“Life is all about timing... the unreachable becomes reachable, the unavailable become available, the unattainable... attainable. Have the patience, wait it out It's all about timing.”

Camera: Canon PowerShot A710 IS
Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/640)
Aperture: f/4
Focal Length: 5.8 mm

I mentioned in one of my previous entries that beginners should try to take photos of calm insects like beetles. Lady bugs are usually easy to take photos of, but it's important to capture it while doing something cool like attacking aphids or when it spread its wings. Needless to say, you have to watch its every move and be quick enough to capture them. If you don't have the patience, don't bother giving insect photography a try. Concentrate on still life photography instead.

I have some photos of lady bugs that look interesting simply because I was quick enough to press the shutter. Thanks to the adrenaline rush that I experience whenever I see cute insects. It makes me so alert, my heart beats faster than usual, I am just very focused on the bug and I wouldn't care about what is going on around me. Sounds like a case of love-at-first-sight? I think so too :-) What I find surprising is the fact that I never get shaky, which is great thing because until now I am still to experience how to use a tripod. Someday I will use one, that is when I already have Parkinson's disease.

Alright, so timing is important to make captures interesting, but how likely is it that something special is about to happen while closely monitoring the movements of the ladybug? If the ladybug is not comfortable with its surroundings of course it will fly away. It usually happens when it has no where else to go or based on my experience, when it's on human skin, it won't stay there for long so be prepared to press the shutter before its flight. When disturbed, the lady bug will release a yellow smelly substance from its joints so it's best to avoid touching it, unless you want a dirty bug as a subject.

Some say that they would love to take photos of ladybugs but they don't know where to find them. Lady bugs are usually on leaves of aphid-infested plants like roses. I also saw one ladybug crawling on a raspberry. These beetles are tiny, about 4-10 mm long but you will spot those spotted beauties because of their colors which stand out against greens. Knowing how the ladybugs look like during their early stages of life will also help you find them later on when they are already the photogenic insects that many people love. Here's a photo of ladybugs in their ugly phase:

I wanted to kick my self because I didn't get to witness the transformation of this lady bug:

It would have been great to have photos of it as it come out of its larva shell.

A few days later, guess what happened? I arrived at the scene too late again! Just like those cops in some movies. But at least you can see the larva shell better in this photo:

Next summer I will watch them like a hawk. But for now let me show that there were instances when I was on time:

1. Ooops, dead-end!
2. Climb every berry
3. seconds before take-off
4. For Cara
Those shots are not perfect, but they are unique. I think they are good enough, considering the fact that those were produced by a 7.1 mp compact camera. Again these are proofs a small camera doesn't always produce images of poor quality. It's the lack of passion for the craft that makes photos look dull.