fotoopa and his Amazing Flying Insects

July 24, 2008 11:18 PM

Who is this Belgian man "fotoopa"? A nerd's nerd (and I say that with extreme admiration). Photopainting, Macro photography, 2004: Let's start with the simple stuff, moths (mostly at rest). Now, can you think of anything more difficult to photograph than insects in flight? 2005, 2006 (the 2006 equipment), 2008 (2008 equipment & more equipment). Images of the man working with the equipment. His Flickr photostream and new YouTube channel bears watching. (Previously)
posted by spock (13 comments total)

Whoa! Great. I'm surprised though by how ungainly a lot of these insects look in flight.
posted by tellurian at 11:36 PM on July 24, 2008

That is incredibly awesome. What a set-up!
posted by arnicae at 11:45 PM on July 24, 2008

'Fotoopa' seemed like a strange username, until I realized it's 'foto-opa', Dutch for 'photo-grandpa'.
posted by LVdB at 11:58 PM on July 24, 2008

Word to that "whoa," second the "awesome." This scientifically proves that bees are the only insect that, after being blown up 300x, can actually achieve cute.
posted by krippledkonscious at 12:39 AM on July 25, 2008

I always wondered how the beetles managed to fly with their hard elytra in the way. Now I know.
posted by dhruva at 12:43 AM on July 25, 2008

There are some amazing shots there.
posted by chuckdarwin at 12:59 AM on July 25, 2008

What are the lasers for?
posted by chillmost at 2:03 AM on July 25, 2008

Awesome!
posted by flippant at 2:23 AM on July 25, 2008

His high speed water sculptures are spectacular!

Thanks for the links!
posted by redteam at 2:29 AM on July 25, 2008

I think the green laser is for setting the focus plane. The IR laser/sensors (which form an invisible X on the focal plane) are to trigger the flash and special shutter.
posted by tomierna at 6:09 AM on July 25, 2008

Oh come on, I can't be the only one who thinks bees are cute at any magnification.
posted by JaredSeth at 6:11 AM on July 25, 2008

While I do have to admire the technical setup, these pictures are lacking in solid composition and beautiful light. They're neat, but sterile.
posted by TheGoldenOne at 7:38 AM on July 25, 2008

So why not say something nice about the bokeh?
posted by spock at 10:01 AM on July 25, 2008