These macro photos are of the Orchard Swallowtail Butterfly or Large Citrus Butterfly taken in my backyard inCanberra Australia with a Pentax k-5 and Sigma 70-300mm zoom macro. We get a lot of these flying around in summer but these ones where hanging around our lemon trees.

I found this massive mantis outside the house and took these photos against the painted wall. I was really surprised how interesting the colour appears with the influence of the painted wall in the background. This was shot with my Pentax K5 and zoom macro. The photo where the Mantis looks like he’s holding flowers always makes me smile.

These images are of a Tawny Frogmouth that I saw on my walk with Lee Kai around Mt Rodgers yesterday. The bird was right next to the path but was amazingly camouflaged against the bark of the tree he was sitting on. I happened to have my zoom macro lens on me and got these close-up pix with out disturbing him too much. Camera was a Pentax K-5.

These photos are from an Olympus TG-1, which is a waterproof point and shoot Suzie bought that has a great Super Macro function which allows you to get quite close. Keen to get this camera underwater and try out the marco settings. These are just trying out these close up features on plants around our house.

Another rainy spring day in Canberra, I took these experimental shots quite early in the morning as the water beading on the long grass (which always needs mowing) looked really interesting and was catching the first light of the day. I used a Canon G9 in macro mode mounted on a gorilla-pod with  2 second timer to avoid any shake. The shots are as close in the cameras lens would allow and I think a bit better than my SLR zoom macro could get. The images were tweaked in Adobe Lightroom and a colour filter added to alter the green values.

These images are close-ups of some Australian birds taken with a 20omm zoom macro. I love how this lens reveals the detailed feather patterns and interesting eyes on the animals.

I have been looking for a Praying Mantis to photograph for some time, they are such cool looking insects. This guys posed for a few portraits in the front yard and is still there frozen in his stance. He almost seemed camera aware and changed positions from time to time – always keeping one eye on the lens. This is the extent of the detail I can capture on my zoom macro, it really suits bigger sized critters such as lizards and birds. Used the 2 second timer on a tri-pod to avoid camera shake.

I only had a split second to shoot this guy and he moved very fast, this was the only decent picture I got. This is about as much detail as I can get with my current lens. He looked a little whiter in real life but came out a little blue on the sensor. The eye us awesome and reminds my of the Illustrator Russel Benfanti.

A few more macro shots from around the house, these guys were definitely looking at me. I like the shadow on the green bug, the photo is a little over sharpened but it was shot one handed while the other hand was lighting it with a dolphin torch. ha ha the bug was on the fridge. Still no mantis, I’m getting over the same old bugs.

These 2 characters are from a trip we made to Taronga Zoo on the weekend, I really like reptiles and these guys have a lot of charisma. They are taken through the fence with a zoom lens and are the best I can get as a spectator on the outside with my gear. some other cool shots to come.