Nest Building by Weaver ants

Four workers holding leaf for weaver ant nest

My garden has several nests of weaver ants(Oecophylla smaragdina). Even though I have captured their closeups and nests, after it was constructed, I wanted to witness and capture the nest building steps of this brilliant insect architect. After stalking several nests and getting bitten by their workers, I was finally able to get a good … Read more

Ropalidia Social Wasp

Ropalidia Social Wasp

I found two foundress Ropalidia species of paper wasps, initiating a new nest on one of the granite pillars of my courtyard. I used my Canon EOS 5DS R fitted with Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro lens, lit by Canon MT-24EX macro twin light flash with a DIY diffuser to capture these wasps and … Read more

Leucage Orb-Weaver

Leucage Orb-Weaver

I found this beautiful Orb-Weaver also known as Silver Orb Spider (Leucauge species) in my garden. I have used Canon EOS 5D Mark III with Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM using 36mm Kenko extension tube. This whole setup is illuminated by Canon MT-24EX macro twin light flash. Leucauge spider is from the family … Read more

Understanding Camera Metering

Juvenile Oriental magpie-robin

Camera determines the shutter speed and aperture, based on its built in Metering. All in-camera light meters only measure reflected light. The problem with all reflective light meters, is that, the reading they suggest is influenced by two variables. The amount of light reflected from any scene or subject, which is determined by how much … Read more

How to Get Sharper Close-Ups

Sarcophagidae Flesh Fly

One of your biggest goals in macro and close-up photography, is to draw attention to your subject. You want to make subject to really stand out. One way to achieve that is to make it the sharpest part of the image, so as to attract viewer’s attention. Here are few simple ways to achieve sharp … Read more

Green Tortoise Beetle – Cassida circumdata

Green Tortoise Beetle - Cassida circumdata

I found this Green Tortoise Beetle (Cassida circumdata) in my garden last Sunday. I was using Canon EOS 5DS R with Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM illuminated by Canon MT-24EX macro twin light flash. My homemade plastic diffuser was used to diffuse the light. Despite my best effort you can see some specular … Read more