myrmecos

This photo is cropped about 20%, which I found brings out the features

of the ant's face, making it more "in your face", but does the image

now look a bit too crowded?

This ant was either extremely disabled when you found it, or you injured it to slow it down enough to get the shot. It is missing legs and antennal segments, and looks pinned to the ground. As such, it really looks sad and not all that natural.

...but an identification. Your ant is Myrmicaria brunnea. Quite pretty, as ants go.

Great shot, this one is a sawfly, Tenthredinidae

I'm not sure that these even have an English name. It's a Gasteruptiid wasp.

Background isn't too distracting, but the sticks in the foreground are.

Wow, this is a really neat image.

A truly disturbing image. Makes me laugh!

Shame that the hind wing isn't quite in focus. Other than that, it's nicely composed. Might just be my monitor, but this picture looks like the color balance could be adjusted to make it a bit less yellow.

A captivating image, very nicely done.

Scott Bulger's cropping improves the image 100%.

Certainly an artful photo, and great fun to look at, but it is a bit too contrived for my tastes- I guess I prefer more of a photojournalistic style to macro photography.

 

The ant, by the way, is a wood ant in the genus Formica.

Love it, this one's a keeper.

Hi Mark. I think that this is one of the best shots in your portfolio. It really captures the personality of the spider.

The lighting is perfect!

Well, they do say that macro photography allows one to capture detail that can't be seen with the naked eye. I certainly didn't notice all the, um, commotion down there when I first took this photo...

This one is very expressive. Did you have to put the coke can there, or did the cat just snuggle up to it on his own?

a bit too contrasty, i think, but the dramatic clouds are a nice touch.

Mette wrote:

"This photo is not orginal, there are million photos like this one..."

Unoriginal only in the same way that every photo of a human being taken since the first grainy portrait is also unoriginal. For cryin' out loud, try to find another shot of a Syrphid fly doing THAT to an anther! And then try to find one that is composed as cleanly!

What is it?

 

Looks like a mud dauber wasp, in the genus Sceliphron.

Lovely shot, great texture.

I do like this one, I think you could brighten it up just a little bit in PS.

Certainly isn't an ordinary photo! Good work, your model looks like she was having fun.

I like how you've partly framed his face through the large bubble at the left. Very nice capture!

It's good to know that I'm not the only person producing reams of ant photos! Another good one, having the leading edge of the leaf in focus really helps.

 

And in case you cared, this is an eastern Carpenter ant, Camponotus pennsylvanicus :)