light across the scene. It took a few changes of perspective and waiting on the fly to perch as it pleased to achieve a shot that was properly composed and flattered the fly.Equipment
The image was shot at 1/400sec exposure time & f/5.6 with a Nikon D3100, and a simple tripod for added stability.Inspiration
My inspiration, as with most of my photos, is intrigue. I've always had a passion for the untold & ignored beauty of nature. The challenge of capturing things and showing them to the world as never before seen is also one of my greatest motivations.Editing
I made very minimal post-processing; all it took was a little increase to the colour saturation and feint overlay of bokeh to flatter the scene and give it a bit of fragility.In my camera bag
Equipment in my region comes with a heavy charge, so sadly all I carry around with me is my Nikon D3100, an 18-55mm & 55-200mm Nikkor lenses, a UV and ND grad filter and a YungNuo speedlight flash.Feedback
First of all, when shooting anything in nature expect everything and anything, from abrupt weather changes, improper light to a plethora of subjects. Secondly, patience is key. There's obviously no form of communication with an animal (unless you're a Doo-little), so it literally takes just waiting on your subject to capture your intended composition. One must also be open-minded when shooting insects. They don't always assume the position you expect them to, so learn to work with what you have. Also, it helps a tonne to learn the behaviour of your subjects, it sets you a step ahead.
