Hoverfly feeding on pollen which had collected on my lens shade.

I shot this guy during the same outing where I shot the damselfly from two posts back. Just like the damselfly, I first noticed him when he kept trying to land on my lens shade while I was busy shooting weeds. I actually tried to capture a shot of him hovering right in front of the lens, but that was truly an exercise in futility. ( I do have many solid frames of a very pretty pale blue though if anyone needs or wants a few.)

After giving up on the in-flight shots, I decided to take the lens shade off and hold it in my left hand to try and get his closeup. He stayed right with me through many shaky attempts. I found it rather difficult to hold the shade, hold the heavy 70-200, and adjust the zoom all at the same time and with the same hand. I probably looked like I was "losing it" to anyone watching me. Of course this shot involved extension tubes, as he's just a few inches from the the end of the lens in this.

I put a few less aesthetically pleasing yet more detailed shots in my Bugs, Insects, and other Tiny Creatures gallery. They give a better idea of how much pollen was actually clinging to plastic lens shade.

Hoverfly feeding on pollen which had collected on my lens shade.

I shot this guy during the same outing where I shot the damselfly from two posts back. Just like the damselfly, I first noticed him when he kept trying to land on my lens shade while I was busy shooting weeds. I actually tried to capture a shot of him hovering right in front of the lens, but that was truly an exercise in futility. ( I do have many solid frames of a very pretty pale blue though if anyone needs or wants a few.)

After giving up on the in-flight shots, I decided to take the lens shade off and hold it in my left hand to try and get his closeup. He stayed right with me through many shaky attempts. I found it rather difficult to hold the shade, hold the heavy 70-200, and adjust the zoom all at the same time and with the same hand. I probably looked like I was "losing it" to anyone watching me. Of course this shot involved extension tubes, as he's just a few inches from the the end of the lens in this.

I put a few less aesthetically pleasing yet more detailed shots in my Bugs, Insects, and other Tiny Creatures gallery. They give a better idea of how much pollen was actually clinging to plastic lens shade.