Another shot of the male Giant Water Bug (Family Belostomatidae, likely Belostoma sp.) with eggs attached to its back. It seemed to prefer swimming with its front legs extended forward - this gives a good view of its stabbing beak. The AF on Canon's current 100 mm macro works very well for shots like this. 2.5 gallon aquarium setup, 1D IV, 100 mm macro, 1/125, f/16, ISO 160, 2 remotely fired 430EX flashes (manual mode, diffused), HH, AF. I used NIK Viveza 2 to selectively reduce the brightness and saturation of the equisetum stem on the left. I also removed some of the floating bits of debris in the water and ran nr on the background. All comments are welcome and appreciated.
Hi Steve, it almost looks like a diving swimmer! It's too bad that the bug and its former perch are not completely separated. I keep being amazed at the IQ you are able to reach with your setup. I also still think this bug is rather scary, and the added eggs don't help . I bet you'll have a lot of fun when they hatch!
Another amazing image! I really like the stretched out legs and the view of the beak. Also the subdued and well placed lighting. Seeing this belostomatid with eggs on its back just makes me in awe of nature and its processes!
Hi Steve, another awesome image IMO. Those eggs on the back really tell a story of Nature. Great lighting and image quality. Extremely well done! - Allen
Today, I'm off on a photo trip to Iceland for 2 weeks - so I'll be away from the Forum until then. I hope to see a lot of great Macro posts when I return!
As wonderful as this is, I love the lighting the most.
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