Frostweed gets a visitor
Click for greater detail.
The last post provided a bud-opening view of Verbesina virginica, commonly called frostweed. Today’s picture of a slightly more advanced stage reveals a few of the fused stamen columns that are a hallmark of flowers in the sunflower family. In this species the dark-sided columns are tipped with pure white, though that’s not why the plant is known as frostweed.
But you may not be paying attention to the flowers or their name when you have such an appealing visitor. This tiny fly was only about a quarter of an inch long, and even with a 100mm macro lens I struggled to keep the main parts of it in focus. If you’d like to see more detail in the fly’s eye, which is curiously both convex and concave, the thumbnail below is an invitation. No RSVP is necessary, but the little fly and the larger I will welcome any comments that come our way.
© 2011 Steven Schwartzman
Portraits of Wildflowers 
A very furry little fellow. I like this composition, and your hard work at catching it was worth it!
pixilated2
November 28, 2011 at 7:16 AM
Thanks. We don’t often think of flies as being so furry—at least I don’t. Persistence paid off this time, because although some of the pictures I took were out of focus, a few ended up sharp in the important places.
Steve Schwartzman
November 28, 2011 at 10:12 AM
I love the shallow depth of field and composition…great shot!
cidnlars
November 28, 2011 at 7:31 AM
Thanks, Cindy. The light was dim and I didn’t want to use flash, so I ended up with the lens wide open at f/4, which is why I had so much trouble getting things to be in focus. The silver lining, though, of a shallow depth of field is the softness of unimportant things in the background.
Steve Schwartzman
November 28, 2011 at 10:18 AM
WOW – that little guy is awesome.
Dawn
November 28, 2011 at 8:28 AM
I’m with you, Dawn. This is the second time I’ve posted a picture of a tiny fly getting nectar from the flowers of a member of the sunflower family. The first was way back on July 31:
https://portraitsofwildflowers.wordpress.com/2011/07/31/a-pretty-fly/
Steve Schwartzman
November 28, 2011 at 10:36 AM
Awesome photo. I love the composition.
sanetes
November 28, 2011 at 10:40 AM
Thank you. I’ll confess that the picture contained some more things at the edges, but I cropped in to produce an elongated composition that pleased me because it balances the tiny fly on one side against the stamens and rays on the other.
Steve Schwartzman
November 28, 2011 at 10:48 AM
Love the photo! Great detail, and perfect framing with nicely blurred background. Great capture!!
Steve
November 28, 2011 at 4:23 PM
Thanks for your enthusiasm, Steve.
Steve Schwartzman
November 28, 2011 at 6:26 PM
It looks to me as if there is a drop of liquid (dew? nectar?) on the upper part of the fly’s eye. What do you think? It is a nifty photo!
Nan Hampton
November 28, 2011 at 10:29 PM
I’m not sure about the drop, Nan, but I’ll agree on the niftiness of the photo.
Steve Schwartzman
November 29, 2011 at 7:29 AM
Beautiful! The whole scene fits together so nicely!
montucky
November 28, 2011 at 11:16 PM
Thanks, Terry. This is a case of big things coming in small packages.
Steve Schwartzman
November 29, 2011 at 7:32 AM
That’s a close shot!
firasz
November 29, 2011 at 3:22 PM
Yes it is; so close, in fact, that I had trouble keeping things from moving around and staying sharp.
Steve Schwartzman
November 29, 2011 at 4:04 PM
Beautiful picture! The panoramic crop works really well at focusing our attention on both the insect and the plant.
Journey Photographic
December 2, 2011 at 5:17 AM
Thanks, fellow photographer, for appreciating the way the panoramic crop balances attention between the insect and the plant.
Steve Schwartzman
December 2, 2011 at 7:02 AM
[…] Frostweed gets a visitor […]
Another tiny fly « Portraits of Wildflowers
April 11, 2012 at 6:23 AM