Catching wasps in motion

L-M

I was out cutting the grass yesterday, and the amount of wasps and bumble bees flying around was crazy, so I decided I'd try catch one in motion. Any time they flew in a spot for enough time for me to actually take a photo, the camera wouldn't focus on it. I said it so it was just the centre focus point, and still no joy. Camera is a Canon 450d and I was using a 18-55mm, and a 90-300mm.

Any idea's?

CaptainSkidmark

maybe it was because the wings were moving so fast that it would not focus?

L-M

CaptainSkidmark wrote: »

maybe it was because the wings were moving so fast that it would not focus?

I put it on TV and at 4000/1 to see would it do anything. It just didn't see the fly, maybe because it was too small etc.

anoble66

can you not just switch to manual focus on your lens and try that?

L-M

anoble66 wrote: »

can you not just switch to manual focus on your lens and try that?

Lol, I did, but I'm not quick enough. They don't stay in the same spot for long.

opti76

dont think either of your lenses are macro enabled..

u could always just get a tripod and pre-focus on a flower and just wait for the wasp to come to you..

L-M

Macro is 0.25m/0.8ft on the 18-55mm. I think

Pete67

You could try putting the camera on a tripod, and pre-focusing on the area where the wasps are active. You can trigger the shutter when a wasp flies into focus. Using Live View and a remote trigger is helpful!

anoble66

- cover your hand in honey, pre-focus on it and wait for the fun to begin

Limerick man wrote: »

Lol, I did, but I'm not quick enough. They don't stay in the same spot for long.

L-M

Pete67 wrote: »

You could try putting the camera on a tripod, and pre-focusing on the area where the wasps are active. You can trigger the shutter when a wasp flies into focus. Using Live View and a remote trigger is helpful!

I must invest in a remote actually. Should come in handy.

anoble66 wrote: »

- cover your hand in honey, pre-focus on it and wait for the fun to begin

ROLF!!:p

coylemj

They only wasps flying about in the Spring as I understand it are queen wasps and they shouldn't have been present in great numbers.

L-M

coylemj wrote: »

They only wasps flying about in the Spring as I understand it are queen wasps and they shouldn't have been present in great numbers.

Being honest, there were about 2 or three wasps. But these other things that looked like wasps,(without the orange colour) but flew differently... I don't know how to explain it. They could hover in the same spot perfectly for a few seconds.

Overblood

coylemj wrote: »

They only wasps flying about in the Spring as I understand it are queen wasps and they shouldn't have been present in great numbers.

What does that have to do with photography?

Limerick man, the way I got my bee shots is just as opti76 suggested. I just directed my camera at a flower, pre-focused on the flower, and waited for a bee to pop into the frame. You don't really need live view. I didn't use it anyways. And be sure to have it set on burst; I had it at 6fps. When the bee comes into view just fire away.

Here are a few examples:

L-M

Fantastic. Exactly what I want. I'm not a photography expert, you wouldn't mind telling me what settings you had it on?

mloc

Limerick man wrote: »

Being honest, there were about 2 or three wasps. But these other things that looked like wasps,(without the orange colour) but flew differently... I don't know how to explain it. They could hover in the same spot perfectly for a few seconds.

Those hovering things are hover flies, harmless insects. Non-stinging.

oshead

The most difficult subject to capture in the whole area of macro photography is an insect in flight. They are hard enough to capture on their own. You kinda have to get lucky with the focus and just shoot away. Those insects you are talking about are Hoverflys. They mimic wasps with their yellow jackets.

Here's a selection of insects in flight that I took last summer. I hope the number of pics is ok with the mods. :pac:

#1


#2


#3


#4


#5


#6


#7


#8


#9


#10


#11

L-M

Thanks David, fantastic photos.

#8 is unreal. You can see the circle created by it's wings.

What lense did you use to take them? They look too good to be real, lol.

Thanks again.

oshead

For the most of them, if not all I used the EF-S 60mm macro with manual focus set. No's 8, 9 & 10 were all taken on very bright sunny days using manual mode, high shutter speed and a narrow aperture. Hit and miss really. But if you try enough times you'll eventually get it.

Ballyman

Here's one I got flying away from me. He stayed still enough for about a second before shooting off. Manual focus is the way to go.

Overblood

Limerick man wrote: »

Fantastic. Exactly what I want. I'm not a photography expert, you wouldn't mind telling me what settings you had it on?

Here are the setting for the first pic:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bestphotgrapherever/2781491889/meta/

and the second:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bestphotgrapherever/2781497141/meta/


What lens are you planning to use?

Overblood

oshead wrote: »

For the most of them, if not all I used the EF-S 60mm macro with manual focus set. No's 8, 9 & 10 were all taken on very bright sunny days using manual mode, high shutter speed and a narrow aperture. Hit and miss really. But if you try enough times you'll eventually get it.

Looks like you used a ring flash too?

oshead

I don't think I did for the three Hovers No's 8,9 & 10. Most likely for the rest, I used either an MR 14EX Ring-type flash or an MT-24EX Macro Twin Lite Flash. I also may have used the MP-E65mm f/2.8 1-5 x Macro lense for some others.

breadbin

Jesus David, fantastic photos. Manual focus?? even better photos;)

oshead

Thanks breadbin.... They can really only be done with manual focus. The DOF is so narrow, sometimes its difficult to focus in auto mode.

GhostInTheRuins

Some great pics there oshead!.

As was mentioned it's nearly impossible to use auto focus for this type of thing.

Some of my oldies from flickr

breadbin

Its the DOF that makes it hard to focus? I remember nearly throwing my Olympus 8080 over the wall when it wouldn't focus on some sort of beetle thing. It was in a bush and focussed on everything except the thing i wanted. But maybe thats not dof. don't know. frustrating anyway and even more when you see the way you have to manual focus it:(

KStaford

David,

Yours photos of the wasps are some of the most stunning photographs I have ever seen. I remember seeing them on here last year and linking to all my mates. Everyone was blown away by them. Its great to see them back.
Are there bigger versions on the net (understandable if not) ?
Have you entered them in any major photography comps ?

oshead

Well the DOF is so shallow on these shots, especially the lifesize ones, that the camera would have problems locking on when focus is achieved. The best method to use is set to manual focus then move the camera in and out till focus is achieve.

oshead

KStaford wrote: »

David,

Yours photos of the wasps are some of the most stunning photographs I have ever seen. I remember seeing them on here last year and linking to all my mates. Everyone was blown away by them. Its great to see them back.
Are there bigger versions on the net (understandable if not) ?
Have you entered them in any major photography comps ?

Thanks KStaford. I very rearly post larger than 1024px on the largest side. Some of them are cropped, though I try to fill the frame rather than resorting to cropping. And no, I've never entered them or any other image in to any comps. I have been tempted though with some of the more unusual ones.

Rainbowsend

At least the Hover Flies stay still for a few seconds it gives you some
chance of catching one, but Bumble bees are slower and you should be
able to get one just about to land, better luck when there are more flowers around in about a month, though saying that the rhodadendron bushes are fantastic bee magnets and they should be in flower pretty soon if not already.

Fionn

yeah the bumble bee guy is a lot easier than those flitting hovering things!!!

Fionn

and one of those hovering fellas after landing!!!

L-M

So ya, I went out today and with manual focus in mind I gave it another go. It was fairly cloudy out there, not as nice as yesterday. But here's a few of the better ones.

I know it's not a wasp, but it was the first thing I saw, lol.



Probably my favourite, pity he wasn't coming at me.



This is blurry, I know, but this is the exact shot I want (not blurry of course). I'll keep trying lol.







I swear this one was smiling at me, lol.

.Longshanks.

Your definitely getting the hang of it!

[-0-]

The last picture is my favourite Limerick Man. Well done.

Out of curiosity, what tripod do you use?

L-M

[-0-] wrote: »

The last picture is my favourite Limerick Man. Well done.

Out of curiosity, what tripod do you use?

Lol, my hands unfortunately. I have a tripod there that was handed down, (it's about 20 years old) that works the finest. But I haven't had much use for it yet.

Thanks for the comments.

oshead

Very well done for a first attempt. I used a tripod for the wasp shots, but thats the only time ever. Best to go handheld for the flexability.

Anouilh

Limerick man wrote: »

Lol, I did, but I'm not quick enough. They don't stay in the same spot for long.

I usually wait until they settle...
which is no guarantee that they will stay still.
I have some seriously blurry insect photos and with butterflies this can be somewhat interesting, in an artistic and far fetched sort of way.

Here are some of my better efforts:

http://fiveprime.org/hivemind/tags/photographedublin,%20insect

L-M

Well, taking some advice and using manual focus I tried again. I got a good few but these were the three that stood out. It's still difficult to actually get a very clear shot... I was using a 55-200 lense.

Comments welcome.