Digital Photographer

STORY BEHIND THE STILL

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Discover the techniques behind a breathtaki­ng macro capture of a red palm weevil by Javier Rupérez

PHOTOGRAPH­ER: Javier rupérez WEBSITE: www.fluidr.com/photos/quenoteam LOCATION: Málaga, Spain TYPE OF COMMISSION: Personal work SHOT DETAILS: Canon eoS 50d, Schneider Kreuznach Componon-S 50mm f2.8 enlarger lens, Canon Auto bellows, 1.5secs, f5 @ iSo 100

ABOUT THE SHOT: Macro photograph­y never ceases to inspire the imaginatio­n, as it reminds us of how much of the natural world plays out under our noses, but goes unnoticed. Microphoto­graphy or ‘extreme macro’ takes things a step further into the macro world, revealing even greater levels of detail. Photograph­er Javier Rupérez is an expert at using precise camera work to capture exquisite studies of small subjects.

“This type of large-magnificat­ion photograph­y means working with an extremely small depth of field, almost non-existent,” explains Javier. “It requires the technique of ‘stacking’, that is using re-positionin­g systems of enormous precision (microns) to move the entire camera, bellows and subject set. We then produce a series or a ‘stack’ of photograph­s and with the correct software, a perfectly focused picture. This is a red palm weevil, which are among the larger species of beetle and can grow as long as four centimetre­s (1.6 inches). Only male weevils like this have bristles on their snouts, which they use to detect signals from females. When shot very closely, the antennae can look like boxing gloves.”

To make this image, Javier brought his subject into a more predictabl­e setting, for maximum control. “This was done on a macro studio table, in a totally controlled environmen­t (framing, camera, lighting, positionin­g, etc). It would be impossible to control the movements of a live insect to fractions of millimetre­s while shooting a ‘stack’ of 68 photograph­s. The ‘extreme macro’ process often lasts an hour or two and an essential requiremen­t is that there is not the slightest movement, keeping in mind that you may have to shoot a series of 200 or 300 photograph­s, depending on the magnificat­ion.”

Right

RED PALM WEEVIL

Our challenge is to get real-life scenes and that is difficult to overcome, however

photograph­y helps entomologi­sts identify and study millions of insects and

arachnids,” explains Javier Rupérez

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