I'd tentatively identify this as a Treehopper, Membracis, ssp.
Eighty four stacked exposures (two separate stacks combined) taken at about 4x lifesized. Pentax K3 with reverse mounted K 24mm f3.5. No extension other than the adapter rings used to reverse mount the lens.
I’m happy to announce that one of my photos are in the 15th annual Maryland Federation of Art’s American Landscapes exhibition! This is the 5th American Landscapes I’m been privileged to participate in.
My accepted photo is a digital infared image titled Crooked Tree At Ferry Point:
The 2015 exhibition features 79 pieces from 78 artists from 30 states. This year's exhibition was jurored by John Morrell, Associate Professor of Painting and Chair of the Department of Art and Art History at Georgetown University.
The exhibit is at the MFA Circle Gallery, 18 State Circle, Annapolis Maryland from August 14 - September 13, 2015. More information about htis and other MFA exhbits acan be found at mdfedart.com.
Taking a break from the stacked macro images... for the last several days I've been shooting medium format film with the trusty Pentax 6x7. Here's a scene from a woods in southwest Michigan... When I arrived in the woods the mosquito's were so thick that a swarm of them seized me and carried me deep into the forest, finally dropping me at this point. So - "Mosquito Landing."
An up close image of a Japanese Beetle - Popillia japonica:
These iridescent beetles love to much on almost anything that grows in your garden, and with the absence of any natural predators in North America, they are indeed a destructive pest.
This photo is a stack focused composite of 54 exposures taken in a single pass at roughly 5x lifesized magnification.
Another photo of a a red meadow hawk dragonfly, genus Sympetrum. This is a field stack focused image - 16 images taken with a monopod supported macro setup combined t0 maximize depth of field:
Meadowhawk Dragonfly
The subject seems to be transitioning from the dull orange juvenile coloration to the bright red of an adult male. Not certain regarding the flower - maybe valerian?
It is summertime and the cicadas are singing... These are insects often heard but less often seen, since they emerge from the ground and fly up into the nearest tree or other roost as soon as possible. This unfortunate individual did not successfully complete metamorphosis - one wind remained ill formed and the whole exuvia of its former shape was stuck to it. I found it thrashing helpless on the ground, so I snatched it up before the birds (or more likely my cat) got to it:
Cicada, Tibicen linnei
I would tentatively identify it as a male Tibicen linnei - the fact that there are only 10 species of cicada in Michigan helps make the id a little more easy.
This image is only 1.4x lifesized. It was made with a Pentax K3, DFA 100mm macro lens and extension tube. This is 232 images compiled in 2 separate stacks and then blended together.
Unlike so many of my recent photos here's one made outdoors with a single exposure:
Meadowhawk Dragonfly
The first of the summer Meadowhawks are finally starting to appear - this summer's cool and rainy weather seems to have delayed their arrival. Very few of the dragonflies that I've seen so far have taken on the coloration of mature males - often bright red. This individual is probably of the genus Sympetrum, colloquially known as Meadowhawks. This would either be a female or immature individual. While a few Meadowhawk species have markings distinctive enough to allow identification from photos, most do not. Identification really depends on capturing the individual and examining it to determine the species (which assumes you know what to look for when examining it!) I've made tentative identifications of these in the past, but for this and most future subjects like it, I'm content to simply call it a Meadowhawk and leave it at that.
I found this small bumble bee drowned in my cat's outdoor water dish. Don't know the species, but it was a fairly small bumble bee - about the length of a typical European Honey Bee but much stouter. A close up of its head (click on the image for a larger file):
Bumble Bee
Pentax K3 with reverse mounted SMC K 24mm f3.5, no additional extension (about 2.5x life sized.) Two separate stacks combined, 111 exposures total.