Just How Is It Done?

[Mully]

I tried to get some shots today of a hoverfly in flight. The photos were not very good. I was using a Canon 100mm lens and I tried to focus manually.
Any tips?

[ron1863]

Never managed a decent shot yet but you need a very high shutter speed so I would recommend a sunny day and lots and lots of patience

Some of the members will give you excellent advice shortly.

[Gill Catton]

I have yet to manage it in this country but when I went on holiday to Brittany last year I cam across this hoverfly which must be a Eristalis of some kind, and it seems to exhibit some sort of mate guarding behaviour which meant one fly hovered above the other for ages and ages and made capture easier.

yes bright sunny day, no wind and high shutter speed - though I only have a pansonic FZ30 and a raynox DCR lens I managed it!!

[GuyF]

Originally Posted by Gill Catton

I have yet to manage it in this country but when I went on holiday to Brittany last year I cam across this hoverfly which must be a Eristalis of some kind, and it seems to exhibit some sort of mate guarding behaviour which meant one fly hovered above the other for ages and ages and made capture easier.

yes bright sunny day, no wind and high shutter speed - though I only have a pansonic FZ30 and a raynox DCR lens I managed it!!

I was just going to say the same thing, over the last few weeks I've been seeing quite a few of these pairs in the field behind the house, sometimes there are 2 males hovering above the one female! It certainly makes photographing them so much easier!
It always seems to be the same species and I'm not sure how well distributed it is in the UK, but if you find some nice flowery meadows Mully you may find some of these flies exhibiting this behaviour, often the first thing you notice is the high pitched drone of the male hovering over the female.
Guy

[Jason Green]

I find Epistrophe eligans the easiest - see my avatar. Set the focus to a few cms, select a low F-number and wait for one to approach. Up the ISO to achieve a faster shutter speed and just keep taking them, IE on a multi-burst setting. Use the largest megapixel setting so you can crop in closer.

If this fails, use the full zoom - but remember to keep the F-number low.

[nutmeg]

My best results have been with Eupeodes luniger, hovering in a fairly predictable manner amongst the grasses of my 'lawn' (meadow). Light was good. I used a Sigma 105mm on a Canon 40D, using autofocus in AI focus mode - didn't think it would work, but had a go anyway, and have had some reasonable images as a result. Previously I'd tried manual focus (on different types of hoverflies and using a 400D), but with less success.

[pressld2]

I spent about an hour trying it last week on Episyrphus balteatus. It was in a heavily wooded area but they like to find a shaft of sunlight and hover in that. These were my best two shots, both very heavily cropped, and neither very good...



I was using a Sigma 150mm macro lens on my Nikon D300, manual focus, and three lens mounted flashes.

Nick Cantle posted a nice shot in the gallery a few days ago.

Dave P.

[Mully]

Thank you for all the advice everyone. I will try again soon, well when the sun decides to come out again!