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Yikes -- Stripes! -- WC #339
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Yikes -- Stripes! -- WC #339

by Wayne Jones

Gallery: Weekly ChallengePosted July 10, 20081,432 views15 comments
I think most people are afraid of insects with yellow and black stripes because we know they are likely to sting us, but did you know we are not alone? Bold strips of bright contrasting colors are a classic warning sign in nature. Creatures with this sort of bold pattern (even skunks and snakes and poisonous tropical frogs) are less likely to be attacked by predators. Whether the predator is a bird or a dragonfly, they shy away from this warning signal displayed by many "dangerous" critters. A few harmless animals have evolved colorful stripes to mimic the dangerous ones, "faking it" for protection.

Canon 20D
Canon 100-400 IS with Extension Tubes
f/9 @ 1/640 sec.

ADDENDUM -- Forgot to mention I used my "what the heck, I'm going after the shot" technique on this. ISO 1600 and monopod for mobility. Noise Ninja saves the image in postprocessing.

Comments

15 comments
Comment posted by scott lanz on July 10, 2008 at 8:43 AM
Wayne, great image and interesting submission for the WC. I learn something everyday. Today's lesson came early in the day, thanks. :smile:
Registered on November 14, 2003, 840 Posts, 12902 Comments
Comment posted by Garren Poirier on July 10, 2008 at 11:17 AM
Stunning Wayne!!!

I love it, but of course yellow is my favorite color!!

Garren
Registered on May 26, 2008, 19 Posts, 64 Comments
Comment posted by Carol Hyman on July 10, 2008 at 2:15 PM
very :cool:

gd. comp.

C.
Registered on January 18, 2007, 597 Posts, 8062 Comments
Comment posted by Kent Johnson on July 10, 2008 at 6:58 PM
WOW! Great shot, Did you set up to take the flower when your subject arrived? When I've tried to take bees they always seem to move on to the next flower before I'm set.
Registered on May 17, 2007, 3 Posts, 25 Comments
Comment posted by Wayne Jones on July 10, 2008 at 8:07 PM
Carol -- Thanks for commenting, but I hope you did not use your hands to type!

Kent -- sorry, I should have covered that in the techs. I sometimes just go for speed and shoot at ISO 800 or 1600 when shooting insects so I can shoot handheld or with a monopod when I am after mobile insects. That's what I did here, using a monopod and ISO 1600.
Registered on April 18, 2007, 953 Posts, 6435 Comments
Comment posted by Paul Breitkreuz on July 10, 2008 at 9:01 PM
A really fine piece of closeup/marco work here, Wayne. The black really gets offset here with the amount of yellow in the entire scene. The banded leg spider I posted was sporting some similar black and yellow colors too. :eek:
Registered on February 25, 2006, 525 Posts, 8448 Comments
Comment posted by Rosemarie Arbur on July 11, 2008 at 5:06 AM
Terrific image, with the subject so imposing (yes, threatening). I think your choice of iso had the side benefit of the noise-removal's softening the foreground and background nicely.
Registered on March 19, 2008, 189 Posts, 1644 Comments
Comment posted by Elisabeth Czwikla on July 11, 2008 at 9:04 PM
love the warm bg, nice image.
Registered on December 9, 2007, 145 Posts, 852 Comments
Comment posted by Peter Conway on July 11, 2008 at 11:28 PM
Hi Wayne,

This is really nice. The Noise Ninja can give photos a bit of a "melted" look to use Richard Ditch's phrase for it and you can see some of that effect here but I think it actually works for you. :toast:

Peter
Registered on June 25, 2007, 347 Posts, 3913 Comments
Comment posted by Ian Wolfenden on July 13, 2008 at 2:20 PM
Fabulous close up, Wayne, superbly executed ! And a very interesting text accompanying it.
Registered on May 18, 2007, 1108 Posts, 7647 Comments
Comment posted by Bill Chambers on July 14, 2008 at 8:02 PM
Great shot Wayne. Congrats on the EP!
Registered on April 10, 2005, 753 Posts, 21216 Comments
Comment posted by Winnie Ho on July 14, 2008 at 11:03 PM
Beautiful image, Wayne. Congratulations on your EP :toast:
Registered on January 6, 2008, 93 Posts, 1788 Comments
Comment posted by Elisabeth Czwikla on July 15, 2008 at 10:02 PM
Congratulations, this is a great shot!
Registered on December 9, 2007, 145 Posts, 852 Comments
Comment posted by Gary Gulash on July 16, 2008 at 1:09 AM
Congratulations on the Weekly Pick, this is stunning!
Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments
Comment posted by Catherine Reilly on July 16, 2008 at 1:43 AM
What a great shot! Congrats on the Pick for it. Oooo, I can feel the pain just looking at it. :eek:
Registered on August 16, 2006, 603 Posts, 9192 Comments