Green Bottle Fly

i like this!

Macro photo of a Green Bottle fly. Note the ridges and colorful rainbow iridescence on the wings due to thin-film interference. I had not noticed these features before, I suppose its because its so difficult to get this close to a live fly! I suspect the metallic green hue is generated by thin film optics or maybe a natural photonic crystal. The white backdrop was designed to look like those Telus ads with cute squirrel monkeys and other animals.

I used the Canon PowerShot Pro 1 SuperMacro mode to get within 3 centimeters distance. I captured this fly in a transparent container and let him get comfortable in his new home for about one hour. When I released the cover to take the photo, he did not immediately escape because he assumed the cover was still there! The background is fine grain printer paper curved to act as a bounce flash diffuser. Direct light from the flash was blocked with another white sheet folded as to allow secondary reflection to reach the top part of the curved sheet on the table. The fly is still in my room so I may catch him again and try this shot in a lightbox to get a brighter reflection off the metallic green part. I will probably go outside to catch a bigger one to improve the resolution as my camera cannot zoom in any closer (this is a crop from a much larger shot).

No animals were harmed in the taking of these photos.

-Added to the Cream of the Crop pool as most interesting.

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Comments

jpctalbot says:

Thanks to TheHooded_Mike for the inspiration :

Posted 31 months ago. ( permalink )

Venvierra says:

Amazing shot, can see so much detail

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Posted 31 months ago. ( permalink )

nightmares_n_fairy_tales says:

Fantastic macro!
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Posted 31 months ago. ( permalink )

hoyasmeg says:

Great shot.
Thanks for taking the time to write how it was captured.

Seen in Ready to Say Goodbye discussion
Posted 31 months ago. ( permalink )

WisDoc says:

WOW!! Very cool!! Thank you for sharing your expertise with us!!
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Seen in Centurian Club (100-200 Views) (?)
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

Igor Moraes says:

Maravilhosas as cores.

Beautiful Capture Award
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

gtjkb says:

Very nice picture!
I'm impressed with all the effort you went to to get this guy to stick around for a picture. Now . . . can I do that with my kids?

I also am a fan of these flies for photographs. Check out mine :-)

Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

andrewrosspoetry says:

Detail is amazing! I love the simple composition

This Great Photographic Art was made by a Diamond Class Photographer!
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Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

Gibna Kebira says:

Truly awesome capture!

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Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

doctor soup says:

wow, amazing macro
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

Breigh.com says:

So THAT is how people get photos of flies! I've always wondered!! Thanks! :)
(Seen on TWTME)
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

edwindejongh says:

The World Through My Eyes

nice & sharp
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

catimini says:

well done !
The World Through My Eyes
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

borealnz says:

Beautifully captured!! Not the kind of photo you would expect to find in a purity theme though :-)))

Purity Theme at:
The World Through My Eyes
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

justsmartdesign says:

Cool shot, and thanks for your explanation of methods... it's really interesting to learn how you shot this, I try to use Flickr as a learning tool, among other things, and often I wish there were more explanations like this!
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

jpctalbot says:

justsmartdesign: It is for people like you that my comments are verbose, I love to teach and I love to learn. I have received several complaints that my comments were excessive, however I just follow the advice in : 'What do you care what other people think?'. Here is a quotation from Richard P. Feynman :

"I have a friend who is an artist .... he will hold up a flower and say, 'Look how beautiful it is,' and I will agree,.... he says -'you see, I as an artist can see how beautiful this is, but you as a scientist, oh, take this all apart and it becomes a dull thing.' And I think that he's kind of nutty. First of all, the beauty that he sees is available to other people and to me, too ... at the same time I see much more about the flower than he sees. I can imagine the cells in there, the complicated actions inside which also have a beauty ... also the process, the fact that the colors in the flower evolved in order to attract insects to pollinate it is interesting ... All kinds of interesting questions which shows that a science knowledge only add to the excitement and mystery and the awe of a flower. It only adds, I don't understand how it subtracts."
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

justsmartdesign says:

Thanks for your response to my comment. I agree that science adds a different level of understanding, although being someone who has a foot in both worlds at this point I don't know if I'd go as far as to say a scientist sees everything an artist sees and more - just different perspectives. At any rate, hard to believe people would complain about comments (if they just want to see the photo, view @ all sizes, etc). What irks me more is all the big cheesy "award" icons...
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Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

bodey says:

Thats one of the best m@Cro ive ever seen and hope ull keep on trying on ur free time. Thats really nice.
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

mike_zellers says:

love the bug!
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

cosplay shooter says:

Well done (601).
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

waferkitty says:

Wonderful macro ... well seen and captured :)
An Awesome Shot Award
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Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

dapurplerose says:

Very cool.

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Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

rusty_on_flickr says:

Nice shot! And I, too, never noticed the iridescence on flies' wings before :)

*Edited spelling. 3 errors in a single word is just too many :)
Posted 27 months ago. ( permalink )

peasap says:

That is awesome. Thanks for the description as to how you captured the critter. Think I'll try that with half an hour in the fridge added to slow him down!!
Posted 23 months ago. ( permalink )

Sir Francis Canker Jones says:

I cant believe this is your most interesting picture at this moment ! ? !
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

jpctalbot says:

At this moment this is still my most interesting picture however the full irony only manifests itself when you realize that my spider photo is in second place!

Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

i.rashid007 says:

Wonderful Capture Indeed !!!
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

Barbara Stock says:

Phantastic!!! Great capture and beautiful photo! Amazing details and thanks for the interesting explanations, too!!!
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

VintFalken says:

Borrowed your fly for use in this photoshop. Thank you very much for putting it up under CC!

Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

Morbit Photography 2008 says:

You're invited to post your photo in our group

Show us your best

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Posted 9 months ago. ( permalink )

jennybeanses says:

I would like to use this photo in a Mahalol.com how to page I am creating on How to Get Rid of Flies. Thank you for posting this great photo!
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

mistermacrophotos says:

awesome
Posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )

brokenbiscuits2004 says:

Hi, I'm an admin for a group called The Dolly Mix, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
Posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )

brokenbiscuits2004 says:

Seen in...

Thank you.
Posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )

C_Bunny says:

Flies are so cool as an image, this is a great macro shot, can i please add it to my group Photos that would look great on a Bank Card, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
Posted 3 weeks ago. ( permalink )

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Additional Information

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Taken in Ottawa, Ontario (map)
Taken with a Canon PowerShot Pro1.
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Taken on June 27, 2007
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Green Bottle Fly

Comments

jpctalbot says:

Venvierra says:

nightmares_n_fairy_tales says:

hoyasmeg says:

WisDoc says:

Igor Moraes says:

gtjkb says:

andrewrosspoetry says:

Gibna Kebira says:

doctor soup says:

Breigh.com says:

edwindejongh says:

catimini says:

borealnz says:

justsmartdesign says:

jpctalbot says:

justsmartdesign says:

bodey says:

mike_zellers says:

cosplay shooter says:

waferkitty says:

dapurplerose says:

rusty_on_flickr says:

peasap says:

Sir Francis Canker Jones says:

jpctalbot says:

i.rashid007 says:

Barbara Stock says:

VintFalken says:

Morbit Photography 2008 says:

jennybeanses says:

mistermacrophotos says:

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