Mikes Insect a day for August

Mike Jackson

Mike Jackson

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I was going to do this in June but the cold weather meant that there weren't many insects about so I'm having a go in August. I'll try to photograph a different insect each day and I'm not interested in the semantics of what constitutes an insect. If it looks like an insect to me I'll photograph it.

Day 1, Ladybird Nymph





The focus isn't as good as I'd like it, probably not helped by the wind and rain but it'll do for a start.
 
Hooray, says Mike's wife, no cleaning for a month in case I scare away the insects :D:D:D

Good luck with your project, sounds a good one

stew
 
Bit of a disappointment today. I didn't take my camera to work and there was a plethora of insects in the customers garden :bang: . When I got home all I could find were hoverflies. This one looked a bit different to the rest though so we have.

Day 2 Hoverfly



 
Day 3 Brutality and Murder

Today's shot got hijacked by my 52 but here is one of the shots to keep the continuity going.

 
fantastic........ i'm inspired
 
Great idea Mike, #4 is in fact a false widow spider and can bite. Looking forward to seeing what else you come up with ;)
 
Thanks Alby, I'll edit the title. It's interesting so far looking for different insects and trying to hold the more common ones in reserve for barren days.
 
Despite the rain I managed to get a few shots of varying insects this morning but the following is my favourite

Day 7 Scorpion Fly



 
Thanks Jenny, So far everything has been taken with the Canon EF 100 f/2.8 USM macro and sigma ringflash.
 
Today's insect was going to be a fine example of a Silver Washed Fritillary from Brede High woods this morning but when I looked at the pictures on the PC when I got home I realised that I had forgotten to turn the IS back on on the 100-400 after last nights light trails so that was a bit of shake evident. instead we have

Day 8 mosquito and breakfast (me)



 
Great idea Mike - I'm looking forward to following this for the rest of the month.

So far the Pond Skater really stands out for me. I love the effect of the reflection on the surface combined with the view of the submerged plants.
From a technical point of view the Scorpion Fly is also outstanding. Beautiful colours and perfect focus :thumbs:

I also like the hoverfly shot. The dark b/g sets it off very well.
There seem to be a lot of hoverflies about this year and I'm amazed by how many beautiful colours there are.
I don't suppose if you know of a decent guide to the different species?
Judging by the number in our garden I could probably do an insect a day just with different types of Hoverfly !

And finally . . . no matter how good a shot it is, I can't believe that your first instinct was to photograph that mosquito rather than splatting the thing! :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
Thanks Sarah. For fly identification I use http://diptera.info/news.php . It's a bit heavy going but there's a lot of info on there.

As far as the mozzie shot, my first instinct if anything bites/stings me is to try and get a shot if I've got the camera in hand. I don't go out of my way to get bitten but I don't miss the chance of a shot. Luckily I don't react badly to bites and stings.
 
Some great photos here Mike, but far too creepy for me to spend too much time looking at :)
 
Some nice shots there Mike, I especially liked the false widow spider :thumbs:

Reading this thread has made me go all itchy. Time to go :exit:

Steve
 
Just seen these Mike
My favourite so far has to be the false widow
closely followed by "day 8" mossie :thumbs:
 
Thanks Jenny, they're a new sighting for me as well. I was really pleased to come across them.
 
Eck! That caterpillar looks like something from Dr Who :eek:
 
Today was spent at The Rye Horse and Dog show manning the have a go agility, taking part in the display team and taking some shots of the display team. After 9 hours at the show today's shot was a last minute grab on the way home. I was really lucky to get anything at all.

Day 21 female Common Blue


Female Common Blue by Mike Jackson1, on Flickr
 
:thumbs: Really like the caterpillar shots Mike - especially the Vapourer moth.
Why is it that butterflies are so much prettier than moths, but when it comes to caterpillars the moths win it every time?

The first one from Day14 (head on shot of the blue damselfly) intrigues me too. Such an unusual angle and it almost looks like he's peering around that bit of wood. Would have been great if you could have gotten just a touch more DoF in it.
 
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