Cockchafer.

[Bios.]

It took me ages to get some shots that I liked of this guy, these beetles are really cool to watch but it was hard to capture that character. The antennae are in front of the eyes from most angles and to get the antenna and eyes in focus you pretty much have to shoot from underneath. To get the full body shot was also difficult because they are so large (over an inch long) the distance from the camera made the flash quite harsh even with my diffuser. I improvised a larger diffuser using an A3 sheet of paper and placed an A4 piece of paper underneath as a reflector.

Crits/comments appreciated.

Thanks.

#1

Cockchafer by [[BIOSPHERE]], on Flickr

#2

Cockchafer by [[BIOSPHERE]], on Flickr

#3

Cockchafer by [[BIOSPHERE]], on Flickr

 

[castroincome]

The bottom one is awesome, what was in the background by the way if it's a perfect brown is it a wall or did you use something as a backdrop?

 

[Bios.]

It was my desk, tacky fake pine veneer stuff. Took me a while to find something suitable, green just didn't seem to work.

 

[jaomul]

Like them all but love #1

 

[Jaemie]

All are very nice, but #3 is splendid. Wow. Well, so is #1. hehe..

 

[cgipson1]

NIce set.. you showed him off very well! Love the antennae!

 

[Joel_W]

Oh WOW. Just a super set. #3 is my fav by far.

 

[sm4him]

Wow, really cool! Love the first two especially!

One does wonder: how does a bug get a name like a cockchafer? What exactly does that thing DO???
Never mind. Please don't tell me.

 

[nmoody]

These are great, I especially like #3. Nice work!

 

[EDL]

Lol, sm4him, I was wonering that too! Somehow I think if some guy gets one in his drawers the name would make sense!

 

[Bios.]

A quick internet search solved that one:

http://www.habitas.org.uk/invertebrateireland/invertofmonth_cockchafer.html

"The name "Cockchafer" is Old English for "big beetle" while "Kafer" is German for "beetle"."

Does this mean cock is old english for big?