Djorn
FollowA fly grooms itself after drinking from a nearby water drop...notice the babies in her belly?
A fly grooms itself after drinking from a nearby water drop...notice the babies in her belly?
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Awards
People's Choice in Macro World - Macro Live Photo Challenge
Editor's Choice
Peer Award
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
Superb Composition
Jaw Dropping
Superior Skill
Great Find
All Star
Magnificent Capture
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CanadianOutlaw
November 19, 2012
Wow, kinda looks like a fly modeled after the Terminator ......looks part machine but very cool, great capture!
Djorn
December 10, 2012
Thanks! She does have that nice metallic glow about her, and with the red eyes, well...!
Djorn
December 10, 2012
Thank you! I had never noticed pregnant flies before, either. And that DOF is all about being parallel to the subject. The term I often use for describing DOF at this level is "width of a flies eye", and that about covers it, as you can almost measure here!
VictoriaKCampbell
February 27, 2014
The fly is really interesting. Never really looked at one up close like this. Great shot.
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken in my backyard in Saint George, Vermont.Time
This photo was taken at 6:19 PM on 6/3/2012.Lighting
This image was taken using an off camera hand held Pentax AF-540 FGZ flash unit.Equipment
This image was captured hand held using a Pentax K5 camera, a SMC Pentax DFA 100mm f/2.8 WR macro lens, on 62mm of Jessops' extension tubes, using a handheld Pentax AF-540 FGZ flash unit connected with a flash cord.Inspiration
I love macro shooting! I had just received a new (used) set of Jessops extension tubes for the Pentax and was enjoying shooting Hover flies and bees, when I happened upon this huge, fat pregnant fly.Editing
I used Photoshop CS5 to make some contrast adjustments using a curves adjustment layer and a levels adjustment layer with a bit of high pass sharpening.In my camera bag
I shoot using Pentax gear. I have a Pentax K5 and K3 camera, with lots of old Pentax glass, as well as some new DA and FA lenses.Feedback
Macro shooting can be quite a challenge. I do all my macro shooting handheld, as I don't seem to have the patience to set up a tripod to capture images of bugs. I set my lens to manual focus, set the lens (focus) for the magnification I want in the final image, and then focus by moving the camera in and out toward the subject. I find that at these magnification, my breathing and heartbeat cause minute vibrations in the camera, so I actually time the release of the shutter to coincide with my breathing, heartbeat and the motion of the camera moving in and out and I press the shutter release as the subject comes into focus. I hold the camera in one hand, while holding the flash unit in the left hand which is connected to the camera using a flash cord. It sounds like a lot of work, but it really is fairly simple, once you get used to the mechanics of it.