Blog Post September 2017 by Wendy Dobing


Posted on September 02, 2017 at 8.38 PM


  Down to more detail

Continuing with macro photography from last month I have started to look at insects, spiders (and basically anything alive and tiny). These posed a real challenge: they are constantly moving. I realise now that there is a reason why people talk about how busy bees are and also how there is even a fast paced orchestral interlude by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov entitled "Flight of the Bumblebee" based on these activities. It's not just frenetic activity either - there is also the energy of the wind to contend with! Capturing photos of moving insects on moving plants is very difficult! You can bet as soon as you find the perfect flower there is a gust of wind and when you find a bee that isn't moving it suddenly flies off just when you point your camera at it! I have learned a lot more about my macro lens this month and also which creatures are more likely to stop and pose for me for more than a couple of milliseconds.

More than anything though looking so closely at nature has firmly established my admiration and awe of it. All this activity going on all around us and live our lives right next to it and in amongst it without realising that there is a beautiful intricacy hidden in plain sight. All because we haven't got the right sort of eyes to see its splendour. Insects are an important and essential part of life on earth and entomology is now something I am very curious about.

The summer is full of life and wings. We're now approaching spider season though... (I'm not sure if I have the courage for that)