Giant water bug

[Steve Maxson]

This Giant Water Bug (Lethocerus sp.) has a body length of 55 mm and these are the top predators of the freshwater aquatic invertebrate word. They regularly prey on small fish, tadpoles, and frogs which they capture with their powerful front legs. At times, these can be found flying around lights at night. This one is blending in with the dead cattail stem while waiting for its next meal to come within reach. The narrow structure at the end of the abdomen functions as a breathing tube - allowing the Belostomatid to keep its body submerged while it breathes at the surface. Photographed in my 2.5 gallon aquarium setup, 1D IV, 100 mm macro, 1/125, f/16, ISO 160, 2 radio-triggered 430EX flashes (manual mode, diffused), tripod, live view manual focus, cable release. I removed some of the floating bits of debris in the water and ran nr on the background. All comments are welcome and appreciated.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Steve you have this underwater photography absolutely under control, I cannot suggest anything to improve presentation - absolutely superb.

[Ron Conlon]

Gorgeous, and fascinating, Steve. Is that a printed background?

[Steve Maxson]

Thanks Jon and Ron!

Ron: My current setup has a second 2.5 gal aquarium directly behind the one containing the subject (Jon suggested this to me last year :S3:). What you see as a background are aquatic plants in the second tank. This setup seems to give more depth to the images. There is a printed background behind the second tank, but it is far enough away that it doesn't really show up distinctly in the photos. The first tank has a glass divider in the middle. If I want a more layered look, I can add vegetation, etc. to the back half of the first tank. Attached is a photo of my setup to help folks visualize what I'm doing. (The large forceps is handy for moving things around in the tanks.)

[Ron Conlon]

Thanks so much for sharing the setup--that is fantastic, and it makes clearer how you get such a natural look--there is a lot of thought and expertise there .

[Kaushik Balakumar]

Beautiful! Great details (both informative and image-wise :t3 ) on the bug. Thanks for sharing the setup. Interesting !

[John Robinson]

Nice one Steve. Using a pic for a backdrop is the best way. I get mine prited on A3 for £1 each which is good. getting the right pics and amount of blur is the problem. Wel done.
John

[Diane Miller]

Just gorgeous and completely natural looking to me. Have you tried moving one of the lights a little higher, so they aren't completely opposed? But avoiding a shadow from the rim of the tank would limit the position.

[Steve Maxson]

Thanks Kaushik, John, and Diane!

Diane: I've tried a lot of different light positions (side, top, front) and I also vary the distance from the flash to the tank (depending on where the subject is located). The power of the flashes can also be adjusted individually depending on the circumstances. For my taste, I usually get the most pleasing light with this side-to-side arrangement. :S3: