Summertime is awesome due to all the bugs that come out, that I inevitably encounter either in my garden, or in my house. Now that summer has come to a close I thought I'd share my favorite insect macro from this summer. From far away, I thought this wasp was a beetle at first until its beautiful iridescence caught the sun and I took a closer look, and I'm glad I did!
Nope, the strobes do that for me
I do use the fridge trick sometimes, but for most bugs, you'd be surprised how much time they actually spend standing completely still once they settle down. I keep a clear, upside down container over them while I set up my strobes and modifiers, and once they've acclimated they usually are content to stay still for a few minutes. If they stir, they usually start by walking instead of flying, which makes it easy to contain them again. Since I am not focus stacking, this approach is sufficient for me.
I did a shoot with a bald-faced hornet who didn't seem fazed by the cold treatment at all, so I bit the bullet and managed to get the shot I wanted without being stung--I guess that emboldened me.
Nice trick Francis, I will try it next summer. My compliments with this cool shot.