un BEE lievable. Get it?

August 19, 2005 8:26 PM

Photographing flying insects.Most of the pages are devoted to a very detailed tutorial, but pages 2, 4, 9 & 10 show the results of the various setups. Some spectacular hi-speed (bee wings frozen in mid buzz) stuff in here.
posted by jonson (31 comments total)

Wow, that's just cool.
posted by snsranch at 8:29 PM on August 19, 2005

This is amazing. Flying insects gallery on the same site.
posted by rhapsodie at 8:34 PM on August 19, 2005

Ha ha ha, I get it. Because there are bees!
posted by TwelveTwo at 9:00 PM on August 19, 2005

This is exactly why I spent my 5 bucks to join metafilter. AWESOME.
posted by mert at 9:14 PM on August 19, 2005

[this is good]

When I'm that guy's age I hope I have such an interesting hobby.
posted by neckro23 at 9:29 PM on August 19, 2005

TwelveTwo... I guess it could be perceived as some sort of pun, now that you mention it... hm. Hadn't thought of that...
posted by jonson at 9:33 PM on August 19, 2005

That's amazing, not only the final product but the depth of the explanation on how he did it. The guy's so methodical and matter of fact about being able to make his custom components and very unassuming about it.

Awesome, awesome stuff!

jonson, you get my pancakes for the day.
posted by fenriq at 9:34 PM on August 19, 2005

Thanks, fenriq!

/has brief, furious lovemaking with pancakes...

Um. I'm done with these now... I'm not 100% clear on protocol... Do I leave them outside the hotel room door? Is there a tip involved?
posted by jonson at 9:37 PM on August 19, 2005

Wow! This is fantastic! The latter images are like deleted scenes from Real Genius...

fantastic.
posted by odinsdream at 10:02 PM on August 19, 2005

I am STILL waiting for one of these guys to get a clear, unmistakable photograph of a rod.

They're EVERYWHERE, you know!

(nice post, jonson)
posted by yhbc at 10:13 PM on August 19, 2005

Ha ha ha, I get it! Because there are bees!
posted by TwelveTwo at 10:22 PM on August 19, 2005

TwelveTwo, I think you're overanalyzing it. I'm not sure it works on that level.
posted by jonson at 10:25 PM on August 19, 2005

If you folks haven't seen this Flickr shot of a red dragonfly, check it out. It's something!
posted by rob511 at 10:36 PM on August 19, 2005

I'm just in complete awe.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 10:44 PM on August 19, 2005

It's something!

Bah. It's not in motion. You can reverse/stack lenses to get even closer. :)
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 10:48 PM on August 19, 2005

excellent! It took me a while to realize it's the same guy that did the high-speed photography stuff linked last week.
posted by swordfishtrombones at 11:03 PM on August 19, 2005

rob511, I love that flickr shot, and C_D, I LOVE the close up on the whiskers! That's really my favorite thing about Mefi in a nutshell. Hadn't seen either of those before, wouldn't have run across them if it weren't for you two. Thanks, guys. And swordfish - it IS? I didn't even realize that, and I really enjoyed last week's high speed photo geekery thread.
posted by jonson at 11:14 PM on August 19, 2005

Check your local library for a copy of the 1975 photo book Borne On the Wind, The Extraordinary World of Insects in Flight, by Stephen J. Dalton. Wonderful pix of Barrel-rolling moths, leaf hoppers en pointe, and crash-landing beetles.
posted by cenoxo at 11:42 PM on August 19, 2005

It comforts me to know that people with those skills are real.
posted by sourwookie at 12:28 AM on August 20, 2005

My brother stalks his insects the hard way.
posted by bwg at 1:37 AM on August 20, 2005

If you like close-ups of insects like that Flickr shot, there are several photographers on photo.net who have some amazing shots. For example:
allon kira
stanko mravljak
Mark Plonsky
Ken Aitchison
Andrei Mihalcea
posted by normy at 2:42 AM on August 20, 2005

Man-o-man! They're all excellent. Thanks everyone for the links.
posted by peacay at 3:52 AM on August 20, 2005

posted by peacay at 3:57 AM on August 20, 2005

best of the web indeed! great post, jonson, and awesome in-thread links.
posted by madamjujujive at 7:02 AM on August 20, 2005

Sweet
posted by caddis at 8:16 AM on August 20, 2005

Here's a collection of shots I got a while back with my Canon S30 and a jeweler's loupe. A newer one, this time with an A95.

I really need to get a macro lens for my D70.
posted by rafter at 9:01 AM on August 20, 2005

Hey rafter, those are really cool! And a jewler's loupe, that's a clever idea. Like from the McGyver schools of photography...
posted by jonson at 9:10 AM on August 20, 2005

rafter, this is the same concept I as my monocular telephoto lens that slides over my Canon SD500 to give me an effective, 8-24x zoom, its held on by the rubber eye gasket. Just don't try to move too quickly or it falls off.

Nice shots too!
posted by fenriq at 9:50 AM on August 20, 2005

Rafter - try this: take the lens off your camera and turn it around. Hold it as tightly as you can to the body and use the focus and zoom to fine tune the focus. Or, pick up one of the these.
posted by photoslob at 10:00 AM on August 20, 2005

When I started with this project, I did not expect that it was going to be so difficult. Technically simple: set up 2 lasers with crossing beams, and if anything appears at their intersection, take a photo. It couldn't be simpler, right?

Don't cross the beams!!

But seriously, great stuff. Very old school hackerish.
posted by gwint at 10:05 AM on August 20, 2005

This one is just beautiful. In a Mothra kind of way.
posted by mygothlaundry at 12:17 PM on August 20, 2005