Awwww Pleeeeeese?

[NateS]

Went down a notch for me. I'm never for killing harmless bugs. The reason I photograph them is because I love nature and think they are beautiful. I respect nature and get respect back. I won't even go as far as touching a bug to change it's pose.....yet somehow my pictures manage to present themselves. A bug that's already dead is one thing, killing it for a photo is another.

 

[JasonLambert]

Went down a notch for me. I'm never for killing harmless bugs. The reason I photograph them is because I love nature and think they are beautiful. I respect nature and get respect back. I won't even go as far as touching a bug to change it's pose.....yet somehow my pictures manage to present themselves. A bug that's already dead is one thing, killing it for a photo is another.

:heart::heart::heart: Let's all hug a tree today! :heart::heart::heart:

lol.... Just ragging on ya NateS... I'm with ya on this... The bug didn't NEED to die if it were just playing in the back yard. But I bet it was in the house and you had to think of the safety of you and your family. I shop-vac'd the basement yesterday... I must have killed at least a hundred of natures little friends (spiders yuck!).

 

[Stormchase]

Yeah i knew i was going to get grief on this but i was asked a couple times and couldnt avoid it anymore. I DONT really want to kill a bug or fish or deer or plant for that matter but bugs are on the bottom of the list for me. I debeted doing it for almost an hour before i did it. I cought it once and let it go. but really i was not getting clear shots with them in the wild. I need to work on it more but anyways i just wanted a nice clear shot and that was the sacrifice. Maybe when I get a better setup .
For the others thanks for the laughs :lmao:

 

[vtf]

Bad Karma man. Good Luck

 

[Overread22]

My take on this is going to be somewhat different;

1) Good on you for admiting to your "crime for art" I know that some people will try to hide/mask the fact/truth about their photos. Not doing so is a big step where something like this is concerned

2) If you are going to approach this kind of photography my advice is to research around it considerably before making a mess of things. Look up how to kill, mount, preserve and store the insects. At least this way you build up an archive of usable samples which can be reused as needed and even donated on (say to a meuseum or something along those lines).
This approach at least ensures that you are not simply killing and disposing which is wastefull.

Flickr: johnhallmen
John Hallmen does a lot of this work (esp in highmagnification work) and there are some communities about that deal with (mostly high magnification) work and insect samples. Sadly whilst I know they are out there I've never really looked into them so if this area interests you I would approach John as I am sure he will have a few sites that you could browse through.

3) Consider the other side of the local wildlife coin - if you are killing and taking samples you want to have "perfect" examples to show (most times) so killing and dumping imperfect ones is not an ideal move. Furthermore whilst your effect might be minimal I feel that its important to maintain as little impact as you can even at the insect scale. With that in mind consider the avenue of breeding insects.
Again this is not a line I have considered, but it at least ensures that your endevours will not be drastically affecting local populations (remember if you breed you should not simply be dumping those insects back into your garden - again you affect population counts and even might introduce new "alien" species to your local environment.)

In the end its not an approach I advocate or use myself and I would personaly say if you want a cooler, less mobile insect your best bet is to use natural shady spots and early mornings. Early mornings many insects are sleepy and docile after the cooler night time so its ideal to find them in a more relaxed mood. Furthermore capture and storage in shaded spots gives you the lathargy that cooler temperatures give without the shock and extreme cold that a fridge gives.

 

[Stormchase]

Thanks for bringing this up, Every shot i have taken and posted on /tpf have been live and untouched. I just have not been capturing the image that i have been looking for. I have been educating myself on macro photography, styles, technique, and equipment. I cant afford some of the equipment i see usful and in practice with the admirable photographers i see out here so im stuck with the obvious. I need to learn step one before step 4. I have read a lot of information on photo stacking and extream close up macro photography. to get the extream shots (most of the time) it is a dead specimen of the insect. So i have learned and sorry if that was a spoiler but i hope not. I have learned about preservation and taxidermy. When or right before i did this shot and got the bug, I was thinking of people that collect butterflies. Is it really any different? I do think it is a really good idea to breed certian types but thats another source of education. I will be looking into that as well. I do have to ask how one can get a stacked image so crystal clear from a live bug. I have seen some ( so i thought ) that was unbelievable and they really look alive in the habitat. Thats the majic of a good setup tho lol. Maybe ill be contacting people like Lord V, mr. hallman amung others on how to do this. They are very active on a site wich i have been a lurker for some time.
Overread you mentioned that morning they are slow. I have not seen this yet but i do believe it. Makes sence and thanks for the hint. Its tuff enough to take a shot of a still object for stacking let alone one with the slightest breeze. Is it even possable? Most i see are high apatures and not stacked. Well i have more to learn i know and im takeing one step at a time. I know i have a long ways to go on my stacking so im wanting to practice practice practice. I see how good stacking shots are C&C'ed. Its scary compared to this site. lol. As far as subjects that are sacrificing for the shot, Dragon fly is better then a quarter imho.

 

[vtf]

Cool mornings do tend to slow down the bugs. Only time I can get a picture of dragon flys but you do good work, I like its clarity, much better than mine.

 

[Stormchase]

Thanks, yeah im going to have to get out earlier. lol most of the time it is about 10am. sooner then that im going fishing lol. Ill have to try it! I have found night time is good too but i just need a better flash for that.

 

[Overread22]

I was reading though what you wrote and I'll say check out the works of three people in particular who don't work with freezing or delibrate insect killing, but who still work with high magnification work and stacking:
LordV - who you already know about
Flickr: Lord V's Photostream
He has his own flickr group:
Flickr: Macro Viewers
And also activly posts on the canon forums (macro section of course) over here:
Macro Talk - Canon Digital Photography Forums

Dalentech - who also does not crop or use focus stacking at all (but instead just single exposures)
No Cropping Zone

SteB
Flickr: steb1's Photostream

Those three should be enough to give you a good ground starting in macro work done with live subjects. Also I recomend you have a read of this thread here as its a goldmine of macro advice:
http://www.juzaforum.com/forum-en/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4901

In the end whilst working with a dead subject does make the art of getting a focus stacked shot a lot easier it is most certainly not the only way to operate. The greater part is practice and time. If you can put in the time and the practice to get the shots then you will. Also remmeber that focus stacking is hard for anyone - and often as not many will walk away with incomplete and failed stacks which is why its often best to get a single, good shot of the subject before moving into stack. At least then you walk away with a good shot even if the stacking fails.