Median wasp nest building

I found a small wasp nest in the middle of a bush in my garden and soon realised it was inhabited by Median Wasps rather than the more common German or Common Wasps. It is growing day by day and constantly has several wasps on the outside adding new layers and wasps also frequently enter and exit the nest via a small hole in the bottom. I find it fascinating to watch and eventually my temptation to photograph it got the better of me.

My weapon of choice was my MPE-65 macro lens - the drawback being it has a maximum working distance of 4 inches and I was generally using it at around 3 inches, not ideal when photographing a very active wasp nest Every now and then they would 'buzz' me but for the most part,if I stayed still, they largely ignored me. I got a number of images of them actually constructing the nest (by regurgitating bits of wood scraped from my fences) but here's one of a wasp leaving the nest via the small hole at the bottom of the nest.

Canon 30D with MPE-65 macro lens, f14, 1/160, ISO 100, diffused Speedlight on side bracket, handheld.

Needless to say, the circumstances in which I was shooting led me to prioritise simply recording the activity and artistic composition tended to be neglected (that's my excuse anyway)

All C+C welcomed.

Matt

Hi Matt,

It looks like an alien peering out of it's spaceship! I think this is a great shot, and the framing works really well. I'm looking forward to seeing more from this series, but don't get stung!

Cheers,

Dan.

Interesting image, i must admin i've never been really into insect stuff but the information with the image is interesting

Reminds me of an image that was in the WPOTY about 5 years ago. Very nice. the diagonal tl->br comp works for me.

T

I like this image a lot hope to see more in the future. I cannot find anything to fault in it



Ian

Nice work Matt. You're a braver an than me.

Tim

Very brave - I wouldn't have gone anywhere near

Great shot

Stephen

Fascinating story and great detail. Not something I'm likely to try after being stung in the mouth as a youngster!

Getting a shot as good as this is something to behold at the best of times, but when you're only a few inches from an active wasp nest I'd say it's bloody marvelous.
This is the kind of situation live view, a wireless transmitter and a laptop were made for.

John

Absolute quality !

Drew

thanks all for the comments.

Matt

Excellent Matt, great comp. A brave man indeed, personally I would have every TC I could lay my hands on fixed to the longest lens I could find, for any shot involving wasps.
Eric