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WC637 The Ladybug Horde
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WC637 The Ladybug Horde

by Scott Fricke

Gallery: Weekly ChallengePosted June 2, 2014963 views9 comments
A few years back I went on a hike in the woods off of Old Stage Road in Colorado Springs. Fairly unremarkable hike until I got to the top of the hill and noticed a lot of ladybugs flying around. So I started looking around and found a whole tree branch covered in them and finally came around a big granite boulder with one whole side full of them, a pretty amazing sight! It was a bit difficult photographing them as they were continually landing on my face, the camera lens, and crawling down my t-shirt. This image is about 15% of the face of the boulder covered with the ladybugs.

Please see Larger Version for better detail. I'd appreciate any critiques you may have!

Canon 5DII, 17-40L @ 40MM, f/16, 1 sec, ISO 100, handheld diffuser to filter sun.

Comments

9 comments
Comment posted by gary phillips on June 3, 2014 at 1:09 AM
Wow, Scott, what a unique image. Very, very, cool. I have never seen anything like this. Incredible. :toast: :toast:
Registered on October 24, 2013, 185 Posts, 4136 Comments
Comment posted by scott lanz on June 3, 2014 at 6:56 AM
Amazing mass of ladybugs. I like the wall to wall coverage and super detail. So, it took me four hours last night, but I counted every one! There's exactly...darn, I forgot. Oh well, one, two, three... :wink:
Registered on November 14, 2003, 840 Posts, 12902 Comments
Comment posted by Sanjay Sundaram on June 3, 2014 at 5:02 PM
Awesome image! How many more on the rest of the boulder, I wonder? :smile:

Sanjay
Registered on April 9, 2013, 107 Posts, 725 Comments
Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on June 3, 2014 at 6:47 PM
That is one awesome image, Scott. I had no idea ladybeetle swarms were this large. Well captured and congratulations on a great photo.
Registered on August 28, 2006, 1240 Posts, 8506 Comments
Comment posted by Patrick O'Healy on June 5, 2014 at 11:35 AM
Wonderful shot :toast:
Registered on March 13, 2011, 326 Posts, 1679 Comments
Comment posted by Mark Seaver on June 6, 2014 at 5:49 PM
Sure looks like a horde to me! Good thing Alfred Hitchcock isn't around to make a movie. No nits, this is a great tight view of an overwhelming number of ladybugs. Filtering the sun was a good idea.
Registered on January 23, 2011, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments
Comment posted by Preston Birdwell on June 9, 2014 at 2:40 PM
Wow! I've seen lady bug groups in the Sierra with quite a few of them, but never anything approaching this. Great detail and color.

You could title this one, "Lady Bug Boogie" :smile:

--P
Registered on November 1, 2003, 471 Posts, 5188 Comments
Comment posted by Ajit Huilgol on June 12, 2014 at 12:12 AM
What I find most interesting is that you actually stopped to take this shot! I would most likely have just walked past!
Registered on December 19, 2008, 302 Posts, 2055 Comments
Comment posted by Catherine Reilly on June 14, 2014 at 4:49 PM
The description of being on site makes me itch!
Wow, what an amazing sight! I have never seen such a phenomenon with ladybugs. Congrats on the Pick!
Registered on August 16, 2006, 603 Posts, 9192 Comments