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Papilio machaon larva (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Family: Papilionidae; common name: Zebra swallowtail)
John found this caterpillar on our way home but we didn't have a camera with us so I collected it, carried it home, put it in a plastic box till I set up my gear and then started shooting. The camera was set on a tripod with the macro lens in the vertical position to ensure minimum vibrations during the actual shots. Although sharpness and contrast was OK, the image looked too flat and not interesting, let alone the fact that the flash unit made the black background look grey - as you can see in the first photo. At that point I decided to shoot the caterpillar sidewise and increase the magnification. Setting up the bellows and the ring flash would take me some time while the extension tubes would lose the automation so I decided to get the 1.4x teleconverter and use it instead. The lens was closed down to its minimum (f/32) to ensure maximum depth of field at the expense of some sharpness. Technically speaking, in terms of 35 mm film cameras, I was shooting with a 380 mm lens at a distance of 10 cm (!!). I took 20 shots in 10 minutes and all but one turned out very good. The last one shown here was a lucky one. When I pressed the shutter release button, the caterpillar, which stood still till then, decided to move. Thanks to the large depth of field it didn't go completely out of focus although it turned away from the lens.The caterpillar was released at the place we collected it 15 hours later, although I was really tempted to keep it, feed it and then see its metamorphosis to the magnificent Zebra swallowtail butterfly. The only reason I didn't do it is that I didn't know what to feed it, something I found out one day later when the caterpillar was identified. Needless to say, the next one I find will not get away that easy. Special thanks are due to Matt Rowlings for identifying this caterpillar. You can read more about it at his site.
Photo by George J. Reclos
Shooting Data:
1. Camera: Nikon D2X
Lens: Tamron SP AF 180mm f/3.5 Di Macro 1:1
Sensitivity: ISO 100
Shutter speed - aperture: 1/60 sec - f/20, Aperture priority mode
Flash: SB-800 in i-TTL mode
Image: JPEG edited in Photoshop CSs, levels adjusted, smart sharpening added and resized.
2. Camera: Nikon D2X
Lens: Tamron SP AF 180mm f/3.5 Di Macro 1:1 with 1.4 X Kenko Teleplus Pro 300 N-AFD
Sensitivity: ISO 100
Shutter speed - aperture: 1/60 sec - f/32, Aperture priority mode
Flash: SB-800 in i-TTL mode
Image: JPEG edited in Photoshop CSs, levels adjusted, smart sharpening added and resized.
3. Camera: Nikon D2X
Lens: Tamron SP AF 180mm f/3.5 Di Macro 1:1 with 1.4 X Kenko Teleplus Pro 300 N-AFD
Sensitivity: ISO 100
Shutter speed - aperture: 1/60 sec - f/32, Aperture priority mode
Flash: SB-800 in i-TTL mode
Image: JPEG edited in Photoshop CSs, levels adjusted, smart sharpening added and resized.
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