The Heart of a Beetle - DSC_007
This insect is called a small milkweed bug of the Hemiptera (true bugs) family, that feeds on sap and seeds. I loved the accent colour of the decomposing leaves...
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This insect is called a small milkweed bug of the Hemiptera (true bugs) family, that feeds on sap and seeds. I loved the accent colour of the decomposing leaves as the beetle makes its way across to find food. It was fall and my plants have gone to seed, so a good time for him to visit my garden. Macro photography is so cool, as it brings me into the life of insects and their markings...can you see the heart on its backside?
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Sep, 2017Views
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Action Award
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annamikicinski
December 07, 2017
Join the conversation. Add a comment or even better, a critique. Let's get better together!
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melissamasonrensen
February 15, 2018
You know it's funny, Anna, i didn't realixe you were into photography. Your comments suggest that you understand the relevance of a frame an dhow it should be shot. How on earth did we never touch base about this before? Anyway, thank you very much for your support and wonderful comments. :)
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
I love to photograph things that the average person doesn't pay much attention to while in their own backyard. I find it brings awareness to look more deeply at the details of the small world around them. This small milkweed beetle was shot in one of my backyard gardens.Time
I had been doing a fall clean-up of the gardens when I noticed this bug crawling across the leaves at around 11 a.m. I loved the colour of the fallen leaves and how they accent the colour and markings of the insect. It seemed to naturally indicate it was an autumn day. It was Oct.23, 2016.Lighting
I generally don't like to use flash, unless it's absolutely necessary. I was fortunate on this day to have natural sunlight, but at 11 a.m. in can be quite bright, which means your photos can be washed out, so I adjusted my camera settings accordingly to get the colour tones just right.Equipment
When shooting insects I most always shoot hand held, to get more versatility of my moving subjects. I used my Nikon D3200, with my 50mm Nikon Prime lens, f/1.8 and attached the Raynox 250 macro conversion lens. The 2 combined take nice sharp photos, as long as you have a steady hand. However, because it's a prime lens I have to do the "moving" rather then zooming in/out with a zoom lens.Inspiration
It's just natural as a photographer to always have your eye scanning your surroundings for unusual moments or scenes, so when I saw this interesting beetle among the autumn leaves it immediately made me think of the season and inspired me to take a photo to represent fall.Editing
I like to keep my photos as real as can be, which means I have to be diligent about how I frame the shot or how the light is on my subject from different directions. So I generally only do some basic editing to make the image true to how I saw it. In this case, I did a slight crop to bring the beetle closer to the viewer and to reduce the amount of leaves surrounding it. And increased the sharpness a tad to enhance the heart on the beetle's back, but that is all that was done to this photo, no saturation adjustments, no exposure adjustments, no playing with the blur in the background, it's pretty much straight out of camera.In my camera bag
Well I finally saved up to get my dream camera, the Nikon D610, a full frame camera (FX), although one from the 700 or 800 series would have been better, but the 610 is what I could afford, so it's my "go to" camera and I love it!. I have 3 FX Nikon lenses, the 50mm prime, the 24-85mm zoom and the 70-300mm zoom. I mostly use the 24-85mm with the D610, but I also keep in my bag the Nikon D3200, a great camera for the price and I can use all my lenses both FX and DX with both cameras, so I keep the 70-300mm attached to it. The 50mm prime lens is a fantastic lens, but it requires me to move a lot and that's not always an option when out in the field, in tight situations. I keep the Raynox conversion lens attached to my DX Nikon 18-55mm or my 50mm prime in case I need a quick lens change when out on an excursion, nothing worse then coming across a fabulous mushroom or insect, etc., only to find out I left the lens at home. I recently upgraded from my cheaper filters to a higher quality, Kenko brand, that has better glass and find a noticeable difference in the clarity. I have several types of filters for each lens, but the best for most all occasions during the day are the UV filters, they really help to keep the glare down and bring out the colour nicely on everything from the sky to a blade of grass. Lastly, my point and shoot, Nikon Coolpix AW130, it's waterproof and that's the only reason I keep it in my bag. If there's a heavy downpour, I can always pull it out and it's great for going snorkeling or scuba diving. Having the 3 cameras means I don't have to fuss about switching lenses and potentially lose a shot.Feedback
If you intend on trying to capture something similar, I recommend going out on a sunny, but windless day in a protected area. Loose leaves tend to easily move even with the slightest wind and insects are always on the move, so you have to be quick. I like to prepare my camera settings ahead of time, for example, if I'm out in the morning on a sunny day, I will set my ISO to either 100 or 200, if I am hoping to capture some insects in flight, I will set my shutter speed to a minimum of 1/100 sec and my aperture between f/5.6 and f/7.1, then I'll take a shot of something that is exposed to full sun. If the resulting photo is too bright or too dark then I can make the necessary adjustments and then I'm ready for my little subject to enter the scene to be photographed. Of course as the day progresses, the light changes, so you have to make more adjustments. This is just an example, light is ever changing and your subjects don't co-operate....they could be flying around in the shade, so your settings once again will need to be changed, it's much easier if they're sitting still munching away on a leaf...
