Insects

As photographic subjects, they either sit really still or can't sit still at all. (working with children & animals) Have you ever tried to photograph a bee at work ? You have to stay 2 steps ahead because they have a really tight schedule, as do ants. Colony insects don't really get a day off. Beetles on the other hand can sometimes stay so still you might wonder whether they're alive at all, unless they are on a mission, in which case it's a bit like chasing a clockwork toy, slow but steady, focused. Flies may oblige the camera with a sultry smile and a wink while resting or feeding, but don't get too fresh or they'll be off like a shot and they don't often land in the same place twice. Would you if you were a juicy, fat, soft & sweet fly ?

Collection

From my collection of insects photomacrographs (to give them their correct name), here are a few of my favourites live specimens, (macrophotography actually means making really big photographs and I'm being pedantic for clarity), including this first shot of a very furry moth which landed on an awning in the middle of the night, attracted by the outside lights in the middle of a valley in Catalunya.

• A wise old owl, I mean moth lands in the light of the fake moon; outdoor spotlight in the middle of the night 1/60th @ f8 ISO 100

• Ladybird Mission Impossible traverses the chicken wire, inverted looking for a suitable take off point 1/125th @ f n/a ISO 160 (manual lens)

• Woodlouse can't see the wood for the trees, (the seasoned decking) and got stuck in a rut 1/120th @ f n/a ISO 400 (manual lens)

• Hairy little fly on the wall takes a break from a busy day eating fecal matter and then being sick on someone's lunch, thank you. 1/100th @ f n/a ISO 160

• pentatomoidea rufipes is not as sophisticated as it sounds. The peaceful, red legged shield bug sups sap in a nonchalant way. did you know true bugs have a needle like piercing mouthpart in a rostrum (or beak) for sucking sap or blood depending on the proclivities of different beasties. if it doesn't have one of these, it might be a creepy crawly but it's not a real bug.. The Hemiptera family comprising a mere 60,000 species 1/125th @ f56 ISO 400

• Two flies had a stand off over a magnificent carcass like a Lion and a Hyena. The larger lion won and enjoyed the spoils ofa rotting slug. 1/125th @ f 5.6 ISO 400

technical

using a manual lens can be quite liberating. Manually selecting the aperture by twisting the ring feels very comfortable. It's how I did it for the first (many years) with my old Zenit fully manual heavy 35mm camera. I've used my trusty old tamrom 300mm SP for the images with no f reading as the lens has no chip for the camera to read. The other shots use a nikkor 105mm macro lens which makes for easy shooting. Semi Auto focus is a good tool to use for these shots in the field. The steadiness of hand required makes this a useful function when focusing on such an intensely short depth of field.

all images copyright Christos Hatjoullis (Outerground)