Coccinella septem-punctata (Ladybug)
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Tuesday, 10 July 2001 00:00
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"Or perhaps you notice a congregation of ladybugs on a rose stalk. Don't invoke the old nursery saying and ask them to fly away home. Their house is not on fire. Your roses are, with aphids, which the ladybugs are feeding on - and you can bless yourself that they have come to your rescue." Eleanor Perenyi
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7-spotted lady beetle I (Coccinella septem-punctata)
I caught this ladybug by letting it step up to a leaf that I took from the ivy in our garden. I took some photo's while holding the leaf, but decided to attach it to our outdoor table with a clothes-peg. This way I was able to hold my camera more steadily. The beetle was disturbed a bit and was sitting down for a while, but decided to continue it's walk some moments later. Just when I was focusing to shoot another photo of the beetle on the edge of this leaf, the little guy spread it's wings and flew away, and fortunately I was able to catch this moment. I especially like the composition and the action of that moment. I dislike the blurred wings caused by a too slow shutter speed and the blurred head caused by the shallow depth of field.
Photo by Frank Panis
Shooting Data:
Camera: Nikon D70
Lens: Tamron SP AF 180mm f/3.5 Di Macro 1:1
Sensitivity: ISO200
Shutter speed: 1/400sec
Flash: SB-800 off-camera in remote mode
Image: RAW, converted in Nikon editor, sharpening low, contrast +15, then opened in PS7, resized to 1200 pixels wide and added USM and saved in JPEG |
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7-spotted lady beetle II - V
My son Matthias caught this ladybug on a walk through nature on a sunny Sunday, and I found it an excellent candidate for a glamorous photo session at home in my special "bug" macro setup. The ladybug was put in a small box and set free in the larger photo box once we got home. I had to activate the insect a bit though, as it was sitting comfortably, but in an ugly pose to photograph. Once it started moving the ladybug showed itself from different angles so I was able to take many nice pictures. After the photo session I let Matthias set the insect free in our garden, so it could continue to go on with it's life... You can see details of the actual setup which I used to take these photos here).
Photos by Frank Panis
Shooting Data:
Camera: Nikon D70
Lens: Tamron SP AF 180mm f/3.5 Di Macro 1:1
Sensitivity: ISO200
Shutter speed: 1/320sec
Flash: SB-800 with diffuser dome on a remote tripod connected to the D70 with a SC-29 flash chord
Image: RAW, converted in Nikon editor, sharpening low, auto-contrast, cropped to 1200 pixels and saved in JPEG.
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