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Snacktime Robber


Snacktime Robber
Photo Information
Copyright: Howard Cheek (marhowie) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 5752 W: 1225 N: 10590] (34609)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2005-04-05
Categories: Insects
Camera: Canon EOS 20D, Sigma 150mm F2.8 APO Macro DG HSM
Exposure: f/9.0, 1/125 seconds
Details: Tripod: Yes (Fill) Flash: Yes
Photo Version: Original Version
Theme(s): 40-49 Points (Chapter 4) [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2005-04-06 7:07
Viewed: 997
Favorites: 4 [view]
Points: 44
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
This is the Common Awl Robber Fly (Machimus cingulatus). Not the most attractive insect you'll see but an interesting specie nonetheless. Shown here finishing-off its hapless snacktime favorite, the Honey Bee.
AKA the "Bearded Bandit" and a "Bloodthirsty Pirate" by some, the Robber fly has a beak enclosing a dagger-like shaft used to stab its victim in the head or thorax and inject a fluid which kills it. This fluid soon causes the victim's "insides" to become liquid and the Robber Fly then proceeds to suck it dry, leaving nothing but an empty shell.
(Someone said they should be called the IRS fly!) :-)))
Larval and adult Robber flies are predators of other insects, and are famous for their ability to capture prey in the air.
Over 530 genera and subgenera have been proposed and about 7,003 species are known..
I used ISO 400 and ring flash on this one. The shot has been rotated 180 degrees and cropped. Time of day was around 1:00pm and I caught this "Robber" just before he discarded his "snacktime" treat. Hope you like it!
dew77, LordPotty, Phoki, Fisher, carper, netfalls, TAZ, red45, wideload, PDP, Luc, AndyB, Callie, hummingbird24, Lyanna has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To Luc: Tighter Croppingmarhowie 2 04-06 21:19
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Critiques [Translate]

  • Great 
  • dew77 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 5171 W: 297 N: 4050] (13069)
  • [2005-04-06 7:12]

Excellent shot with complete note! Sharpness and details are perfect...
Thanks for sharing

Well,thats a freaky coincidence!I nearly posted a photo of a robber fly myself tonight. Its nowhere near as good as yours though.Ours is a lot darker than this.
A great action macro.Its hard to imagine anything so cute being so horrid ;)

  • Great 
  • sAner Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1654 W: 79 N: 1456] (4742)
  • [2005-04-06 7:42]

Howard; wonderful composition and excellent details. Fantastic picture! Colors are superb. TFS!

Great macro Howard.
Great details, composition and very good colours.
Excellent work, my friend.

A new toy again,"ring flash";-) ENVIOUS.

Sharp!Greate detail,and focus!

Quality, Howard, this pic has Quality. If it were sitting on a table for sale I would buy it. Don't worry about what I'm saying, just come off of forums.
Hey man, this is great, crisp, clean, sharp detailed. Exposure is spot on. Excelent work. Beautiful work.

Mike

  • Great 
  • carper Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2165 W: 124 N: 2567] (8208)
  • [2005-04-06 10:25]

very nice Howard,
I have seen this insect never before, I think so, the composition is well taken, the pof is realy nice, very nice dof to, very good photo.
gr. Jaap

Halo Howard!
Wonderful photo. I love wonderful pose of your interesting insect . Good job!

  • Great 
  • japie Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1814 W: 100 N: 1904] (5187)
  • [2005-04-06 11:34]

This is a beauty Howard. The sharpness and DOF is excellent. I like the IRS fly idea, but the IRS fly would be a whole lot bigge, in fact it would be huge!.

Very well done and thanks for posting.

  • Great 
  • livios Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2306 W: 324 N: 4306] (16856)
  • [2005-04-06 12:01]

Howard, this is an excellent shot. That's the way nature it. I've been trying to capture something similar for quite a long time, but, so far, no success.

Excellent composition, pov, dof, sharpness and blurred background.

Congratulations.

Great shot Howard, just perfect.
Great sharpness, colours, and POV.
VEry well done my friend!
TFS.

  • Great 
  • naki Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 421 W: 27 N: 782] (2694)
  • [2005-04-06 14:50]

Great shot Howard. Details are great, light very well balanced, composition is good and It has action.
Well done.

Hello Howard.
The quality of the picture is excellent. The bad point is the angle. The picture is a little bit confuse.
But I know with this kind of shots a lot of times we can't select the angle to take the picture.

Excellente capture ! Netteté impressionante , PDC idéale ! et quelle scène de nature !!!
Bravo et Merci !

  • Great 
  • red45 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2832 W: 75 N: 8026] (26867)
  • [2005-04-06 16:40]

Wow, Howard! Extraordinary shot! Robber looks fantastic, detailed and sharp. Its prey is rather in worse condition :-) Very nice way of eating - like drinking cola by straw :-)

Very Nice Howard.
Excellent detailed macro shot, DoF, colours, composition and exposure all spot on. Nicely presented work.

  • Great 
  • PDP Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2964 W: 366 N: 3848] (11755)
  • [2005-04-06 17:51]

Hi Howard, excellent shot. The details are very nice and it's a great capture. Very well done.

  • Great 
  • Luc Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2058 W: 315 N: 4404] (14713)
  • [2005-04-06 19:19]
  • [+]

Personal assessment of the photo: great. I would have made a more tight crop, if I would have could
Good visual impact.
Aptness of the photo for the site: excellent.
Personal assessment of the note: complete.
Thanks Howard.

  • Great 
  • AndyB Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1592 W: 32 N: 1361] (3978)
  • [2005-04-07 4:32]

A great capture.
Excellent detail and composition,great DOF.
Very impressive work,well done!

A suitable end for the honey bee, at least he did some good in providing the bandit with a meal. Nice one, Howard, spikey details, and I like the frame that got nibbled by a bug.

  • Great 
  • TAZ Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2385 W: 50 N: 3184] (10918)
  • [2005-04-07 7:04]

Très belle macro bien composée pour ce superbe insecte. Jolies couleurs et bonne netteté.
Very well done !

This is the best! Howard it was a sheer pleasure to look at this. Your work is of a great standard. MASTERPIECE!

I am so p#ssd off, man :) , how on Earth you manage to get these uniformely freakish sharp images of the tinniest things... I gave up trying to imitate you, bro, I gotta stick to larger than one feet buggaz, shadow imagery, landscape and nude chicks ... Well, the last one I pulled off my sleeve, much to my shame ... :-)

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