Portraits of the Fairly Tiny (Original Macro Photography)

fotosdenada (65) in photography • 5 years ago (edited)

Howdy,

It's only Sunday, but the day was perfect for some macro photography and #macromonday isn't all that far away!

I've been looking for work online and taking care of my poor hound dog, who lost his sight about a week ago, trying to help him out. Mostly, this involves being outside with him. He has been afraid to be in the yard alone, but he seems to have gotten more comfortable with it. I had my camera with, set up for macro photos, so I was at least productive!

^Peek-a-bug!

Some of you may remember a post from a year ago of a katydid hiding in a sunflower. Apparently they like me. This little guy was climbing a stem to a turk's cap lily and eventually worked himself into the perfect pose. It took him about twenty minutes to go from setm to flower, but my patience paid off.

^{Angel of Necter-Sucking}

This is the first time I've been able to capture one of these! This little moth is commonly referred to as a "humming bird moth," because of the way the mimic their namesake bird. They move and even sound like humming birds.

I snapped about twenty shots of this one as she flew from flower to flower. I'm not sure how my focus hit so perfectly as she flew up from behind this flower. Her eyes are tack sharp!

^{Fluffy White Pain}

I'm not really certain as to what this white poof is, but a friend said that they are toxic to the touch. I guess it's a good thing I only took a photo of it.

^{Demon Bug?}

Here's a very red critter. I'm not sure what this one is, either.

I had to post one more photo of the katydid. This was one I got before he climbed into the flower petals. My old Canon 7D doesn't do well with focus, and macro photos are even trickier. To get the katydid in focus, I set the camera to high speed burst on manual mode and slowly changed the focus from back-focused to a little front-focused. Usually one or two out of ten are sharp, when I can do that.

^{Katydid Portrait}

Thank you for taking a look! If you enjoy my work, please click the upvote button. Comments are also greatly appreciated.

Cheers!

@fotosdenada

photography nature wildlife macromonday blog palnet

5 years ago by fotosdenada (65)

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steem-samiam (64) · 5 years ago

Holy, I love seeing you get full curied!! Too cool, and love the hummingbird moth portrait...actually, this post was tough to pick a favorite, but I sure appreciated seeing the hummingbird moth!
Sorry to hear about poor Vern. Sounds almost like a stroke?

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4 votes

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fotosdenada (65) · 5 years ago

Thanks! Those hummingbird moths are quick, like their namesake. I was surprised that the focus hit so well. My old 7D doesn't do a great job with focusing, especially through a macro lens.

I'm not really sure what happened with Vern. He still seems lethargic, drools more than usual, and his eyesight hasn't improved. At least he's not panting all the time, though. His eyes seem to be permanently dilated, and he can see shadows and movement in his peripheral vision. I've gotten him to feel more comfortable outside, at least, so he has been laying in the yard, sucking the world in through his nose and ears.

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2 votes

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melinda010100 (73) · 5 years ago

These are fantastic! I am glad you are able to be there with your dog and you certainly used your time constructively! Each one of these photos is quite amazing. I have tried taking photos of hummingbird moths and end up with a blur. I have never seen a sycamore tussock caterpillar... I wonder if all white hairy caterpillars are toxic?

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2 votes

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fotosdenada (65) · 5 years ago

Thanks! The hummingbird moth was a lot of luck, I think. They are crazy fast!

That was the first time I have seen one of those caterpillars. It was surprisingly large, and I'm glad I didn't touch it...

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delishtreats (70) · 5 years ago

I'm sorry to hear about your dog. Poor thing! I hope he will get used to the new situation quickly. What happened to him?

Your photos are superb. I would not say that you struggled with the focus as you did so well :) I love the second photo. The moth is a real supermodel!

Have a lovely day!

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1 vote

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fotosdenada (65) · 5 years ago

We're not sure what happened to Vern. He was panting and drooling a lot more than usual, and very lethargic. He's slowly recovering from whatever illness it was, but it cost him his sight. His eyes are always dilated, and he doesn't seem to be able to see more than the occasional shadow.

I was surprised the hummingbird moth was even in focus. He was really quick.

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delishtreats (70) · 5 years ago

That's so sad. He is lucky that he has you :)

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ladybug146 (66) · 5 years ago

Great shots!! I really liked the white poof thing until I found out it was poison, still looks pretty cool and fluffy in the photo, is it some form of caterpillar maybe. I didn't see the grass hopper in the flower until you pointed it out! That's a pretty cool shot.

Sorry to hear about your pup. Going blind is a struggle at first but they get used to it, at least my cat did, but she still had one eye with heavy cataracts, she adapted well and owned it.

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1 vote

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fotosdenada (65) · 5 years ago

Thanks! I guess those poofy caterpillars turn into tiger moths. There have been quite a few strange caterpillars crawling around this summer.

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ladybug146 (66) · 5 years ago (edited)

Hum yeah, there is a lot of stuff going on in the background that most don't realize yet or can't see or understand yet. I'm not really gonna get into it here tho but things are changing has to do with the polar vortexes we had this winter.

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fotosdenada (65) · 5 years ago

Yeah... It's an interesting mix. Minnesota has gotten colder winters and hotter summers. At least the -40º temps killed a lot of the emerald ash borers. I noticed animals pushing their range north decades ago, though. When I was a kid, we had an alligator turtle turn up by our house, quite a bit north of their usual range.

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curie (76) · 5 years ago

Hi fotosdenada,

This post has been upvoted by the Curie community curation project and associated vote trail as exceptional content (human curated and reviewed). Have a great day :)

Visit curiesteem.com or join the Curie Discord community to learn more.

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1 vote

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janton (71) · 5 years ago

Howdy again sir fotosdenada! Really good macro shots there! How long did you have to sit still for most of these? The most amazing one to me, is the last one!

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1 vote

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fotosdenada (65) · 5 years ago

Thanks! I spent about 20 minutes with the katydid, waiting for him to move to the right spot. Catching the other critters is more of a combination of luck and knowing when and where to find them.

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janton (71) · 5 years ago

Not very many people could sit still for 20 minutes, that's pretty remarkable!

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goat-girlz (62) · 5 years ago

Those are fantastic! I've never heard of the hummingbird moth. It's beautiful! It looks like the wings are partially transparent, which is super cool. Congratulations on your Curie; it was well deserved!

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1 vote

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fotosdenada (65) · 5 years ago

Thanks! We don't see many hummingbird moths here, usually about this time of the summer. This one was very interested in the bee balm, as you could probably see from the photo.

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trudeehunter (71) · 5 years ago

Lovely shots. Beautiful colors.

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1 vote

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johannpiber (72) · 5 years ago

I like all photos, they are very good macros, but most I like the look of the grasshopper on the last photo. He looks like he wants to jump, but has to wait until you are finished with photographing him ;)
Thanks for sharing, @fotosdenada 😊

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1 vote

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fotosdenada (65) · 5 years ago

Thank you. The katydid did eventually jump, but up to the flower :-)

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2 votes

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johannpiber (72) · 5 years ago

You're welcome 😊
The word katydid was new to me, so I had to google it. We still say simply Grasshopper to these big green katydids 😉

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daveks (77) · 5 years ago

Beautiful photos, as usual!

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1 vote