Pond bug how-to.

Here is a quick run down on what I do for the pond bugs, this is new to me so I will pass on what I have learned.

I picked up a lot of information on this from the books John Shaw's Close-ups In Nature and Macrophotography Learning From A Master.

First I made a small aquarium that is 3" x 3" x 3" with a divider in the middle.

Then I went over to the pond which just happens to be across the street and netted some creatures. I brought them home with a jar of pond water and some plant life from the pond.

You need to have as clean as possible water so I use filtered water, distilled would be better. To get the creatures clean I place them in a jar of clean water then scoop them out and place them in another jar of clean water, you need to do this three times to get them nice and clean.

Now place pond water in the back partition with some plant life and filtered water in the front partition and place the creature in the clean side. You may have to place something in there for the creature to hang onto but rinse it off well if you do.

For lighting I use one flash coming in from an angle in the front and one from the top, I use minisoft boxes on the flashes.

The creatures will usually swim frantically then settle down and stop for a few seconds you have to be ready for when they stop and hope they stop in a photogenic position, it can take a while before you get a good shot when the creature is not at the edges or the bottom.

And once I finished with the creatures I take them back to the pond and let them go unharmed.

Martin

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Ha ha, they are pretty scary looking aren't they the Water Tiger's can be over two inches long and did I mention those pincer like jaws are venomous, pretty deadly if your a tadpole.

Thanks for the comments, today I am going to see if I can make something big enough for the Giant Water Bug, wait till you see a full size shot of those.

Martin

 

Thanks again for all the nice comments.

Frank:

I use the D70 and the 200 f4 micro was the lens for these.