Photo credit: Lior Kestenberg via Peta Pixel
Photographer Lior Kestenberg from Israel specializes in capturing macro shots using a Canon MP-E65 lens, and is always on the hunt for new opportunities. Sometime during October 2017, he took a day off from work, encountered some buzzing noises around his ear while strolling through some vegetation, and the rest was history. “Getting them in focus at this magnification was pretty challenging because of the shallow depth of field, and the fact that they finished their bites in less than a minute didn’t help either. Unsatisfied with the results, I decided to grant them another round. During round two, I discovered that there were actually 3 or even more different species of mosquitoes that were very different from each other when viewed up close,” said Kestenberg. Continue reading for more pictures and an animated image.
“Once I learned of the variants, my goal suddenly tripled as I wanted to get the best shot of each kind. And this is how I found myself busy in this strange experiment for an entire day, covering every aspect I could control: changing the lighting, messing with the background, changing the angle and position of the subject, trying out different compositions, altering the magnification, and trying to focus stack for better depth of field – each change one bite at a time. I eventually stopped when the sun went down. I had captured over 600 images of my encounters and left with quite an itchy hand, but I was very happy with the results, having fulfilled my goals,” adds Kestenberg.
