Good point indeed, in my limited experience I find October/November tends to be the best time. Got a nice image of a bluebottle and also a drone fly at the last macro day though.
3rd day of Spring, thought I'd do a bit of recon at Roma St this morning. Apparently insects don't know the dates Spring starts, they must go on temperature and climate or something primitive like that
All I saw was 4 of those green midges, 3 were flying and the other flew away before I could get to it; one tiny ichneumon wasp that also flew away, and 2 spiders, both smaller than 2mm long! And the coffee I took with me was crap
3rd day of Spring, thought I'd do a bit of recon at Roma St this morning. Apparently insects don't know the dates Spring starts, they must go on temperature and climate or something primitive like that
All I saw was 4 of those green midges, 3 were flying and the other flew away before I could get to it; one tiny ichneumon wasp that also flew away, and 2 spiders, both smaller than 2mm long! And the coffee I took with me was crap
Ther wasn't even any dew for dewdrops refractions
Not a very satisfying morning
Hi Troy
Wow – I admire your commitment and passion for this hobby! You’ve already visited the gardens, surveyed the wild life, driven home, unloaded gear and baby yet here I am, working my way through lazy yawns, bleary eyes and on my 1st cup of morning tea!
Definitely look forward to catching up with the BIMBO’s once more, to re-connect with my macro-mojo that sadly has evaporated due to lack of use!
I've got a fair bit on for the week ends in September, but PM me if you do decide to go down to Roma St, and I'll come down if possible. October is a bit less frenetic than this month.
G'day guys. It was a pretty quick recon this morning. No point hanging around. Reckon it'll probably be October before it'll be worth heading in there anyway, Mike. We'll keep in touch.
Mostly busy. Went to Laos last week for work and a few weeks ago we did the family road trip down to the snow and Canberra. Beyond that work has just been extra busy.
Looking forward to getting some macro shooting in very soon though. Are we thinking Roma Street Parklands or does someone have something else to suggest? ... possibly a trip out to Ipswich & Queens Park?
On a side note, separate to the above BIMBO session, something I've been wanting to do myself for a few years but never get around to - I have been in contact with some apiaries and got in touch with the Brisbane Amateur Beekeeper's Society about going around and shooting some macros of bees on their honeycombs etc. Get really close and personal. Will advise if/when they get back to me. I'm thinking that first time around we keep the numbers low, me and one or two others max, see how it goes and take it from there. Anyone interested in this? Here's some inspiration:
Roma St Parklands
Mt Coot-tha Botanical Gardens
Queen's Park Ipswich
D'Aguilar National Park (Gap)
Boondall Wetlands
Thoughts? Preferred times? I've mentioned before, I prefer early mornings, but as long as it's not windy I'm not too fussed. I just reckon as the day warms up it becomes uncomfortable crawling around shooting, and also the bugs seem to get more active and harder to shoot.
Having just acquired the MP-E 65mm and twin flash I'm certainly keen to join in the fun.
My thrupence worth is:
A Saturday morning would work best - earlier the better for me as an ultra early riser (pretty daft for an astronomer hey!) and I can do that without interferring with the family. For a venue I reckon the Botanic Gardens out at Mt Cootha would be ideal.
Anyone know the best place in Brisbane to purchase the Luniquest Ultra bouncers?
I usually get camera gear from d-d-photographics at New Farm, but just checked their website and while they do stock Lumiquest products, it looks like they're out of UltraBounces. You could try Photo Continental? Or Lumiquest direct.