Uploads from johnhallmen, tagged fujifilms5pro, with geodata

Chea... Shooting in the Breeze

nobody@flickr.com (johnhallmen) — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 06:36:35 -0700

Megachilidae, (probably a male Osmia sp.) ID cred: Nico

Size: 7-8mm, ID suggestions welcome!

A mixed light (natural+diffused flash) stack made from 11 exposures in Helicon focus.

Carl Zeiss Luminar 63/4.5 on a small (travel kit) Novoflex bellows.

See below for more technical notes and a few "cheats"!

Water Lily Donacia

nobody@flickr.com (johnhallmen) — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 07:40:11 -0700

johnhallmen posted a photo:

Donacia crassipes, 10-12mm

These are "kind of" semi-aquatic beetles. I found them several meters out on a lake almost completely covered in water lilies. They run around on top of the water lily leafs and often fly short distances seemingly without effort (kind of like tiger beetles).

Larger view recommended!

Hey, I'm back!

nobody@flickr.com (johnhallmen) — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 06:58:50 -0700

johnhallmen posted a photo:

I'm finally getting back to posting again after a long, nice and (almost) computer free break! It's been a great summer with lots of macro shooting.

During a couple of weeks in July I saw a lot of these horse flies: Heptatoma pellucens, Tabanidae

They have a nasty bite but make up for it by looking cool.

Coronella austriaca

nobody@flickr.com (johnhallmen) — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 02:34:33 -0700

johnhallmen posted a photo:

We only have three snake species in Sweden. Two of them are very common: Natrix natrix (Grass snake) and Vipera berus (Adder). This species, Coronella austriaca ("Smooth snake" or "hasselsnok" as we say in Swedish) is rare. Most people never get to see one (and most people probably couldn't care less).

I've spent hours searching for this species without any luck in many different parts of Sweden so I was really excited to find this one on my regular stomping grounds! The County Administrative Board was almost as excited and it's entirely possible actions will be taken to further protect and preserve the habitat on the location.

Headache!

nobody@flickr.com (johnhallmen) — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 05:54:28 -0700

johnhallmen posted a photo:

This 12mm long horse fly (Tabanidae) bit me in my neck when I was out looking for subjects. I instinctively whacked it thinking it was a mosquito. It actually seemed to be more surprised than hurt by my treatment but I got the opportunity to snap a couple of shots of it before it went looking for less violent victims.

Here you see it cleaning its large beautiful eyes with the brushes on it's front legs.

Single, handheld exposure.

Strobist info: Single Nikon SB-400 on a Manfrotto 819-1 hydrostatic arm diffused through white plastic yoghurt bottle. (see images below)

Stiletto fly on the beach

nobody@flickr.com (johnhallmen) — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 18:10:51 -0700

johnhallmen posted a photo:

Male Acrosathe annulata (Therevidae) on a sandy beach.

Single exposure with a beautydish diffused Nikon SB-400 + natural light (see setup images below).

Weevil fever: Cionus

nobody@flickr.com (johnhallmen) — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 09:36:43 -0700

johnhallmen posted a photo:

A 4mm long Cionus weevil covered in dew.

Early morning, natural light stack. 20 exposures stacked in Helicon focus.

After using a Bellows solution for my early morning field stacks I decided to go back and try my previos gear: Sigma 150 + Raynox diopters. Verdict: It works but I find the bellows is easier to work with and the results are better, especially above 3x (with the right lenses, obviously).

Globular Springtail

nobody@flickr.com (johnhallmen) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 09:37:15 -0800

johnhallmen posted a photo:

Male Allacma fusca (ID-cred: Frans Janssens)

A 3mm long globular springtail on a leaf.

Two exposures manually stacked.

Dug this up from the archives inspired by this posted by flickr-member Adrian Jones. Obviously, this is not nearly as fascinating as his find but at least it's a springtail!

This is from Öland/Sweden (see geo-tagging).

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Eriothrix rufomaculata

nobody@flickr.com (johnhallmen) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:34:52 -0700

johnhallmen posted a photo:

Eriothrix rufomaculata (ID cred: C. Raper)
Family: Tachinidae

Nineteen natural light exposures stacked in Helicon focus.

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Sphaerophoria

nobody@flickr.com (johnhallmen) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 23:35:35 -0700

johnhallmen posted a photo:

A male hoverfly (Sphearophoria sp.). Stacked from 16 natural light exposures using Helicon focus.

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Behind bars

nobody@flickr.com (johnhallmen) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 10:01:56 -0700

johnhallmen posted a photo:

Stacked from eight natural light exposures using Helicon focus.

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Gaurotes virginea

nobody@flickr.com (johnhallmen) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 14:04:21 -0700

johnhallmen posted a photo:

Stacked from six natural light exposures using Helicon focus.

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Donacia after a swim...

nobody@flickr.com (johnhallmen) — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 08:44:36 -0700

johnhallmen posted a photo:

When shooting the Donacia crassipes shown in the last post I accidentaly flipped over some water lily leafs and as a consequence this beetle had to take a swim. For a beetle living almost exclusively out on lakes they are surprisingly poor swimmers. I watched this one for at least a minute while it was struggling to get back up onto the leaf.

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Moneses uniflora

nobody@flickr.com (johnhallmen) — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 18:33:25 -0700

johnhallmen posted a photo:

Moneses uniflora

I rarely shoot flowers but I couldn't keep away from this one.

Handheld, natural light. Kiron 105/2.8.

Weevil fever: Cleonis Pigra

nobody@flickr.com (johnhallmen) — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 17:12:18 -0700

johnhallmen posted a photo:

Cleonis Pigra (12mm) can be found on thistles growing on sandy beaches.

Single, handheld exposure. Natural light from behind and left + diffused flash from the right.

Weevil fever: Bothrynoderes affinis

nobody@flickr.com (johnhallmen) — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 05:38:55 -0700

johnhallmen posted a photo:

This weevil species can be found on sandy beaches.

Five handheld exposures stacked in Helicon focus.

Neottiglossa

nobody@flickr.com (johnhallmen) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 06:43:31 -0700

johnhallmen posted a photo:

Neottiglossa pusilla

Nine natural light exposures stacked in Helicon focus.

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Parasitic Wasp

nobody@flickr.com (johnhallmen) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 02:19:10 -0700

johnhallmen posted a photo:

Twelve natural light exposures stacked in Helicon Focus.

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Homeless?

nobody@flickr.com (johnhallmen) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 05:33:02 -0700

johnhallmen posted a photo:

This Formica rufa has for some reason spent the night out. The way the hind legs are positioned made me think it was dead at first but as it soon lowered the legs and started moving about so I'm not sure why it had lifted them up like this in the first place.

Stacked from fourteen natural light exposures using Helicon focus.

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Saw fly

nobody@flickr.com (johnhallmen) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 13:29:59 -0700

johnhallmen posted a photo:

Symphyta

Stacked from eight natural light exposures using Helicon focus.

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