Thank you George. Your picture of the butterfly, is well common one in Denmark. It is much bigger than the small one I captured, and it is really a beauty.

Erland

Thank you both for replies. I shot in neutral settings for saturation etc. and when I applied saturation (18 in photoshop), the inner of the wings brightend very stongly yellowish. The name "firefly" is well chosen.

Erland

Small Firebird (Lille Ildfugl) is the name in danish, I'm not sure about the latin right now. A picture from the 6th of August in Svanemosen, Kolding, Denmark. It's a species that I've rarely seen, and they can be hard to photograph if they will not settle. This one did without problems, and I took ...

Have a good holiday too Ken. For me a week off work is indeed welcomed. I gave myself a big present this year, as I was offered about 7 kilograms of used books on dragonflies (mostly in german language). Now I have stuff to read for the next 20 years, and it is not because I am very slow at reading ...

Like the shallow DOF too, kind of makes what's in focus look even sharper.
Erland

Great macro. I like the details captured on most of the insect.

Erland

Thank you all for comments. Did I write ocelli I knew something was wrong at writing time. Thank you for correcting it.

Erland

This is probably my best ever shot of dragonfly eyes, at least without using flash. The dragonfly is a Aeshna cyanea, a mature male with beautiful big eyes. They claim a species like this has more than 25.000 ocellis in each eye. The use of a 2x converter is hard at closest focus distance, and I all...

I just love this and your newer picture where the snake fills up all the frame. This one is especially nice as one has to investigate a bit to see what is up and down on the snake (or is it head and tail)

Erland

Nice picture of a Sympetrum. I've also started browsing old pictures now, but is looking foreward to spring too :D I like the lightning, with the highlights in the drops on the wings. Those rather big polygon shaped highlights (not sure the real name of those in English) does not bother me much when...

What can I say ? Really close up, sharp and a very weird looking creature. Great. I tried to count the ommatidia, but had to start all over again and again and...

Erland

That is three very nice photos, hard for me to pick a favorite. The glittering in the wings brings the 3rd one on level with the first two.

The dragonfly really look like it's a Sympetrum species of some kind.

Erland

Not sure I've ever seen crystals like that before myself, must open my eyes more. :lol: Here in Denmark it was very cold today, I had extra cloth on on my bicycle trip to work, and later in the morning it started snowing quite heavily. It's melted now though. The top image looks best in my opinion, ...

Yep, that is a perfect combination of subject and background. I often tend to try and get like f11-f16, but pictures can be better with larger apertures, I will try and choose with more thought next year. In this shot it really does not matter that the snake blurres out at the edge of the photo. Erl...

I like the 3rd one best, you managed to get both eyes and legs in focus. The transparent look of the spider looks wonderful in that photo. Anyway, all good photos.

Erland