Photography of Insects and Arachnids
You could hear her screams from three rooms away. We bolted to the kitchen to see what the problem was.
“What happened?”, we asked almost out of breath.
“It ran somewhere under there“, she panted back at us.
“What was it?” I questioned again
Nearly fainting, she managed to blurt out a stuttering, “I don’t know“.
Down on our knees now, we peeked into the space under the kitchen sink and cabinet.
It was a spider. Not even a big one at that. Although obviously big enough to get her adrenalin going. The slender, dark green body featured a series of yellow dots along its back.
“What kind of spider is that?” I queried. “We don’t know”, a few of the onlookers replied, “but those are common all over the place here“.
Insect Species World Wide
According to statistics there are in excess of two and a half million known insect species in the Amazon Rainforest region alone. Doubtless you’ve seen your fair share of the critters yourself. Insects in general are easy enough to identify.
Their general characteristics are:
– Have a body with three segments, a head, thorax and abdomen
– Have an exoskeleton
– Have two extended antennae
– are omnivorous, that is consume both plant and animal matter
Note Spiders are arachnids, and not technically insects. They have a body with two segments and eight legs, not six as do insects.
All this of course, meant nothing to “screaming Mimi” when she saw the spider.
Among numerous other characteristics, insects and spiders also make fascinating subjects for digital photographers. That is, if you’re not too skittish.
Getting good digital images of insects can be quite a challenge though. So here are some suggestions on how to successfully go about it.
Digital Photography Equipment Required to Photograph Insects
The two most important digital camera settings for this type of photography are macro imaging setting and your telephoto lens capabilities. Some cameras can also use close up lens attachments for shooting macro images up to one inch from the camera lens. A small but sturdy tripod less than one foot in total collapsed height is also on the suggested items list as are a flash and an external or slave flash unit if you have one available.
For Digital Photographers the Life Cycle of Insects
A quick word about the life cycle of insects for digital photographers is in order. Briefly, there are four key stages in an insects life cycle. These are helpful to know if you’re going to try your hand at getting digital images of insects like flies, mosquitoes, and an assortment of creepy crawlies from your yard or basement.
- An adult insect lays fertilized eggs on its medium of choice; soil, plant stem or leaf, insect or animal carcass, dung, waste material, etc.
- The eggs hatch into worms, caterpillars or larvae. The larvae of flies and other insects are called maggots.
- The larvae feed voraciously for a period of time before they molt or change into young insects which resemble the adults. With butterflies, the larvae called caterpillars, weave a cocoon around themselves to complete a process of physical change, called metamorphosis, from the caterpillar stage into adult butterflies.
- Young insects grow into adults, mate and lay eggs to repeat the life cycle
Due to the huge number of insect and arachnid species, there is a vast array of available subject matter regardless of where you might live. (OK, if you’re stationed in Antarctica, for example, you might be a bit limited) A great selection of insect macro images will make an excellent addition to your photographic portfolio in addition to expanding your ever-growing photographic skills. So set up a photo shoot with an insect or spider from your local area as soon as you can.
[ad_2]Source by Larry M. Lynch
