Hey Everyone

I dug out a few photos for my first photo post, and several I've just never gotten to before the holidays. A couple have been posted before on another site, but thought I share some color for those of us living in the now brown or snowy northerrn hemisphere... 8-)

The first two are leafcutter bees, which do not produce honey, and don't live in colonies. They are the white-haired variety. Roughly 1" or 2.5cm long.

Next is the fairly common Black Swallowtail Butterfly, and then a Hover fly. The last photo was intentionally done to capture the beauty of the flower, and the fly was simply adding a little zing to the picture. I was handholding the flash from an extension cable to directly face the flower while I did the angle shot.

All shots taken with my trusty *ist DS and the FA* 200/4 macro lens attached. Shot in RAW and then used RSE or RSP to convert to JPEG.

I hope you enjoy!

[Duh_Vinci]

Ahhhh, the joy of real macro lens

All great shots, but the bee in the first two - fantastic colors, composition and detail!

Regards,
D

P.S. I miss the warmth and all the happy colorful subjects that come with it...

[Tom Lusk]

These images show well your ability to track down the cream of the crop lenses and then put them to good use!

Keep them coming.

[-=JoN=-]

<---really wants macro lens....now...


damn y'all and ur good macro shots......

[Marc Langille]

Ahhhh, the joy of real macro lens

All great shots, but the bee in the first two - fantastic colors, composition and detail!

Regards,
D

P.S. I miss the warmth and all the happy colorful subjects that come with it...

Thanks D!

I thought a little color would be a nice thing at this time of the year...

Cheers,
Marc

[Marc Langille]

<---really wants macro lens....now...


damn y'all and ur good macro shots......

LOL...

Tom and Jon, thanks for the comments. It's proof that you don't need more Megpixels to take the photos, since the bee shots are heavily cropped.

Tom, I promise to post more when time permits, although the insect season is kinda scarce right now...

Cheers,
Marcc

[little laker]

Very nice, I like the colors that the flower brings to the last photo.

[clarenceclose]

I can see the rush coming for macro lenses for us northeners come spring. Great shots.

[roentarre]

Hi Marc, Happy New Year!

Do you know how many times have I visited your website to re-live my fantasy of getting these macro shots done? These shots are impregnated in my memory chip inside my head. Hopefully I will get my copy of F*200 f4 macro soon ... probably around march

All sharp insect shots with to-die-for background blurr (btw life is not cheap). I saw the comparison between yours and Asade, the background blurr are quite different. DFA50 f2.8 macro has smoother and creamier bokeh perhaps and Fa*200 f4 macro has "oozing out" quality.

I am still trying to learn about birds, their names plus habitats. So I will be information overloaded with the numerous species of insect. Great to know that you know their names (more courteous and polite to the natural wonder)



James

[joele]

Ahh I want that lens :-/

Very well executed shots, the first 2 would be my favourites...

[Marc Langille]

I can see the rush coming for macro lenses for us northeners come spring. Great shots.

I took out my FA 100/2.8 for a run a while back, and it was great too. However, they are much more willing subjects at 200mm... 8-)

Cheers,
Marc

[Marc Langille]

Hi Marc, Happy New Year!

Do you know how many times have I visited your website to re-live my fantasy of getting these macro shots done? These shots are impregnated in my memory chip inside my head. Hopefully I will get my copy of F*200 f4 macro soon ... probably around march

Thanks James! Happy New Year to you too.

Are you thinking of the A* 200/4 macro? Never heard of an F* series...

LOL... believe it or not, I'd never done macro photography until July of 2006. The dates for when they were taken (in order) are July 23, Aug. 23, July 29, and Oct. 21.

I am glad you enjoy the photos.

All sharp insect shots with to-die-for background blurr (btw life is not cheap). I saw the comparison between yours and Asade, the background blurr are quite different. DFA50 f2.8 macro has smoother and creamier bokeh perhaps and Fa*200 f4 macro has "oozing out" quality.

Definitely you're on the money about Asade's DFA50/2.8 - sort of a creamier appearance, which in part is the thinner DOF, although F4 is still quite shallow! I've always liked the FA* bokeh.

I am still trying to learn about birds, their names plus habitats. So I will be information overloaded with the numerous species of insect. Great to know that you know their names (more courteous and polite to the natural wonder)

James

I am no etymologist, but knowing the names, etc. is a bonus, since it's great when there are similar insects, with some differences. I am glad to see you're doing the same thing - we're learning about the world around us through something we love/enjoy/have fun with.



Cheers,
Marc

[Photochop]

Very nice indeed! I've admired your work over at DPR. Thanks for sharing :-)

[Heinrich Lohmann]

Hi Marc,

I have seen them before but they look just as good over here. Is your 200 macro M or A type? Whatever it is you sure know how to get the best out of it. Thanks for posting them, Heinrich

[Andrew Faires]

Beautiful work, Marc! Wish I had your knack for the close-up work.