The microcosmos
The first quality lens I could afford was a 100mm F2.8 macro photography lens.
A good (and somewhat affordable) choice if you are curious for the hidden world of insects and their interesting looks and behaviour. Which I had been for as long as I can remember. The way a pill-bug rolls up into a flawlessly round ball, really appealed to me as I child. And while other kids would panic at the sight of a hairy spider, I would put it on my hand, to investigate this interesting creature.
The First Cut is the Deepest
So, yeah, the interest for creepy crawlers was present from the very first beginning.
But as soon as I set eyes on the insect world through a macro lens, a whole new, utterly fascinating world opened up for me. All these huge compound eyes, observing you just as curiously as you do them! The little miracles of creatures being reborn: caterpillars transforming right before your eyes into beautiful butterflies, while alien-like larvae pop out of their skin, to turn into the most wonderful elf like dragonflies…
Dewy cobwebs decorate trees and plants with uncountable shining dew drops, transforming my oh-so-boring everyday environment into the most beautiful early Christmas Scene….
Squirting Spiders
I could go on and on about tasty dragonflies, squirting spiders,creepy caterpillars,pink grasshoppers,hovering flies,bees on a mission, very vain banded demoiselles, mean wasps and hungry hornets and to hiding damselflies…
But as a photo says more than a thousand words, I invite you to take a look at my macro gallery and stare shamelessly at these wonderful models.
I can guarantee you: once you looked through a macro lens, the world will never be the same again. Gotta love ’em little buggers!
Rice Paper Butterfly (Idea leuconoe)
Robber fly
European Peacock (Inachis io) on Rapeseed (Brassica napus)
European hornet (Vespa crabro)
Banded Demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens)
European garden spider, diadem spider, cross spider, or cross orbweaver (Araneus diadematus)
Snake’s Head fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris)
Mating Variable Damselflies (Coenagrion pulchellum)
Banded Demoiselle reflected in the water surface
Rare Predatory Bush Cricket (Saga Hellenica)
Unknown caterpillar (Geometridae)
Banded Demoiselle (calopteryx splendens) at sunset
Green Hawker (Aeshna viridis)
Bee (Andrena sp.)
Hummingbird hawk-moth | hummingmoth (Macroglossum stellatarum)
Banded Demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens) reflected in the water surface
Beewolf (Philanthus Sp.)
Black Darter (Sympetrum danae)
Sawfly (Symphyta) larva
Mammoth Wasp (Megascolia maculata flavifrons)
Banded Demoiselle reflected in the water surface
Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans) on Drosera rotundifolia Common or round-leaved sundew (Drosera rotundifolia)
Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans) on Drosera rotundifolia Common or round-leaved sundew (Drosera rotundifolia)
Banded Demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens) reflected in the water surface
European beewolf/ bee-eating philanthus (Philanthus triangulum) killing a beeBijenwolf verlamt en doodt een bij
Damselfly hiding behind a blade of grass
Dewy cobweb in the heather
Banded Demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens) reflected in the water surface
The four-spotted chaser (Libellula quadrimaculata) at sunset
Banded Demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens) laying eggs (oviposition) in the stream
Bumblebee (Bombus sp.)
Variable Damselfly (Coenagrion pulchellum)
Dew-covered spiderweb at sunrise
Banded Demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens) reflected in the water surface
Banded Demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens) male on creeper
Garden Tiger Moth (Arctia caja)
Black Darter (Sympetrum danae)
Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans) on Drosera rotundifolia Common or round-leaved sundew (Drosera rotundifolia)
Banded Demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens) reflected in the water surface
Mating Variable Damselflies (Coenagrion pulchellum)
Rare Hybrid Pink Grasshopper