# A bugs life...



## Mark Evans (21 Oct 2009)

my wife capture this house fly, and came up with an ingenious way of keeping it in one place whilst keeping it temporarily alive.....must be the Russian in her.

anyway, pics weve all seena million times before, but it was great to do it myself.


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## JamesM (21 Oct 2009)

Ooooh, now that is cool 

Apart from the fact its a fly of course. Way worse than moths. Horrible little buggers


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## Jase (21 Oct 2009)

Awesome pic Mark! Did she remove it's wings?   

People, don't forget to click the pic to appreciate it!


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## rawr (21 Oct 2009)

Eurgh, I hate these things!   How did she keep it down then?


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## John Starkey (21 Oct 2009)

Quality pic mark,
regards john


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## Mark Evans (21 Oct 2009)

john starkey said:
			
		

> Quality pic mark,
> regards john



cheers mr S   



			
				rawr said:
			
		

> Eurgh, I hate these things!



 



			
				rawr said:
			
		

> How did she keep it down then?



wrestled it to the ground   



			
				Jase said:
			
		

> Awesome pic Mark!



thanks jase.  



			
				JamesM said:
			
		

> Apart from the fact its a fly of course. Way worse than moths. Horrible little buggers



 and i thought you were a rufty tufty Welshman


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## viktorlantos (21 Oct 2009)

beautiful photo Mark!
Did you used ECA to make the eyes this red?


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## Mark Evans (21 Oct 2009)

viktorlantos said:
			
		

> Did you used ECA to make the eyes this red?



i'm not sure what ECA is   

the only processing was exposure correction (for the fly). no sharpening. and curves to blow the highlights. place on white frame.

cheers viktor.


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## viktorlantos (21 Oct 2009)

ECA = ADA ECA. ADA uses this for extra red color plants.....   

really prof photo Mark


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## Mark Evans (21 Oct 2009)

viktorlantos said:
			
		

> ECA = ADA ECA. ADA uses this for extra red color plants.....



ahhh....   i see. 

thanks my friend.


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## chump54 (21 Oct 2009)

brilliant... superglue???

Chris


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## Mark Evans (21 Oct 2009)

chump54 said:
			
		

> superglue???



nope   i'll show you all eventually.i nearly died of shock when she showed me


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## chump54 (21 Oct 2009)

ok what about cello tape... like a fly paper?

C


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## Mark Evans (21 Oct 2009)

chump54 said:
			
		

> like a fly paper?



no, but a good idea actually   

you see, i've been struggling the last few days. i can of course catch the bugs, but to keep the damn things still is a PITA. hats off to the pros who manage it.


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## aquaticmaniac (21 Oct 2009)

Syrup, honey...tell us?  Gotta love those fly eye shots.


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## chump54 (21 Oct 2009)

you gotta love nature for coming up with them... beautiful to look at and amazingly functional

C


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## mr. luke (21 Oct 2009)

Im betting on a pin   Or a fridge to slow it down


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## Mark Evans (21 Oct 2009)

mr. luke said:
			
		

> Im betting on a pin  Or a fridge to slow it down



now were getting somewhere.  8)


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## aquaticmaniac (21 Oct 2009)

You froze the sucker  Although it looks like his little feet are stuck down...

Are there anymore fly photos, btw?


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## LondonDragon (22 Oct 2009)

Great macro  you getting the hang of these now  time to take the camera in the field and start shooting bugs, just get a nice Macro flash unit 

You gave it too much vodka


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## Mark Evans (22 Oct 2009)

aquaticmaniac said:
			
		

> Are there anymore fly photos, btw?



just different angles of this one. look pretty much the same. i'm on the hunt though.








			
				LondonDragon said:
			
		

> Great macro  you getting the hang of these now  time to take the camera in the field and start shooting bugs,



yep, i'm on a mission now.


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## Tony Swinney (22 Oct 2009)

Great pic Mark   

Chilling insects down is certainly an option used.  We did a shoot once with Damselflies, and bumble bees, all of which had to be in flight.  We had an insect specialist from the Oxford Scientific Film unit working with us, and he used a spray to temporarily knock out the insects, so that he could use a slightly warmed and very soft wax to attach a fuse wire to their abdomens.  After a minute the wax would set, and the insect would come around.  If you placed them on their feet on a surface (holding the other end of the fuse wire) they were fine, but once you lifted them from the surface they would start flapping their wings to fly !  We could then shoot the pics with them flying exactly where we needed them and within 5 mins they'd be knocked out again, the wax warmed up a little to remove the wire, and they'd come around and fly off into their enclosure. We did that for about 5 days   

Tony


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## Mark Evans (22 Oct 2009)

Tonser said:
			
		

> Chilling insects down is certainly an option used.



and works a treat. it knocks them out for a while for sure.

i think i've bought this at the wrong time of year.  

cheers tony


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## Mark Evans (28 Oct 2009)

here's a sideways on shot of a blue bottle. i love the funky hair do on the neck


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## aquaticmaniac (28 Oct 2009)

To me it looks like something that goes into a pair of headphones, not a fly. Very, very interesting


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## hydrophyte (29 Oct 2009)

Nice shots Mark. When I was in school I worked in an entomology lab and I always found the flies to be the most fascinating creatures to observe with magnification. I especially appreciated their neat arrangements of hairs, which you show very well in those pictures.


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## Mark Evans (30 Oct 2009)

aquaticmaniac said:
			
		

> To me it looks like something that goes into a pair of headphones, not a fly. Very, very interesting



it's kinda freaky when you look through he lens. I must admit, when i attempt shooting spiders, i do jump when they move   



			
				hydrophyte said:
			
		

> Nice shots Mark. When I was in school I worked in an entomology lab and I always found the flies to be the most fascinating creatures to observe with magnification. I especially appreciated their neat arrangements of hairs, which you show very well in those pictures.



thanks Devin.


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## Mark Evans (31 Oct 2009)

last of the summer bee's.

a chance encounter really. spring seems such a long time away.


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## samc (31 Oct 2009)

now thats got a funky hairstyle

another cool pic


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## Mark Evans (31 Oct 2009)

thanks samc. he is rather funky.

here's a spider who's web is rather tatty. maybe he's lazy. i like this shot more for colours. beautiful, with a sinister twist.


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## CeeBee (5 Nov 2009)

I'm sure you're already aware of this, but just in case - here's a link to a download for CombineZP.  It's an image stacker used to extend the DoF in macro photography.  There are other packages out there, and you can use photoshop - but CZP seems to be pretty widely used too and its free (CZP is the latest version, previous was CZM); 

http://www.hadleyweb.pwp.blueyonder.co. ... lation.htm


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