Arthropods Exhibited

Today I went to a photography exhibition, kind of knowing what to expect. The title of the exhibition was Arthropods, which tells a lot. I'm not a huge fan of arthropod photography, but we have quite a few good photographers in this community, specialized in arthropods.

Arthropods are invertebrates in the phylum Arthropoda. They possess an exoskeleton with a cuticle made of chitin, often mineralised with calcium carbonate, a body with differentiated (metameric) segments, and paired jointed appendages. In order to keep growing, they must go through stages of moulting, a process by which they shed their exoskeleton to reveal a new one. They are an extremely diverse group, with up to 10 million species. source

The truth is, I don't have the equipment for this type of photography, the possibility to take photos of them and don't like them either, but that doesn't mean I can't admire good photos.

The fun started at the entrance, as always. This gallery is at the top floor of a a building and looks like this. The temptation is always high, to take such a photo and even though the room looks the same, the changing light makes the difference. Love this place and shows my addiction to this kind of setups. Not that it's a bad thing. Maybe weird, bit not bad in my eyes.

It was a solo exhibition of Sándor Sükösd, a passionate of macro photography. The interesting thing about the exhibition was that each photo had a title, a funny one each time and the name of the insect. This one is Oxymirus cursor and the title of the photo is Time To Go Home.

In Festive Clothes - Carpocoris Purpureipennis

Have a look at the bug and you'll see why the title. As I mentioned above, bugs are not my kind of thing, but this photo looks really nice. The white flower, the bug's color and the yellowish background is a perfect match.

For me this exhibition was a double, or triple challenge, more challenging than any other exhibition. First of all, when I saw that each photo is covered with a plastic top, knew right away I'm going to pull my hair, but at the end of the day, it is what it is, you have to deal with it. Imagine me, trying to avoid reflection, trying to frame the photos right and this is not all.

The Wanderer - Rhagio Scolopaceus

So far none of the photos had to be straightened, which is a good achievement in those conditions, without a tripod. By the way, I still haven't bought one. Not that I can go to museum with a tripod, obviously, but it would be nice to have one for other shoots.

Only in Black - Otiorhynchus Catenulatus

The other challenge I faced here was the name of these creatures. Most of them are known to me as I've seen them here and there, but their name is unknown, so I had to research each of them.

Mimicry - Coreus Marginatus

For those of you who don't know what mimicry means:

In evolutionary biology, mimicry is an evolved resemblance between an organism and another object, often an organism of another species. Mimicry may evolve between different species, or between individuals of the same species. Often, mimicry functions to protect a species from predators, making it an anti-predator adaptation. Mimicry evolves if a receiver (such as a predator) perceives the similarity between a mimic (the organism that has a resemblance) and a model (the organism it resembles) and as a result changes its behaviour in a way that provides a selective advantage to the mimic. The resemblances that evolve in mimicry can be visual, acoustic, chemical, tactile, or electric, or combinations of these sensory modalities. Mimicry may be to the advantage of both organisms that share a resemblance, in which case it is a form of mutualism; or mimicry can be to the detriment of one, making it parasitic or competitive. source

And this is where you see how amazing mother nature is. Just scroll back and see how many species we have here, how different these bugs are and none of them is simple looking.

In Balance - Pezotettix Giornae

This was a lovely photo. It looks like the locust is guarding that fluff. Now imagine what are the chances to get such a setup. Slim to none I'd say, yet, here it is, it's possible, if you're lucky.

Watching these photos gave me the occasion to think about if I'd like to take this road, but I suppose I won't. Somehow it's not my field, I'm not drawn to this type of macro photography, so I thing these exhibitions will remain the closest I can get to these insects. I'm not saying I won't take a photo or two of some insects that come my way, but that will be all.

If you're a newbie, you may want to check out these guides: