This picture was taken during a competition in DPS Dwarka. It shows an ant pollinator just about to exit the flower. The plant pollinator relationship is important for the fertilization of the flower and is one of the reasons for the widespread existence of angiosperms.
The image was taken with a Canon 500D and 100mm f/2.8 L macro lens. Also used a 580 EXII flash in ETTL mode mounted on camera.
This is an image of one of the openings of an ant nest. This ant is most probably a Camponotus compressus that creates its nests in the ground, in dead wood, or in trees. This particular colony was buried deep inside the root system of the tree.
This picture clearly shows the complexity in the social structure of ants. As soon as I moved in to take this shot, the ants organized themselves in a circle to guard the nest. This task specialization is what has given ants their evolutionary edge.
This shot is of a jumping spider most probably a Phiddipus indicus, one of the many amazing varieties found in India. The size of this spider is about that of a fingernail and it easily slips through cracks and crevices in walls. I found it on a wooden window frame which serves as the background for this image.
This spider is unique as it doesn’t spin a web. Rather it uses its fine thread as a safety harness while jumping to catch prey. It also has a unique mechanism for jumping. The extension of limbs is achieved by altering the pressure of body fluid.
It constantly rubs its glistening fangs with its hairy pedipalps. It also possesses 4 pairs of eyes and limbs like its other arachnid counterparts.
Clicked during a competition at St.Xaviers School. Used a 500D body and a 100-400mm L lens to get the constricted background.
Magic of the beasty 100mm
Found this one right outside my house and chased it for a good 45 minutes before it gave up and let me take the shot.
EXIF:
Shot with a canon 500D and 580EXII flash.
Manually focused
Shutter speed: 1/100s
Aperture: f/11
ISO: 200
Flash metering: ETTL at manual zoom of 24mm for a wide field of coverage.
This picture, I feel, truly shows how photography is a way by which we can appreciate nature and see thing in ways that cannot be seen without it. This is a picture of a star trail which shows the movement of the stars over 40 minutes. It was clicked with a canon EOS7D and an 18-55mm standard lens at 18mm.
Got the idea for this in school and clicked it as soon as I came back.
Water droplet Jewels.
The background is my external hard drive which gives that amazing bokeh and flash at tungsten white balance gives the blue color. This was clicked against the light which gives amazing contrast in the camera itself. Taken with a canon 500D and a standard 18-55mm kit lens.
Used the same inverted lens technique to get the small focusing distance.
This image was clicked at Buddh International Circuit for an event organized by Mahindra.
It was clicked on a canon 500D with a 100-400L lens from the pit lane right in front of the grand stand. Processed in Photoshop CS6 by using actions and basic color adjustments, here is the final shot. I also masked around the signal lights while reducing the saturation to retain the green color. My favorite of the day, there is nothing I would change in this frame.
One of my first true macro pictures that I’m particularly proud of even though I clicked it with an inverted 18-55mm lens.
Used image stacking in this one because of the shallow depth of field, its a composite of two images to give a longer focal depth. I would have loved to combine more than two pictures cause it would have kept the entire butterfly in focus but the shot was handheld and the butterfly was moving a lot.
Used the 580EXII flash and a plate as a reflector and the early morning soft natural light was much appreciated.
ARJUN KAKKAR 