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Hover Fly - behavior

Gallery: Macro & Close-upPosted May 24, 20052,226 views20 comments

They weren't moving very fast. The problem was the tall grass they were in and their orientation. This was taken as they passed over a small patch of shorter grass.

1Dm2 - EF180/3.5 macro, 1/250 @ f/16, EC -1, ISO 500, MR14-EX @ -2/3, handheld. Plainsboro Preserve, NJ, 2/16/2005. Cropped a bit more than usual to preserve detail in post.

Comments

20 comments

Comment posted by Mundy Hackett on May 24, 2005 at 10:34 AM

Regardless of the environmental limitations Tam, this is AWESOME

Registered on February 13, 2004, 209 Posts, 112 Comments

Comment posted by J.P. Li on May 24, 2005 at 10:54 AM

excellent job managing all the variables to get this shot tam.

jp

Registered on September 15, 2004, 63 Posts, 195 Comments

Comment posted by Arthur Sevestre on May 24, 2005 at 11:37 AM

This is great! I've never seen this behaviour on photo and when you see it in real it still goes too fast to really look good. The moment is captured very well and it's lovely to see how the female is held in a cage of legs, forcing her to keep her wings down. Beautiful!

I've never had the opportunity to use a macro lens, but seeing stuff like this makes me think about buying one (once...). With my current macro setup (telelens, macrorings and converter) I don't even have to try to achieve this.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 275 Posts, 888 Comments

Comment posted by George Hall, Jr on May 24, 2005 at 11:47 AM

Fantastic capture Tam! Amazing image. Well done.

Registered on July 11, 2004, 283 Posts, 2395 Comments

Comment posted by Jerry Dalrymple on May 24, 2005 at 12:35 PM

Awesome shot Tam, I like everything about it.

Jerry Dalrymple
Pleasant Plain, Ohio

Registered on October 3, 2004, 56 Posts, 415 Comments

Comment posted by David Gottlieb on May 24, 2005 at 6:16 PM

Wow a flight shot with the Mile high club initiation..this is some macro!

Registered on November 1, 2003, 436 Posts, 1790 Comments

Comment posted by Terri Norris on May 24, 2005 at 7:09 PM

Wow...really over the top (no pun intended)!

Registered on November 1, 2003, 395 Posts, 2402 Comments

Comment posted by Mike Moats on May 24, 2005 at 8:28 PM

Hey Tam, congrats on this shot. Awesome timing. Very well done

Registered on October 20, 2004, 892 Posts, 6324 Comments

Comment posted by Ronnie Gaubert on May 24, 2005 at 8:55 PM

Tam,

Just doesn't get any better!!! Super details and nice soft background. Did you use autofocus?

Registered on November 1, 2003, 810 Posts, 3495 Comments

Comment posted by Tam Stuart on May 24, 2005 at 9:57 PM

Thanks for the comments. I was just lucky to spot them as they approached, and have time to get down to their level.

Ronnie, I shot in One-Shot AF (i.e. non-servo) mode, using the center spot.

Registered on November 17, 2003, 113 Posts, 1600 Comments

Comment posted by Randy Harrison on May 25, 2005 at 6:12 AM

Kewl shot.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 468 Posts, 3099 Comments

Comment posted by Robert Ganz on May 25, 2005 at 1:18 PM

Tam...wow. You set the bar with this one.
Much clearer shot and more detailed than anything I have been able to get so far.

Excellent.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 339 Posts, 759 Comments

Comment posted by Danny on May 26, 2005 at 4:02 AM

I think its all been said M8t. Pure and utterly wonderful capture Tam. The double decker bus effect is great in this

, very very sharp. Excellent work as usual M8t

Danny.

Registered on November 25, 2003, 165 Posts, 1345 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Borzynski on May 26, 2005 at 7:17 AM

I normally don't try to add to postings that have a large number of really favorable responses, but I need to make an exception here.

This is stunning!!

The flight while mating is not a behavior I have seen before. I'll have to keep my eyes open this summer.

Thanks for posting.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 109 Posts, 799 Comments

Comment posted by Jasper Doest on May 31, 2005 at 7:35 AM

Nearly missed this...glad I didn't...this is an excellent shot!

Registered on November 1, 2003, 371 Posts, 2101 Comments

Comment posted by Scott Buckel on May 31, 2005 at 10:26 AM

I nearly missed this image. It is great, flying birds are not simple, I am trying to image how to do this! Definitely deserves the editors pick! Congrats!

Registered on March 18, 2004, 16 Posts, 168 Comments

Comment posted by Sue Tranter on June 3, 2005 at 8:54 PM

It's all been said! Outstanding shot.

Sue

Registered on July 5, 2004, 43 Posts, 32 Comments

Comment posted by Ofer Levy on June 5, 2005 at 6:49 AM

Hi Tam, this is unbelievable!!

Registered on July 23, 2004, 172 Posts, 1513 Comments

Comment posted by Frank Joe Hansen on June 6, 2005 at 1:56 PM

What a winner!

Registered on June 4, 2004, 40 Posts, 49 Comments

Comment posted by KC Choo on July 9, 2005 at 6:47 AM

This is incredible!

Registered on November 15, 2004, 519 Posts, 8278 Comments