# Red Wasp - Too close for comfort



## NateS




----------



## pbelarge

Wow Nate, what a shot. What is that wasp chewing on?


I am really curious how much time you devote to the bugs.

How long do you have to wait around for a shot like this?

How much time do you usually get for a photo-op like this one?


----------



## NateS

pbelarge said:


> Wow Nate, what a shot. What is that wasp chewing on?
> 
> 
> I am really curious how much time you devote to the bugs.
> 
> How long do you have to wait around for a shot like this?
> 
> How much time do you usually get for a photo-op like this one?



Thanks.  The wasp is chewing on the wooden bench in my flower bed.  

As for how much time...not much.  I spent maybe 15-20 minutes shooting today and got these wasps....some more sweat bee pictures (which I'll post soon) and some weird bug (no clue what it is).  Overall I got probably 30-40 keepers of which I'll probably actually edit maybe 15 of them (no sense in editing 20 views of one bee on one flower).

I usually try to shoot a little bit each night while my son plays outside...usually for about 30 mintues....45 tops.  On these hot days I've been going out for about 5 minutes at a time for maybe a total of 20 minutes per day.  On the wasp, I just happen to be in the flower bed when he landed so I got the shots by being slow going toward him.  Helped that he had his back to me as I approached..then turned around when I was already really close.


----------



## pbelarge

Nate

Thanks for the info


----------



## pmsnel

Bug devotion might still be an understatement!
I'm now picturing a guy lying in his flowerbed with a camera, light equipment and what not, while a little, bit disappointed, kid is standing a few feet away with a ball waiting for his daddy...:lmao:

But without kidding around, those are really cool shots! Your photo's make people appreciate the bugs around us a bit more!


----------



## mwcfarms

Another great shot Nate. I cant get that close to a wasp though lol. You might see me with pictures of flys lol. Im a wimp what can I say. Or maybe I can stick my kid outside and let the mosquitoes go to town and see what I can get a shot of. Lol. I kid......mostly.:lmao:


----------



## NateS

Thanks guys....as for my kid.....well he enjoys walking around the yard with me looking for bugs.  He is actually turning into a pretty good spotter (probably has better eyes than me).  Plus 30-45 minutes of looking for bugs and 1.5 hours of playing together keeps him pretty happy (I know you were just kidding by the way).


----------



## skaht

Wow, the detail is amazing. How close do you actually get and what lens are you using?
Was just checking out your website too.


----------



## NateS

skaht said:


> Wow, the detail is amazing. How close do you actually get and what lens are you using?
> Was just checking out your website too.



Thanks...I wasn't as close as I could have gotten on these....I was probably 12-18 inches from him on these two.


----------



## magkelly

Wow, awesome shots of that wasp. Really interesting eyes I thought, that bug. But, no, I don't EVER get that close to wasps. Shudder....


----------



## Boutte

As long as you don't make any sudden or threatening movements you won't get stung.


----------



## NateS

Boutte said:


> As long as you don't make any sudden or threatening movements you won't get stung.



Truth.  I had the camera on the same bench and was slowly scooting it toward him using live view to focus.  Being subtle and smooth with my movements, he didn't even seem to notice me (or care I was there).


----------



## dak1b

again superb captures!


----------



## R.D.

gorgeous!! I would be ok with a red wasp even knowing the danger.. more so than a spider.. 

what part of MO are you getting these, I'm near St. Louis


----------



## julz

they look amazing, but can i ask how come u crop a lot of them? do u shoot in the cropped frame or do u edit it after? i think it would be nice to see bit more of the bugs


----------



## NateS

Thanks guys.  I am about an hour or so southwest of St. Louis.

As for the crop...these are not cropped at all...these are darn near straight out of camera with no post processing cropping.  In fact, most of my images anymore are not cropped in post...if so it is only a tiny bit to fix a composition problem like a slightly too centered subject.....normally though I have enough shots to choose the best composition so no crop is needed.  I like to get close and dirty to the bugs because you can see a lot more detail that can't be seen from far away....I do shoot a lot of shots where the entire bug is visible as well though...just depends on what I'm going for with the shots.

Oh, and I'm not sure why you would want to see any more of the red wasp.....the only thing you can't see is some of the wings which are out of the DOF range anyway.  All of the body is visible in both of these images and most of the wings.


----------



## Stormchase

Good shots. I still don't have the guts to get close to wasps. On day lol


----------



## NateS

Stormchase said:


> Good shots. I still don't have the guts to get close to wasps. On day lol



Thank you.  My wife and most people who view these images think me a bit stupid for getting so close....I was okay with getting stung if I got the shots though (I didn't get stung though).


----------



## DennyCrane

Awesome as usual, dude.


----------



## julz

yeah i seen your shots where u have full bugs. i was just wated to know if u were doing it to get more detail in. and yeah i kno that wings would be quite blurry if u tried to get the whole thing in. i do macro shots of bugs as well but havent tried a better macro lens. the most detail i could get want as much as yours


----------



## Art Photographers

Love #2. Awesome work!


----------



## GooseEgg

wow these are amazing!  So intense!


----------

