Photo Story 3

     Good evening friends!!

     Today the photo story is about me trying to capture a flying insect for the first time with my DSLR. 

     The actual reason I went to my terrace was to try some bird photography but my concentration was spoilt by these wasps flying around the horseshoe vitex (Vitex negundo) tree. 

     Delta conoideum, the mason wasp.
     This is a mason wasp,so called because it builts its nest using mud. The mud nest which is a shelter for its larva is pot shaped & so it is also known as Potter wasp.

Potter wasp's nest in a citrus tree in my backyard.

     Well, long story short, I've never captured flying insects before & thought I would give a try. There were two of these wasps flying around the tree & I kept clicking, trying a panning shot when these were flying. 

     Mine is just a 120mm lens & I had to be pretty close to get a decent shot. I had to be extra careful not to get stung by those two!!

     There was a time when I got too close to one of these & it flew straight for my hand holding the camera. I got lucky & was able to step back; barely escaping a painful sting.

     I had to click lots of shots as there wasn't much light & I wasn't good at this.

     These are some of my tries in capturing these beautiful insects. I spent well over an hour chasing these around my terrace & got few good shots.

     An hour well spent & got some much needed relaxation (had some adrenaline surging moments but still).

     Time spent with nature is time spent well!!