Cada Mundo Un Close-up

Michael Sedano

Creatures with wings deserve to be seen in the air. Creatures with wings seen in the air deserve to be magnified to suitable size for visual satisfaction. Turning that pair of theories into fotos of birds and insects turns into a photographer's diverting challenge and a source of almost pure respite.

Here is a set of photographs captured at the end of May and beginning of June illustrating the use of a 100mm macro lens, coupled with severe bouts of patience and hand-held steadiness.

¡Mira nomás!

 Close-up, or, as close as anyone on the ground gets to a Cooper's Hawk at tree-top level.  

Close-up on a tiny Colibrí rewards any patient photographer. Naturally skittish souls, hummingbirds adjust to a lurking lens and mira nomás the reward. This is Cantua buxifolia, the Sacred Flower of the Incas.

Tiniest of winged creatures you actually see ("no see-ums" are tinier), Hover Flies come in various shapes colors and sizes. None will bite you, so when you see these floating specks in the garden, and one floats up into your eyes, puff a breath at it and it flits away. 

That works with bees and wasps, too. Shoo fly, don't bother me means no swatting, that just gets their attention.

 Hover flies also park and take their time wherever they've landed. Its behavior makes for a close-up as close as your lens focuses.

 Honeybee with raggedy wings approaching Puya flowers. The world up close comes with marvelous color, oft-unseen plant architecture, and the sheer pleasure of seeing up close. For the photographer, there's added satisfaction from saying "I took that picture, and more."

 Bees are Life.

 If Carpenter Bees could speak, the first English they'd learn is "I'm not a 'Bumble bee'". The second phrase they'd learn is "Bees are Life."