Hummingbird Moth (aka Sphinx Moth)

[Ronald Zigler]

If you have ever seen this little moth, you know why it is called a hummingbird moth. It floats over flowers like a hummingbird with rapidly beating wings.

Canon 60D, 300mm f4 L + 1.4x, @ 1/1000, f7.1, ISO 800, HH.

[PhilCook]

Nope, never seen one, and not ever likely to...sadly. Stunning shot with a non dedicated macro lens, a bit more dof may of been nicer...maybe ? I reckon if it were my image I'd have a go at removing the vertical green stem...and a tad more noise reduction to the background.

[Ronald Zigler]

Thanks Phil. In some respects, the option of taking shots like this is what sold me on the Canon 300mm f4L. Even with the 1.4 extender, it has a very close focusing distance for a long lens and thus has some modest macro possibilities. I agree about the DOF. This is a challenge with close subjects when using a long lens: the DOF is so darn narrow.

[Paul Guris]

I generally like the shot but would probably tone down the flowers. They're distractingly bright on my monitor and overwhelm the subject. All in all it's stellar for handheld at 1/1000.

FYI, this is one of the Clearwing moths. I believe it's a Hummingbird Clearwing though I only know tiny drips and drabs about moths. A Sphinx Moth is a very different creature from a different genus. Looking around for ID images I stumbled on this site which looks pretty nice for this kind of thing:

http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/

[Bob Miller]

Ron...Good advise given above....toning down reds, cloning away green stem,,,,,bg handled nicely but could use some noise reduction. The moth itelf is mostly sharp...the wings being blurred doesn't bother me. You might consider toning down the underbelly

[Ronald Zigler]

Paul, I was only going by my Audubon Bird/Butterfly app in order to identify the moth. In that guide, the moth is placed along other members of the "Sphinx Moth" family, even though it is identified as a "Hummingbird Moth". Other sources call it a "Hummingbird Clearwing", but both sources give the same scientific name Hemaris thysbe.

[Cheryl Slechta]

Ron, this is a beautiful moth. I agree about toning down flowers and I'd tone down the greens in the bg also as well as noise reduction.

[Kerry Perkins]

Really interesting moth Ron, good eye to see this. Good points made above, would be cool to see either more of the wings or more of the head. I can't help but think about crawfish (crayfish) when looking at the rear end there... Interesting how nature repeats itself.

[Nancy Phillips]

This is a really interesting moth, new to me, and the capture is stellar. A touch more DOF might have been nice, to get the far wing edge completely in focus (to see the clear wing markings best), but I don't mind the near wing blur. I wouldn't tone down the flowers too much. De-stemming - meh - depends on your philosophy of what degree of alteration is appropriate for your nature photographs.