Blog
In Spring 2011, I was really bitten by the insect photography "bug". I worked hard on improving my macro photography technique and getting to grips with insect (particularly solitary bee) identification. In 2012, I started documenting this "journey" with a Blog. Please feel free to add your comments to any BLOG posts.
View my Photostream on Flickr or
View my Photostream on Flickr or
British Wildlife Photography Awards
28th March 2023 - 1 comment
I have regularly submitted photographs to the British Wildlife Photography Awards (BWPA) and had them featured in the Exhibition and book. After a closure of the competition during Covid, it re-opened in 2022 and the launch Exhibition and announcement of winners was held in March 2023 in Bristol. I was very pleased to have been judged runner-up in the Animal Portraits category with this image of a male Willughby's Leafcutter Bee.
I have a particular interest in the UK’s solitary bees and like to photograph the species that visit our Staffordshire garden. I had seen this male Willughby’s leafcutter bee looking out of a hole, but it kept retreating whenever I approached. They often pause to warm-up at the entrance before flying off, so I waited, camera poised for the right moment. It eventually reappeared and I carefully framed the shot. At the last moment it cocked its head to one side to what I felt was a pleasing angle.
28th March 2023 - 1 comment
In: March 2023
I have regularly submitted photographs to the British Wildlife Photography Awards (BWPA) and had them featured in the Exhibition and book. After a closure of the competition during Covid, it re-opened in 2022 and the launch Exhibition and announcement of winners was held in March 2023 in Bristol. I was very pleased to have been judged runner-up in the Animal Portraits category with this image of a male Willughby's Leafcutter Bee.
I have a particular interest in the UK’s solitary bees and like to photograph the species that visit our Staffordshire garden. I had seen this male Willughby’s leafcutter bee looking out of a hole, but it kept retreating whenever I approached. They often pause to warm-up at the entrance before flying off, so I waited, camera poised for the right moment. It eventually reappeared and I carefully framed the shot. At the last moment it cocked its head to one side to what I felt was a pleasing angle.
In a Staffordshire Garden
30th May 2022 - 0 comments
Shortly after we moved to Staffordshire, I started compiling a Blurb photo-book featuring the insects and other invertebrates that I was photographing in the garden. I've finally finished it!
I used the supplied BookWright package to produce the book. This is an example of the user interface:
It's all quite intuitive to use, allowing upload of images and lots of options for selecting fonts and layouts.
Anyway, the book can be Previewed and Purchased here if you're interested!
30th May 2022 - 0 comments
In: May 2022
Shortly after we moved to Staffordshire, I started compiling a Blurb photo-book featuring the insects and other invertebrates that I was photographing in the garden. I've finally finished it!
I used the supplied BookWright package to produce the book. This is an example of the user interface:
It's all quite intuitive to use, allowing upload of images and lots of options for selecting fonts and layouts.
Anyway, the book can be Previewed and Purchased here if you're interested!
Solo Exhibition of Still-life Photography
25th September 2019 - 0 comments
Just over a year ago, I read an interesting article about a still-life photography technique. It involved using diffused torchlight to illuminate a still-life composition. Each element of the composition is lit separately and all of the elements are combined during post-processing. I was determined to master the technique and to develop my own style and "look".
I made reasonable progress and entered a selection in the 2019 Ludlow Seven photographic contest. This is run by the Photo Space gallery in Ludlow, Shropshire. I was one of the seven winning photographers. I was also judged "Peoples Choice" by visitors to the gallery. A such, I won the chance to hold a solo exhibition at the gallery.
Here's an example of some of the work I will be exhibiting:
You will see that I have a liking for old garden and workshop tools, kitchenalia and interesting fruit and vegetables. I feel that they work well this this technigue.
The exhibition is titled "Brought to Mind" and opens at midday on Saturday 19th October 2019. It will run for about six weeks. The Photo Space Gallery is open Wednesday to Saturday 10.30 - 16.30 hrs. The gallery is at 4 Castle St, Ludlow, SY8 1AT. The gallery website is here.
25th September 2019 - 0 comments
In: September 2019
Just over a year ago, I read an interesting article about a still-life photography technique. It involved using diffused torchlight to illuminate a still-life composition. Each element of the composition is lit separately and all of the elements are combined during post-processing. I was determined to master the technique and to develop my own style and "look".
I made reasonable progress and entered a selection in the 2019 Ludlow Seven photographic contest. This is run by the Photo Space gallery in Ludlow, Shropshire. I was one of the seven winning photographers. I was also judged "Peoples Choice" by visitors to the gallery. A such, I won the chance to hold a solo exhibition at the gallery.
Here's an example of some of the work I will be exhibiting:
You will see that I have a liking for old garden and workshop tools, kitchenalia and interesting fruit and vegetables. I feel that they work well this this technigue.
The exhibition is titled "Brought to Mind" and opens at midday on Saturday 19th October 2019. It will run for about six weeks. The Photo Space Gallery is open Wednesday to Saturday 10.30 - 16.30 hrs. The gallery is at 4 Castle St, Ludlow, SY8 1AT. The gallery website is here.
A garden springtail survey
15th February 2017 - 1 comment
In 2009, Dr Paul Ardron published an article describing a number of “alien” springtail species that he had discovered at various UK locations including Sheffield Botanical Gardens and the Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall. Some were new to the UK, some new to science. It was speculated that they may have been introduced on imported plants. Since then, some of the species have been reported from various locations around the UK; this year I found one of them (Katiannidae Genus nov.1 species nov.) in our Staffordshire garden. The rather unusual name denotes the fact this member of the Katiannidae is a previously-undescribed species in a previously-undescribed genus.
I’m a keen photographer of insects and other invertebrates and the colder, wetter days during autumn and winter provide a good opportunity to photographs springtails and other members of the soil meso-fauna. It keeps me occupied until the mining-bee species start emerging again in early spring. Having my own garden colony is great because I can check them every day with minimum effort. Dr Frans Janssens from the University of Antwerp, asked me if I would help him with a survey; to attempt to document (via photographs); all the male and female instars of the species. I was happy to assist.
Springtails are difficult to photograph because of their small size. In fact, this makes them difficult to see with the naked eye and most people never notice them, or even know of their existence. Springtails though, are extremely common and widespread. This species varies from less than 0.4 mm in early instars up to about 1.5 mm in adult females. Males are generally a little smaller. It’s thought that both sexes have around five juvenile instars and five adult instars. All instars look similar. The springtails just get a little bigger after each moult and (generally), develop darker pigmentation.
I found the first individual on 2nd November 2016 and have been photographing them regularly since. I’ve been posting images on my Flickr Photostream since; usually on the day they were photographed. To assist in determining the degree of maturity of individual springtails, I’ve created a ruler overlay which allows them to be measured to within 0.1 mm.
It’s been a pleasure seeking-out these tiny creatures; not only for the challenge, but because (in my eyes anyway) they are rather beautiful. The image below shows two mature adult females in different colour forms:
Now, this difference in colouration is interesting. It had been assumed (based on some early observations) that this was a species that exhibited marked sexual dimorphism. This means that (apart from the differences in their sexual apparatus), sexes looked very different. This is not uncommon in the world of invertebrates. It was thought that red-backed individuals were male and those without a red back were female. I’ve shown that this is not the case. How did I know they were females? Well, in the Katiannidae, females have two sub-anal appendages that are just visible when the springtail is viewed from the side. Here’s two close-up images:
I have found males too (mostly at another colony in a Staffordshire village churchyard). They have an enlarged genital papilla that is even more difficult to see! The males have generally, had an overall orangey/red colouration, somewhere halfway between the extremes of the female colour forms. The one below is one of the darker individuals that I've photographed.
Once it had become apparent that the red and non-red individuals could both be females, it raised another question. The very different appearances were not related to sexual dimorphism, so could this species have two distinct colour forms. Even; could they be different sub-species/species? At the time of writing, contact has been made with Dr Peter Shaw who is the UK recorder for Collembola (springtails) at Roehampton University’s Centre for Research in Ecology. He has agreed to arrange for some detailed testing to be undertaken.
Currently, Frans Janssens is proposing that two colour forms exist; Group 1, where in adults, abd.6 (the final abdominal segment) is non-pigmented, and Group 2, where in adults, abd.6 is pigmented. I shall update this article in the future, should additional information become available.
To complete this blog post, here’s a series of images showing how the instars (a random selection of immature, mature, male, female, light forms, dark forms) vary as they mature.
If you have a hand-lens or magnifying glass, why not have a look for springtails in your own garden? They can often be found under fallen leaves and bark, on low vegetation, feeding on algae on old water vats, in compost bins etc.. They are fascinating little creatures!
For more information on springtails, visit Frans' comprehensive Collembola of the World website.
15th February 2017 - 1 comment
In: February 2017
In 2009, Dr Paul Ardron published an article describing a number of “alien” springtail species that he had discovered at various UK locations including Sheffield Botanical Gardens and the Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall. Some were new to the UK, some new to science. It was speculated that they may have been introduced on imported plants. Since then, some of the species have been reported from various locations around the UK; this year I found one of them (Katiannidae Genus nov.1 species nov.) in our Staffordshire garden. The rather unusual name denotes the fact this member of the Katiannidae is a previously-undescribed species in a previously-undescribed genus.
I’m a keen photographer of insects and other invertebrates and the colder, wetter days during autumn and winter provide a good opportunity to photographs springtails and other members of the soil meso-fauna. It keeps me occupied until the mining-bee species start emerging again in early spring. Having my own garden colony is great because I can check them every day with minimum effort. Dr Frans Janssens from the University of Antwerp, asked me if I would help him with a survey; to attempt to document (via photographs); all the male and female instars of the species. I was happy to assist.
Springtails are difficult to photograph because of their small size. In fact, this makes them difficult to see with the naked eye and most people never notice them, or even know of their existence. Springtails though, are extremely common and widespread. This species varies from less than 0.4 mm in early instars up to about 1.5 mm in adult females. Males are generally a little smaller. It’s thought that both sexes have around five juvenile instars and five adult instars. All instars look similar. The springtails just get a little bigger after each moult and (generally), develop darker pigmentation.
I found the first individual on 2nd November 2016 and have been photographing them regularly since. I’ve been posting images on my Flickr Photostream since; usually on the day they were photographed. To assist in determining the degree of maturity of individual springtails, I’ve created a ruler overlay which allows them to be measured to within 0.1 mm.
It’s been a pleasure seeking-out these tiny creatures; not only for the challenge, but because (in my eyes anyway) they are rather beautiful. The image below shows two mature adult females in different colour forms:
Now, this difference in colouration is interesting. It had been assumed (based on some early observations) that this was a species that exhibited marked sexual dimorphism. This means that (apart from the differences in their sexual apparatus), sexes looked very different. This is not uncommon in the world of invertebrates. It was thought that red-backed individuals were male and those without a red back were female. I’ve shown that this is not the case. How did I know they were females? Well, in the Katiannidae, females have two sub-anal appendages that are just visible when the springtail is viewed from the side. Here’s two close-up images:
I have found males too (mostly at another colony in a Staffordshire village churchyard). They have an enlarged genital papilla that is even more difficult to see! The males have generally, had an overall orangey/red colouration, somewhere halfway between the extremes of the female colour forms. The one below is one of the darker individuals that I've photographed.
Once it had become apparent that the red and non-red individuals could both be females, it raised another question. The very different appearances were not related to sexual dimorphism, so could this species have two distinct colour forms. Even; could they be different sub-species/species? At the time of writing, contact has been made with Dr Peter Shaw who is the UK recorder for Collembola (springtails) at Roehampton University’s Centre for Research in Ecology. He has agreed to arrange for some detailed testing to be undertaken.
Currently, Frans Janssens is proposing that two colour forms exist; Group 1, where in adults, abd.6 (the final abdominal segment) is non-pigmented, and Group 2, where in adults, abd.6 is pigmented. I shall update this article in the future, should additional information become available.
To complete this blog post, here’s a series of images showing how the instars (a random selection of immature, mature, male, female, light forms, dark forms) vary as they mature.
If you have a hand-lens or magnifying glass, why not have a look for springtails in your own garden? They can often be found under fallen leaves and bark, on low vegetation, feeding on algae on old water vats, in compost bins etc.. They are fascinating little creatures!
For more information on springtails, visit Frans' comprehensive Collembola of the World website.
