Atlantoraphidia maculicollis Female

Female snakefly Atlantoraphidia maculicollis

comments (8)

Ferdy Christant

Lion

This is a very valuable contribution. This isn't just a species intro, not just a genus intro, not just a family intro...it introduces an entirely new order, which is quite rare to happen. I've never even heard of this group. Looks weird, and we love weird and unusual over here. Compliments! Posted 8 years ago
1. Pudding4brains
  
  Lion
  
  Only some 6 species in the Netherlands and I have not managed to see them all in real life yet ... one is even still missing with recent observations on waarneming: http://waarneming.nl/familie/view/1171 Posted 8 years ago

karthik_ak

Lion

Stunner! Posted 8 years ago
1. Pudding4brains
  
  Lion
  
  Thanks karthik_ak :o) Posted 8 years ago

RMFelix

Lion

Beautiful species and a razor sharp photo! Great! cheers Posted 8 years ago
1. Pudding4brains
  
  Lion
  
  Yes - one of the rare "lucky shots" that came out better than average. Shoot many, many images of one critter and sometimes one shot comes out right by sheer luck ;o) Posted 8 years ago
2. 1. RMFelix
    
    Lion
    
    Totally agreed. That's photography :) By the way, what lens do you normally use to make this photo(s)? Lightning is striking good, also! Posted 8 years ago
  2. 1. Pudding4brains
      
      Lion
      
      Oh, I'm on a very low budget so I've been playing around with cheap parts a bit. This is from a 15 Euro second hand Fuji S5800 8Mpx bridge camera (introduced 2007 I think, so fairly old technology) that I combine with various lenses screwed on to the filter thread. Many of my better results of the past two or three years are with this camera and a Raynox MSN202.
      You are right in asking about the light! The lighting totally makes or breaks any "photo" (or rather snapshot in my case). I've been getting my better results with a "flash tunnel" that extends over and beyond the photo model and lights up the whole scene from the front, all around the sides, above and _BEHIND_ the animal.
      "Flash tunnel" in this case is very impressive fancy terminology for a plastic cup, a bit of aluminum foil and some sticky tape :o) There are some images of my setup at the bottom of this forum topic :
      http://forum.waarneming.nl/smf/index.php?topic=298007.msg1699068#msg1699068
      Nothing fancy, but I'm quite happy enough with the results.
      Note that the high power LED I placed in the "tunnel" is mostly only a focusing aid - without the extra light it becomes near impossible to focus properly as the tunnel takes away most ambient light.
      
      P.S.
      The last images shows the focusing point so you can see how the object is really "immersed" in light. Downside to this is that you need some space _behind_ the animal as the tunnel sticks out over it, so a different tunnel is needed for dorsal shots of critters sitting flat on the ground. Posted 8 years ago, modified 8 years ago