DSS #78 - Light at the end - Glowworms

torrbrae · June 4, 2011

Thought for this challenge try for the Glowworm, with the light at the end of its tail. Have taken a few different shots, not sure if better to crop closer to the Glowworm, or leave some background to give idea of the perspective, and that is only a tiny worm:

#1
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#2
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#2 - Cropped
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#3
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#3 - Cropped
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Title: Glowworm - Arachnocampa Luminosa?

As first attempt at taking nature photographs like this, all comments/criticism be much appreciated.

rbustraen · June 4, 2011

Humn.... to be honest, I don't see any 'light' in this? Maybe it's just me and I've never seen a glow worm before but I just see strings, water drops and I'm guessing the worm in the middle?

jwear · June 4, 2011

it may work but you would have to do a macro

DonRicklin · June 4, 2011

My thoughts, exactly!

More glowworm and something to make it glow, instead of dew on web!

Don

MammaPaparazza · June 5, 2011

I have never seen a glow worm, it looks like spider webb with rain or dew on it or slug trail...could you put those slitherers in a jar and make them glow in the dark with a dark blue background...that might be cool.

torrbrae · June 6, 2011

Thank you for the comments - not sure if could catch one in a jar. Have tried doing a montage, to show the natural enviromment for the worm. The original photos taken in macro mode (with a 18-55 kit lens, do not have any other lenses at present). Does this work better?

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MammaPaparazza · June 6, 2011

torrbrae wrote: »

Thank you for the comments - not sure if could catch one in a jar. Have tried doing a montage, to show the natural enviromment for the worm. The original photos taken in macro mode (with a 18-55 kit lens, do not have any other lenses at present). Does this work better?

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Jeesh, I'm really sorry, but I still wouldn't know what it is. It is fascinating, and a good idea...and I know how it hard it is working with one lens (I did it for about 6 months! grrr) but because I can't place the image, I wouldn't think twice about it...I'm really sorry if this is harsh, it's certainly not my intention.

:

sapphire73 · June 7, 2011

I just looked up glow worms in New Zealand to get a better idea of what I am seeing in your photo there. I gather that the strings that look like they have dew drops or pearls on them are sticky threads for catching their prey? Pretty cool to see these up close, kindness of you and your camera! The other info I found online is that the light from the glow worm is a blue green color. Is that right? If so, then it looks like your last image is showing us that kind of light where the image is dark and the sticky threads are highlighted in the close up with the oval of light. Is that right?

Do these worms move a lot? If not, could you put your camera in aperture mode onto a tripod and set the timer to take a bracketed shot in the dark? Is that what you did in this last shot? Not sure what you have already tried, but it would seem that you have a unique opportunity to show us the light at the end of this glow worm - or several glow worms. But it sounds like it is rather challenging to get an effective shot!

I was in New Zealand for a short while in March and heard about the glow worms but never saw one, so I'm very happy that you shared these images with us. Thanks!

torrbrae · June 7, 2011

No - the criticism is not harsh. Probably picture more suited to a nature forum than DSS challenge. Finding to get sharp close-up, need more light which then drowns out the glowworms glow. Further away get the blue-green glow, but then only seeing a small dot. The smaller oval was taken in aperture mode with 1.3second time exposure - but with camera supported on a backpack - bit difficult to get the tripod onto the bank shooting on. Thinking of better things to support the camera - maybe a small beanbag?

The glowworms are quite common - found in damp caves, along stream banks and on damp bush clad banks. Just as they quite small (about the size of a pin head) need to be dark adapted to see them - walking along with a torch would easily miss them. Your research is right, the glowworms emit a blue-green light, to attract their prey. The larva live in a tunnel web, and spin silk threads with mucous drops on to entrap their prey, being the beaded threads seen in the closeup picture.

Has been fascinating project though, as while can see the light and the threads, naked eye cannot see the worm. So the close-ups finding very fascinating - just getting blinded by the nature aspect rather than the photography aspect.

sweetharmony · June 7, 2011

What a tricky task you've got with this one! Low light, macro, thread-like attachments on the organism....
This is the sort of challenge where the internet really shines: http://www.google.com/search?client=ubuntu&channel=fs&q=photographing+glow+worms&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8
A quick google search showed several discussions on methods to pull of the shot....

silversx80 · June 7, 2011

I like the idea quite a bit. One trick that may be worth a try is to get a tripod and shoot with a small aperture (f/16 or smaller). Hopefully, this will capture the light of the glow worms, and not the background. Then, use curves (or similar tool) to brighten up the worms, while darkening the background even more.

... worth a try, at least.

sapphire73 · June 7, 2011

sweetharmony wrote: »

What a tricky task you've got with this one! Low light, macro, thread-like attachments on the organism....
This is the sort of challenge where the internet really shines: http://www.google.com/search?client=ubuntu&channel=fs&q=photographing+glow+worms&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8
A quick google search showed several discussions on methods to pull of the shot....

Way to go, Leah!

Torrbrae, it sounds like you are on the right track. Hope you can pull it off to your satisfaction! A beanbag might be helpful or a gorilla pod. Have you seen one of those? The legs can bend and help hold a camera in an awkward position. For our last trip to Kenya, I got an inexpensive beanbag with a magnetic spot that helped attach a camera (having another piece that screwed onto the camera). I found that very helpful. (Just checked the make, and it was a TrekTech Magbag.) Good luck with it!

torrbrae · June 13, 2011

Thanks for all the advice, and the google links. Gives ideas of what equipment need - probably the remote release will be the first, as could not take with the camera on the bean bag without getting camera shake. Managed to find a spot could use the tripod, and have got the following picture (which have entered in the challenge) - as wanted with the light at the end of the worm.

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ISO at 3200, so is a bit of noise in the photo - at f11 with 2.5s shutter speed. Didn't have chance to try different settings, as was raining (again!) and bank standing on was turning into a muddy stream.

sweetharmony · June 13, 2011

Much, much better! Now we can get an idea of what we're looking at........

sapphire73 · June 13, 2011

I was just thinking about your glowworm shots last night and wondering how you were coming with this project. This really does picture it much more clearly.

DSS #78 - Light at the end - Glowworms

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