Bee Mimic Hover Fly

[Mitch Haimov]

I believe this is a bee mimic hover fly (bee mimic syrphid fly):

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7458/9692219614_34d6cc7be0_o.jpg

This was my first attempt hand holding with an active subject and the MP-E65. I am mostly happy with the results--I have a lot to learn about working with this rig, but my initial results are better than I anticipated. The moiré pattern in the eye is an artifact of resizing and does not exist in the original image (unsharpened 100% crop of the eye below).

Minor exposure adjustments, removed some yellow from the yellows with selective color, NR on OOF areas, sharpened for display. No cropping

5DIII, 65 mm macro lens at 2:1, macro twin flash (diffused), HH
1/200 sec at f/13 and ISO 400


Unsharpened 100% crop:
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5338/9688981415_43b4d8d203_o.jpg

[Mitch Haimov]

After further investigation, this appears to be a wasp mimic rather than a bee mimic.

[christopher galeski]

very nice like the BG,sharp head and thorax,would try a different crop,to me the out of focus flower takes up too much of the image.

[Nancy Bell]

Very cool! I love the fine details of the fly and a few petals, with the remainder of the flower soft and OOF. The yellow pollen grains on the flower and the fly really add to the image! I would also suggest a different crop, removing much of the foreground, leaving just a bit below the "virtual" bottom of the leg. And if you have it, adding some space behind the fly. You're a brave man hand holding this!

[Mitch Haimov]

Thanks for the comments and suggestions! I agree with cropping some off the bottom. I have additional, tighter (higher magnification) images of the same fly, so no need to crop from right to make a tighter comp; I'll post more of this fellow (it is male) as time allows. One of the things I'm trying to do as I experiment with this rig is get the comp right in camera rather than compose loose while shooting and cropping to the final comp. But not all images work best at the standard aspect ratio, I consider cropping in one dimension consistent with getting it right in camera. (BTW: no need to consider a "virtual" foot in cropping as the actual foot as OOF but just visible through an OOF petal.)

Nancy: i don't consider hand holding brave for images such as this, I think it is required. And this coming from a guy who used a tripod for essentially everything prior to acquiring this lens. This little guy was way too active for a tripod to be feasible. Had serious reservations about hand holding before I started and thought it would take a lot of practice before I would be able to get usable images, but have found that I am getting keepers pretty consistently right off the bat (but certainly not every frame). The secret is a technique I picked up from John Kimber's No Cropping Zone blog (http://nocroppingzone.blogspot.com): I hold the stem in my left hand just below the flower and rest the lens on the same hand. That way, the camera and flower are both moving more-or-less in the same direction at the same time. Add a short flash duration and sharp images are on the way. The hardest parts are finding the subject in the view finder at higher magnifications and visually discerning focus--not too bad up to about 3x, then progressively more difficult beyond that.

[Nancy Bell]

Mitch, that hand-holding the flower and support the camera technique is interesting. I must try it. As you mentioned, another concern would be discerning focus. Do you use live view magnified?

[Mitch Haimov]

Here is a repost (only change is crop from bottom):

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7399/9714576790_4a7fb0fa6e_o.jpg

I have used magnified live view quite a bit in other contexts, but always when using a tripod. I suspect it would be difficult while hand holding with an active subject, and I think holding the camera up to my face helps provide stability. But I suppose I should give it a try to find out; thanks for the suggestion. Good luck with the hand holding technique (not recommended with thistles unless you happen to be wearing a kevlar glove!).

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Mitch. I use the same HH technique and it makes a big difference with this lens when your DOF may only be only a couple mm (or less). Yup, this is a Syrphid fly (aka Flower Fly, or Hover Fly in Europe) and as you note, the various species (over 870 in N. Am.) are excellent mimics of bees and wasps. Nice sharpness on your fly and on some key parts of the flower. I also like the pose - with the extended proboscis - and all the pollen grains. The yellows are nicely handled and I think the repost is an improvement on the comp. This is very well done!

[Mitch Haimov]

Thanks, Steve! Having fun with high magnification exploring details that are not normally visible.