10 photos from a decade of macro

A break from my blitz of my usual summer macro posts for something a bit more, monumental.

I’ve been using a dedicated macro lens since 2014, so this year marks my 10 year anniversary.

Now, no one cares about this, and I only just remembered, but it gives me an excuse to share 10 of my favourite invertebrate macro images. I’m not including fungi in this, they are a different game entirely for me.

In no particular order:

Hairy-footed flower bee in Peckham, London (April 2018)

Nikon D750 + Sigma 105mm macro lens

This picture was taken while I worked for London Wildlife Trust at the Centre for Wildlife Gardening in SE London. I knew that hairy-footed flower bees were keen on flowering currant. I got down at a good angle and managed to capture the bee just as it visited the flower. I love the pink of the flowers and the isolated shape of the bee.

Chalcid wasp, West Sussex (August 2021)

Olympus EM-5 Mark III + 60mm macro lens

Wasps fascinate me, none more so than the parasitic species which are numbered in the thousands. This little wasp is a chalcid wasp which I saw one grey summer’s afternoon. You can read the post about it here.

Ant harvesting honeydew, my garden in West Sussex (June 2021)

Nikon D5600 + Sigma 105mm macro lens

Ants farm aphids for their honeydew and it’s something I’d always wanted to get a decent photo of. Right by my garden door this garden ant was gathering the honeydew from a group of aphids. I took a number of photos and cropped this one down. I like the glow of the globule and the warm background colours.

Fencepost jumping spider, my garden in West Sussex (June 2021)

Nikon D5600 + Sigma 105mm macro lens

Spiders are an unknown quantity for me but the lockdowns helped me to learn more about this in my house and garden. I was taking some photos after work one night when his large and rather pink jumping spider emerged from my fence. It was such a joy to have it wait so patiently for its close up. See blog here.

Silver-studded blue, South Moravia, Czechia (August 2016)

Nikon D750 + Sigma 105mm macro lens

I have to thank my friend Karel for inspiring me to take the plunge and buy a macro lens. So Czechia, where I first met him, forms a place in my macro story. When visiting there in 2016 my friend Pete and I were introduced to a meadow by Zuzka, our host. The meadow was alive with butterflies and wildflowers. We found hundreds of silver-studded blues, many of them roosting on cooler August days. This is a memory as much as a favourite macro photo. See the blog here.

Javelin wasp, my garden in West Sussex (August 2020)

Nikon D5600 + Sigma 105mm macro lens

I will always remember this photo because my dad was with me, visiting from London for the day in those strict Covid times. Along with my mum (hello), my neighbours were also there to see this stunning ichneumon – the javelin wasp. It was a rare social moment, and one of the last times I managed to enjoy nature in the company of my dad before he passed away the following year. See the blog here.

Planthopper, my garden in West Sussex (June 2020)

Olympus EM10 MIII + 60mm macro lens

In June 2020 I was taking a macro photo every day. It was a rainy afternoon when I realised I needed to pull a macro pic out of the bag. I opened the garden door and found a grass head a few steps away. Inside it I found this planthopper roosting, so took a few pics and went straight back inside!

Tawny mining bee, my parents’ garden gate in London (April 2017)

Nikon D750 + Sigma 105mm macro lens

I was staying with my parents during the Easter weekend and keen to explore the macro world in their garden. I noticed some little holes drilled into the garden gate, which had been in place for maybe 50 years. I noticed a bee heading in and out and waited on the step for the bee to emerge. Bingo! This lovely male tawny mining bee popped his head out to say hello.

Plant bug, Coulsdon, Surrey (July 2017)

Nikon D750 + Sigma 105mm macro lens

Farthing Downs on the Surrey/London border is where I would spend hours at a time honing my macro skills (basically the art of positioning and then finding subjects, nothing too technical). You could lie on the grass paths and not see anyone for hours. It was also the first place I took my new lens in 2014 (Sigma 105mm) to try it out. One summer’s day I found this plant bug climbing to the top of a scabious flower. It is one of my most accomplished pics and shows full-frame cameras at their most powerful, with beautiful colours and detail. See the blog here.

Paper wasp, South Moravia, Czechia (August 2016)

Nikon D750 + Sigma 105mm macro lens

Another one from my visit to Czechia in 2016. It was a great time for insects and with a more gentle heat than the months preceding. This was my first time seeing a paper wasp. I love these social wasps, which we don’t have in Britain, and I love the way it’s in a bed of wild carrot.

Here’s to another decade in macro.

Thanks for reading and for the support on here. I really appreciate it.

Macro

I write these blogs in my spare time because I want to raise awareness about the beauty and diversity of our landscapes. If you enjoy reading them you can support my blog here.