Longhorn Beetle - Belize

[Steve Maxson]

I'm back from the Bugshot workshop in Belize where our group found and photographed many very cool invertebrates. Among them was this Longhorn Beetle (Family Cerambycidae) - the strangest-looking one I've ever seen with all the "hairs" around the head and the protuberances on its elytra. I photographed it in my lightbox as it was preparing to fly - an instant later it took flight. 1D IV, 100 mm macro, 1/160, f/16, ISO 100, 2 remotely fired 430EX flashes, hand held. All comments are welcome and appreciated.

[BillTyler]

Beautiful shot, and I'm green with envy. I've wanted to go to Bugshot for some time, and haven't been able to do it.

Bill

[Mitch Haimov]

Okay, that has to be the most bizarre living thing I have ever seen! Looks like it should breathe fire. If Hollywood invented it I would have thought the effects people were over-indulging with the illicit pharmaceuticals. Did everyone run for cover when it took flight? The wings do not look functional; I don't recall seeing any other insect wings with such lack of structure.

This is an amazing image--you certainly captured the critical moment. The three-quarter profile pose works very well. Nice sharpness & DOF. Any chance of pulling more detail out of the eyes?

BTW: Welcome back!

[Jonathan Ashton]

Steve this is amazing! Just for a moment I wondered if this was a trick shot - what an insect - can't take my eyes off it. As usual all the techs spot on - very well done.

[Steve Maxson]

Thanks for the comments, Bill, Mitch, and Jon!

Mitch - the Raw file has lots of detail in the eyes - it just doesn't show up at this low resolution. :S3:

[Mitch Haimov]

Yeah, some things don't seem to scale down to web resolution so well; insect eyes seem to be near the top of the list. Anyway, an incredible image.