Robberfly with prey

[Jerry van Dijk]

During a hike in Monfragüe National Park in Spain, we passed a valley with a lot of small stones lying around. On nearly every stone there was a robberfly perching, only to jump up every now and again to grab a new prey out of the air. I would have liked some more DOF, but the fly was a bit jumpy and kept moving out of the plane of focus.

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 200mm f/4 Micro, handheld, ISO-100, f/13, 1/80 sec.

[shane shacaluga]

Very nice shot. I just love these robber flies. The eyes area is nice and sharp focussing attention on the prey item

i would crop a bit more from the bottom as its a bit distracting IMO

TFS

[Norm Dulak]

Nice Jerry. While I too would suggest cropping a little off the bottom and would like more DOF, this is sharp where it needs to be.

[Mitch Haimov]

Excellent image, Jerry. While a little more DoF would have been nice, works very well as is. The eye is sweet and the prey adds interest.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Well caught I agree a little more DOF but difficult circumstances.

[Bob Miller]

Another vote for cropping from the bottom. I like this image alot and feel it is sharp enough!

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Jerry. Robber flies are very cool predators! Wish we had more of them where I live! I like that we can clearly see the prey and the image is sharp where it most needs to be. This might be a case where backing a few inches further away from the fly would have given you enough DOF to get most of the fly sharp. I'm curious why you were using ISO 100 (or is that a typo?) - ISO 400 would give you a ss of 1/320 and easier hand holding with only a minor increase in noise. :S3:

[Jerry van Dijk]

Thanks everyone, for your comments. I've sliced a bit from the bottom by popular demand (and did some other compositional cropping as well to make it look better).
Steve, despite the overcast conditions, my display was very hard to see. I made a short series (also wider open) and and it looked like this image had enough DOF, so I left it at that. It didn't help that I was lying flat on the ground (lots of vegetation blocking a clear view at larger distances) and this was near the end of a hike at 30+ degrees Celcius with my wife and kids, so there was a little time pressure to get moving again too! So no typo, just lack of concentration :S3:.

[Jerry van Dijk]

To illustrate my last point: my wife took this picture of me while she was waiting impatiently for me with the kids :bg3:!

[Steve Maxson]

Steve, despite the overcast conditions, my display was very hard to see. I made a short series (also wider open) and and it looked like this image had enough DOF, so I left it at that. It didn't help that I was lying flat on the ground (lots of vegetation blocking a clear view at larger distances) and this was near the end of a hike at 30+ degrees Celcius with my wife and kids, so there was a little time pressure to get moving again too! So no typo, just lack of concentration :S3:.

I hear you, Jerry. I've been there too - with similar results. :S3: Your recropped image is an improvement.