After another hiatus in posting, and photography really to be honest, it's about time I got something on the blog. This week we were inundated with lady birds on board the boat. We had literally hundreds of them all over the deck. I think it must be breeding time as that appeared to be one of the main pass times while they were here. That and getting squished by unsuspecting shoes. They really are tricky little things to get a decent shot of. Took hundreds of shots and only kept a few, but at about 8mm long and quite evasive when you get close, it's not surprising not too many came out well. They all seem to be well dusted with pollen too. They could have made a bit more effort for the camera. For those who are interested I believe these are seven spotted lady bird or Coccinella Septempunctata to give it it's full title. The most common lady bird in Europe
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Ha ha, I love that second one - it looks like it's trekking doggedly through an icy waste!
ReplyDeleteSuper makro of the ladybirds!
ReplyDeletewe call them lady bugs. and I have found many in the beach grass along Lake Michigan in the summer.
ReplyDeleteThese are wonderful. You'll be focus stacking them next.
ReplyDeleteTo improve your hit rate pop them in the fridge for ten minutes.
Good to see you back.
Help. I'm not sure I like seeing them this big... Fantastic photos, but I've been in a swarm of them once too, and did not enjoy it...
ReplyDeleteWow. I thought that I'd had some good macro shots but.... I was amused by the pollen and impressed by the fact that the exposure is so perfect given the brilliance of the background. I've always found manual macro with a fast moving subject difficult. Must try the fridge technique although some of the things I photograph would not be very welcome in my fridge - even in a container!
ReplyDeleteI don't see too many of these photographed and the last place i would expect them to be found was on your boat. Great macro detail and the reflections make it a fun post too. A lot of hard work has gone into these with reference to the images that we didn't see and were edited out. Nice work.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the comments everyone.
ReplyDeleteAdrian, some good hints there. I've only recently heard of focus stacking and it hadn't even occurred to me. Will definitely give it a go.
Dad, yeah I did find it pretty hard. Practice makes perfect though I suppose but as J points out lady birds aren't too common on boats.
DawnTreader, I know what you mean. They were landing all over me when I was shooting and although they are totally harmless, I'm not a big fan of insects all over me, whatever they are. Big softy haha!
Wow!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the beautiful photos !!!
ReplyDeleteThey ARE tricky. I wish I'd seen these shots last year when I was 'doing' them for my PG Dip... Fabulous.
ReplyDelete