By Vladimir Brezina
This week’s Photo Challenge is Close. I’ve already posted one response, but here’s another.
OK, Fergiemoto at Creativity Aroused totally got to this idea first. Check out her photo! Hers is much more beautiful. But I have more bugs.
... has kayaked the waters around New York for over a decade in his red Feathercraft folding kayak. He comes originally from (the former) Czechoslovakia and has lived in the U.K. and California before settling down in New York. He is a neuroscientist at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City.
... is a kayaker and technology researcher at Nemertes Research. She's an erstwhile engineer, particle physicist, and science fiction writer. She was born in California and has lived in Italy, Norway, Hawaii, and a few other places. She currently resides in New York City.
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Terrific photo, but this kind of closeness is creeping me out.
My reaction too…
Wow!
That’s what I thought when I saw them!
You are way too funny! Yes, you do have more bugs, and this is a great photo! That is quite a gathering.
:-)
They often gather in groups, which is thought to enhance the impact of their warning coloration…
Yikes! I am not a bug fan but I will have to admit that’s CLOSE!
Good that I didn’t come across any termite nests or some such in the park ;-)
Yikes! What are they, they are so ORANGE!
Large milkweed bugs, in New York City’s Central Park last fall. The orange color is thought to be warning coloration to predators that they are inedible.
At the same as I want get creeped out by this I also want to keep looking at the details of the picture. There are so many!
Rubbernecking… like driving slowly past an accident—just can’t help looking ;-)
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Never seen so many this close together.
Everything is bigger in New York!
:)
Haha, love it :)
Wow! Perfect! :)
Thank you, aRVee!
You’re welcome Vlad (if you allow me to shortcut your name)… I love both of your entries, they’re pretty close haha
Glad to hear it! And Vlad is exactly right…
:)
Indeed, that is many bugs, beautiful but kind of yuck!
Like meanwhilein3 said above, that’s what makes it impossible not to look!
Wow! Now that’s a close grouping that demands attention! Great work! Z
Demands attention is right! It’s warning coloration that means “Stay away!”
Thanks, Z—and thanks so much for following our blog!!
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Yucky! But very effective in evoking emotional response. lol
A successful picture, then! ;-)
Thanks so much for following our blog!!
This is the fabulous Macrolens or Close-up Photography techniques :P
Actually, this photo didn’t need any special technique, just an ordinary telephoto lens—these clusters of insects were so big and right by the path where thousands of people (literally—this was in NYC’s Central Park) were passing…
OMG! This is outrageous… How did you find these groups of bugs together… Also, I didn’t know you had two blogs. Great post! :-)
They cluster spontaneously like this. There were quite a few such clusters there on adjacent plants.
Just the one blog! Quite enough ;-)
Incredible and a truly fantastic shot! Yes, I saw Fergie’s too… Both of you did an amazing shoot for the challenge. :-)
Now that you are in the right mood, there’s also this you might want to check out ;-)
OMG!!! That was nasty good… or as the teens say BAD! Pretty awesome shot. Loved it and thank you for sharing it. :-)
:-)
I told them you sent me to look… pretty amazing! :-)
perfect – a beauty of insects!
You stand alone against a multitude of “Yuck”s! :-)
Great bouquet!
Just round the corner, in Central Park. You can find surprising things there if you look closely :-)
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Are those flying cockroaches? because if they are, i would never get close to them like that! Btw, I saw this first http://lifeofcolors.com/2012/06/16/weekly-photo-challenge-close/ and I thought her photo was already scary hahaha
They are (as far as I know) Large Milkweed Bugs.
Yes, I saw that one too—I like it a lot, as you might expect ;-)
beautiful pic :)
Thank you!
We definitely had similar ideas for this challenge, but your critters have wings. :-) At least mine couldn’t fly after me… yet! The orange and black colors are very striking.
Warning coloration… They weren’t interested in me, fortunately, only interested in each other and the plant they were on…
Nicely done on all counts!
Thank you, Cathy!
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Love them…their colouring is stunning. What sort of bugs are they ??
Large Milkweed Bugs. Thanks, Jo!
WOW! :)
:)
Nice catch on these bugs! Beautiful, beautiful shot.
There was no alternative but to take the picture ;-) And really only one way to do it, because they were behind a fence and only the most obvious angle was possible. So it was very easy, for once…
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Interesting!
Yes, I was a bit surprised myself to see them!
wow! I love it!
Great! Thanks, Marina!
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ok, too many bugs, too close!!!!!!!! :S
Maybe close and interested only in each other is preferable to far apart, flying about and getting in people’s hair!
WOW! Nice details! Really CLOSE!
:-) Thanks, Inge!
superb!
Thank you, Granito! I liked your bug as well… :-)
Fergie’s photo is sexier; yours is more community-minded.
Both excellent.
But —- BUGS. Eeeeeeeyew —- Not close to me, thank you.
(Sorry about that –)
I do like “community-minded” ;-)
And not close to you—close to each other!
Nice – just inspired me to post another close shot – I had better get to it.
Inspiration is contagious!
I like your bugs!
Great! Thank you!
This gives me the shivers… but well done, spot on the topic :-)
I think these bugs looked quite charming, myself—not like some others that were photographed in response to this challenge ;-)
Fabulous image – beautiful detail and color! It looks to me like they’re building a nest (as the paper wasps near our house do) – can’t get much closer than communal living!
That out-of-focus brown stuff at the bottom of the photo are some leaves that died, presumably because the bugs did something to them. But I don’t think these bugs build nests—they are not highly social insects like your wasps. The prevailing theory seems to be that their aggregation increases the effectiveness of their warning coloration, but that theory sounds pretty weak to me… Probably nobody really knows why they cluster like this.
Well, regardless of why they’re doing it, they form an incredible image! :-)
unbelievable …. great
Thanks so much, Isadora!
I love both your posts for “Close”. They are excellent catches with your camera. Well done! And you’ve reminded me how colourful natural things can be.
Thanks, Trish!