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The Longhorn is Coming!
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The Longhorn is Coming!

by Wayne Jones

Gallery: Macro & Close-upPosted August 8, 2012112 views6 comments
You can tell that something big is coming over the hill when you see those antennae leading the way. In my part of the world, the longhorn beetle with the longest antennae is the male pine sawyer. This back-lit scene was pretty dim, so I had to shoot at f/8, but I managed to line it up well enough to get most of one antenna in focus.

A big, blurry lump of moss in the foreground was kind of distracting, so I deleted it with content-aware fill and some cloning.

Canon 5DMkII
Sigma 150 mm. Macro
1/125 sec. @ f/8; ISO 1250
Hand-held, but with lens hand resting securely on the ground (prone position)

ADDENDUM: I should have mentioned that this pine sawyer is more correctly called northeastern pine sawyer (Monochamus notatus), since there are other Cerambycids (Cerambycidae is the longhorn beetle family) in other places that are also called pine sawyers.

Comments

6 comments
Comment posted by Carolyn Derstine on August 8, 2012 at 2:06 PM
Wow, those are quite the antennae! I guess he likes ample warning of danger ahead. :wink: I like your comp on this with him peeking over the edge and those antennae being the main focus of the image. Nice background too. Interesting bug to see; thanks for showing him to us. :smile:
Registered on February 16, 2011, 610 Posts, 3684 Comments
Comment posted by Howard Cheek on August 8, 2012 at 5:14 PM
Great title/theme and I like this creative comp that has showcased those extra long antennae Wayne.
Well done! :toast:
Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments
Comment posted by Bunn Martin on August 8, 2012 at 7:04 PM
Great shot, Wayne. Perfect DOF , POV, and BG. I like it a lot. :toast:
Registered on September 17, 2011, 38 Posts, 167 Comments
Comment posted by scott lanz on August 8, 2012 at 7:06 PM
Very impressive subject, Wayne. I like the comp with the beetle peeking over the ridge. It highlights those remarkable antennae against the nice background. :toast:
Registered on November 14, 2003, 840 Posts, 12902 Comments
Comment posted by Roger Kirchen on August 8, 2012 at 9:13 PM
Very fine shot, Wayne. I like how the beetle peeks over the rough ledge and against the smooth BG. The composition nicely highlights the enormous antennae.
Registered on March 6, 2011, 95 Posts, 847 Comments
Comment posted by Paul Rebmann on August 8, 2012 at 10:22 PM
Very nice. I like pretty much everything about the composition and how well the light background bokah works. Even not knowing what it looked like originally, I think you probably made the right call with removing the lump of moss from the foreground.

Paul
Registered on July 17, 2012, 31 Posts, 122 Comments