Giant Water Bug

[Steve Maxson]

I took this photo last April before the ice had melted off the lakes - there was just a rim of open water around the shoreline and you can sometimes find these guys in that small open water area in the spring. These are the true giants of the aquatic insect world. This one (Family Belostomatidae, Lethocerus spp.) has a body 60 mm long. They are predatory and feed on other aquatic invertebrates, tadpoles, frogs, and small fish. Typically, they are found lurking amongst aquatic vegetation, but I purposely wanted this image to look like a studio shot. These insects are air-breathers so the fact that it is resting at the surface is normal behavior. Image taken in my 2-gallon aquarium, 5D II, 100 mm macro, 1/200, f/22, ISO 100, MT24-EX macro twin flash (diffused), tripod, cable release. As usual, I cleaned up tiny bits of floating debris in the water and ran nr on the background. All comments are welcome and appreciated.

[christopher galeski]

nice one Steve,like the BG,the insect is nice and sharp,thanks.

[OvidiuCavasdan]

Interesting look with the reflection, nice clean bg, sharp where it needs. Looks like he is ready to grab something.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Nice one! love the reflection and I like the background too:S3:

[Julie Kenward]

This is really interesting, Steve. I love the angle of the insect within the frame of the image. I think I've done a yoga pose pretty close to what he's demonstrating here. :w3 My one worry is the fuzzy area of the two smaller legs (?) behind his head near the surface - I want them to be a little bit more in focus. Also, did you try to open up the darkness at the front of the insect? I'm wondering if more detail could be brought out there since it's so sharp and we can see such a large area of his body. It would be nice to see even more detail there.

[Dave Leroy]

Wow! That is big.

Good for you to scoop it up and thanks for the details about the water bug.

I like the nice angle of the shot with a side look including the two eyes.

I also like the bit of reflection we can see from the underside of the water and wonder if anything would be added by a bit more up there.

When I see some of these creatures up close it makes me appreciate that we are so much bigger. They seem well armored and equipped to deal with almost anything.

Dave

[Roman Kurywczak]

These are just wild Steve!!! I'm with Dave on a little more room on top (rare for me I know:2eyes2:) but the pose, bit of reflection.....very nice details in a world you are now showing us in a great way! Great light as usual too!

[Steve Maxson]

Thanks everyone for your comments. :S3: