Caddis Fly larvae

[John Robinson]

One from yesterday. I came across this species whilst doing a survey. This is a new one for me and any IDhelp would be most useful. It obviously uses small leaf fragments and plant parts too. Some are intricately joined. My guess would be a member of the Limnophilus family. The plant is Willow Moss (Fontinalis)
Small specially made container. Printed backdrop at 18"" and 45% angle.
Jessops Nikon copy speedlite. Hand held to left and just above camera level.
60% of full frame
Nikon D7100
Sigma 50mm macro.
250th sec(flash syc) F18
320 ISO
Much removal of debris in water and a couple of glass scratches. You may find some I,ve missed !
Paint Shop Pro Curves. 'Image Guru for Shadow lift.
Thanks for interest in last pic.
Cheers
JohnR

[Jonathan Ashton]

Oh John what a cracker - suuuuper!!! Great detail, excellent lighting, now there is no pleasin' some folk I know but ...... the image is clean - very clean I would suggest leaving some bits of detritus in the water and I would go for a green or brown background as opposed to blue. This may of course be entirely contrary to what you envisage but I think it would give the scene a more natural aspect to it - WDYT??

[John Robinson]

Hi Jon
Yes I agree. I can move the backdrop around so its easy enough to do.
Thanks cheers
John

[Steve Maxson]

High John. Outstanding image! Isn't it interesting how different the cases are for the various caddis fly species! (Sorry, I can't help with the ID on this one.) Excellent lighting and overall sharpness, and I love the curving flow of the stem. Jon and I have gone round and round a few times about how much debris to leave in the image. :S3: I used to go for the totally clean look, but now I'm coming around more to Jon's way of thinking and leaving some bits in (though not the ones obviously lit up by the flashes). It mostly boils down to a matter of personal preference.