Another fly

[Nancy Bell]

It's that time of year when flies try to come into the house. A bit of chilling in the refrigerator and then a photo session in my lightbox. I think this is a horse fly, but thought the antennae looked long. Does someone have an ID for this?

I photographed this before I read Steve's suggestion on how to set up my flash for use in the lightbox, so my camera settings are a bit weird.

Canon 5D Mark III, tripod, Canon 100 f2.8 macro, 1/80, f6.3, ISO 1600, macro flash ETTL +1/3 compensation.



FYI: I am leaving this Saturday for 3 weeks in South Africa visiting family in Cape Town and then some quality time with my camera and the wildlife.:S3:

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Nancy. Beautiful eyes again and good detail within your DOF (I would just wish you had more DOF :S3:). This looks like it might be a Black Soldier Fly (Family Stratiomyidae, Hermetia illucens) or a similar species rather than a Horse Fly. I hope to see some cool images from your Africa trip!

[Nancy Bell]

Thanks, Steve. Glad to have an ID. Next time I'll certainly use the settings you have suggested to get more DOF. I'm at airport 1 of 4 for the start of 36 hrs of travel!

[Jonathan Ashton]

The head and eye are good and sharp but the rest of the body quite naturally at this magnification is not. I find the softer edges rather distracting but never the less a very detailed image.