Photo of the Year 2009: Ant Attack

[William]

Click here for the higher resolution version!

Shooting data: D300, Sigma 150 macro +36mm tube+ Raynox DCR-250, 1/250, f/16, iso 200, flash, full frame, hand held

Hi all and many thanks for your comments on my previous post.
A fairly small specimen of Formica rufa attacking what I think is some kind of caterpillar. This was taken in April on one of the first warm days. There were hundreds of these caterpillars descending in silk threads from a birch and the ants was collecting most of them. As I was unsuccessful getting one of them carrying a prey I started to photograph a larva that hadn't yet been collected and suddenly a small ant entered the frame. The attack was over in a few seconds and I only managed to get of two shots, this one was in focus. I thought this might interest some although it certainly isn't what I consider a well framed or a well composed shot.

Thanks for looking

[tomatito]

interesting photo

[eurythyrea]

Hi William, the crop is tight a bit for me, otherwise you caught an exciting moment and made a good work as the lighting.
Nikola

[orionmystery]

It's very difficult to capture ants in action and you did it really well here William. Good light and details.

I experienced the same thing when shooting an abseilling caterpillar some time ago. Ants appeared out of no where and attacked the cat, like this.

[liewwk]

may not be best angle .. but u make it look great.. lighting.. action .. details .. all good

[SteB]

Very nice capture William. You really made the most of the viewpoint you had and it's a great looking image with good detail and light. The framing and angle are less important to me than the pose/behaviour captured. So a very interesting shot and a nice bit of information.

[JoBrog]

Hi William
Great moment captured.
I particularly like the angle, I really feel close to the action
Regards
Jorge

[Pierre K.]

What a document : you captured a very interesting action. Great shot !

[William]

Thank you all for the comments

the crop is tight a bit for me,

Nikola - this is the full frame and the image isn't cropped, but I assume you mean framing when you say crop and I agree with you. I'm not at all happy with the framing

[eurythyrea]

Yes William, I mean the framing. I knew it's a fullframe, I read it. That would be better to write "composition is tight"
Anyway a good photo!

[mackay123]

i suppose i could name a few nits.........but i won't because i reckon this is a very difficult shot to get this good!
A. they are tiny
B. they don't stay still (bit of an understatement )
C. if they do stay still, the chances are your lens is nowhere near where it should be! (so nice one for focusing on the larva)
seriously i think it's good, it's not like photographing a roosting butterfly, where you've possibly got an hour to get everything right......ants just move to fast!
good one william

[rosemarie]

It's an excellent capture, William. Sometimes the action is more important than the composition! Especially when there are more than one subject. It also looks to me as if the larva is fighting back a little, or why is the ant's abdomen curled forward? The content of this kind of photo is more than visual elements; there are "meaning" elements, too, and they're independent of framing and comp.

[O.K.]

Great action shot, William!

Excellent flash use and dof.

Very nice colors.

Orhan

[bennez]

Nice one!

I admire this great action shot a lot!

[William]

Thank you for the comments folks!!!

Rosemarie - For sure the cat/larva isn't happy to be grabbed in this way and there were a lot of very intense action, to quick for me to really see. Not sure if the ant would spray some acid on its prey, and if that could have anything to do with the abdomen being curled forward. But of course there are some reason, we need an ant expert!!!