Always been a fan of flies as long as they stay out of the house. Up close they feel utterly alien with all the “equipment” hanging under the fuselage and wings. Found this one in the same field as the Hairstreak from yesterday. I think it might be a Xanthogramma Pedissequum but I’m very open to other ID suggestions.
Specific Feedback Requested
Any really - from improvements in composition to technique (or ID skills for that matter). Should I crop in more from the left, or is a bit of breathing room better?
Technical Details
Canon EOS RP, Tamron SP 90mm f/2.8 + Raynox DCR-250 @ f/11, 1/180s, ISO 800; diffused flash; single hand-held exposure.
Hello Ingemar thanks again for posting. Yes hoverflies are busy colourful insects. I think here looking at the image first of all I would crop the flower stalk on the left. The colouring the image is pretty uniform so there is not a lot you can do there perhaps darken the background a little. Your chosen camera angle on this one I think is just a little low. Problem with flies is the wings often naturally run along the abdomen. I generally shoot slightly more elevated so that the wing does not block the body as in this case. Also the blur in the wing spoils the profile of the body. The far wings is also a bit of an intrusion and in these situations its better in my opinion to adopt a higher framing viewpoint!
Personally, I like this as is, the focus is where it needs to be and the OOF parts aren’t a distraction for me.
The contrast in color is pleasing.
The only thing I might consider is cropping a bit off the right but it still works well as is in my opinion.
I totally agree that these creatures look alien, imagine seeing one of these the size of a dog or cat!
I haven’t seen this species here in the US so this is a treat, thanks for posting it.
