Digger wasp macro portrait
Sep, 2015Views
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Awards
Fall Award 2020
Peer Award
Absolute Masterpiece
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Superb Composition
Outstanding Creativity
Superior Skill
Magnificent Capture
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Behind The Lens
Location
This particular shot was taken along a woodland path with predominantly sandy soil in Hampshire UK.Time
It was taken early morning just as the digger wasps were starting to emerge from the ground.Lighting
As with all my insect macro shots I prefer an even lighting so either the sun masked by light cloud cover or if I'm really careful I will cast my shadow over the subject .Equipment
All my shots are hand held using a Nikon D5100 camera and a Nikon Nikkor 60 MM macro lens and I only shoot in natural light.Inspiration
My inspiration comes from my love of natural history photography and nature in general . I have been a keen amateur photographer for 35 years and macro photography has been my main focus as it brings to light the true detail and form of things ( especially insects ) and shows a whole different world with its own perspectives .Editing
I try to keep things simple and as seen so I generally may crop the image and not give to much enhancements .In my camera bag
I travel light in the field and it's usually just me , my camera ( no bag ) and a folded plastic bag in my back pocket ( in case I need to protect my camera from the changeable UK weather ! )Feedback
The best advice I can give for this type of photography is to be mindful that any sudden movements will likely scare off your subject so approach slowly and I find if you can keep your face behind the camera whilst moving in for the shot your key features are not deemed threatening almost as if two eyes a nose and a mouth spells danger . Also lighting as I've mentioned above . always focus on the eyes ( the eyes are the gateway to the soul as they say ) if the eyes are out of focus mostly the shot won't work. Another important consideration is backgrounds . When I focus on a subject I try to keep a nice clean background so always check what's behind your subject before taking the shot.
