Macro photography is a trial even in the best weather. Add a little wind and a hand-held camera and it becomes a serious challenge! When shooting tiny objects, the key is to hold the camera very steady, so a tripod is the recommended way to work. Alas, I only had a GorillaPod SLR-Zoom with me and it wasn’t helpful, so I gave up using it.

Here’s a Hover fly (Toxomerus geminatus), also known as a Flower fly or Syrphid fly, on some purple flower. This critter is less than half the size of a mosquito and rarely noticed zipping around your garden flowers. They can be very friendly and do not sting. I think I’ve identified this one correctly, but there are 870 species of hover flies that live in North America and 6,000 species worldwide! I love the pattern on its back and that tiny blue dot on its head.

The first photo shows the little critter feeding on a flower. The second photo is zoomed in to show the eye detail. Don’t forget to click the photos to see a larger version.

Hoverfly on Purple flower

Hoverfly Eye Closeup

I will add more photos as I process them.

Equipment used: Nikon D7100 and Sigma 105mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM Macro Lens.