1. Please introduce yourself. Who are you? What do you do?
My name is Carsten Siegel. I’m 52 years old and live in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. My profession has nothing to do with photography, I am an administrative officer.
2. How long have you been into photography, and what drew you to it?
I only bought my first digital camera in 2010 and it made me discover the world of photography. I like to travel and then capture as many impressions as possible with my camera – which can get a bit timely to the detriment of my family. But my great passion is macro photography. You can immerse yourself in the fascinating world of insects, which often remains hidden even though we live in the midst of it. There is nothing more beautiful than standing in a meadow at sunrise and watching nature awaken.
3. In one sentence, please describe what you captured in this shot.
A cuckoo wasp has gone to sleep in its typical sleeping posture, curled up around a stalk.
4. What style of photography would you describe this as?
This is a nature photo that was taken with the help of focus stacking.
5. When and where was this photo taken?
The picture was taken in my garden at the beginning of July 2024.
6. Was anyone with you when you took this photo?
I tend to a patch of wildflowers in my garden that I have rarely been mowing through the years. It’s a buzzing place full of solitary bees and butterflies. In the summer, I check there every evening when I get home from work. As it was the case the day when I discovered this cuckoo wasp. Most insects can be approached carefully in the evening without them fleeing. So I made a note of where I found it and returned with my photo equipment after dinner. There, I spent a good half an hour capturing the scenery.
7. What equipment (hardware and software) did you use?
The photo was taken on my Canon EOS R5 and the MP-E 65. Additionally I made use of a tripod, a reflector, the focusing sled, a plant clamp, and an umbrella.
8. What drew you to take this photo?
Cuckoo wasps are one of my favorite subjects. I was amazed when I saw pictures of these animals for the first time. Their bright metallic colors are incredibly beautiful. That’s probably why they’re called golden wasps in German. When I eventually discovered that they also live in my garden, I was thrilled. During the day they fly around a pile of wood, which is inhabited by their hosts, small ichneumon wasps. Because they are so tiny, they are easily overlooked and their beauty is barely visible to the naked eye. While the sun shines, they are so hectic that it is difficult to take good pictures of them, so the moments you find them resting remain special.
9. How many attempts did it take to get this shot? How long did it take you to get one that you were satisfied with?
I photographed the cuckoo wasp at a scale of about 3:1. The focal plane is very shallow and a sufficient depth of field is achieved by focus stacking alone. With the magnifying lens, this is only possible manually on a focusing slide. Of course, this takes some time. You always have to be aware that the entire series may become unusable if individual images get blurred when the slide is adjusted, a slight gust of wind ruins the effort or the animal itself moves. But you often only realize this while looking at the results on your computer. Therefore I photographed 10 series and moved the slide slightly after each photo. For the result shown here, I took a total of 65 individual images with an aperture of f/5.6 and stopped down to f/10 at the end to make the cloudy structures of the inflorescence in the background visible.
10. Did you edit (or do any post-processing/production on) this photo?
When I get home from a photo tour, the first thing I have to do is sift through all the pictures and sort out a lot of them. Once I have decided on a series, the individual images are first adjusted in Lightroom and then processed in Zerene Stacker. Finally, I touch up artifacts or sensor spots in Photoshop.
11. What encouraged you to share this photo online and with others?
Macro photography is somewhat of a quirky hobby. You often get up in the middle of the night to be in the meadows at sunrise to photograph creepy critters that other people regard as vermin. So it’s always a pleasure to find out that you’re not alone with this strange passion and to receive positive feedback.
12. Did you learn anything in the process of taking, editing, or sharing this photo?
During the shoot, I tried out different perspectives. It looked most interesting from the side. I had to change the aperture to prevent the front part of the mount from obscuring the animal.
13. Do you remember what you had for breakfast (or lunch or dinner) the day you took this photo?
Unfortunately, I can’t remember. But it was probably a bread roll that I ate at work.
14. What would you like people to take away from this photo?
I hope to draw attention to the beauty of this small hidden world around us.
15. Is there any feedback that you’d like to get on this shot?
Perhaps someone can identify the specimen more precisely. Otherwise, of course, any advice on how to improve in the technical or design aspects of the picture is welcome.
16. How can anyone reading this support your work?
Everyone can make a small contribution to preserving the habitat of insects by not mowing the entire lawn like a golf course and by allowing some weeds to remain, which serve as food or nurseries for many insects.
Carsten Siegel is a German based amateur photographer with a special interest in insect photography. Carsten has been capturing these stunning and unique insect shots for over 10 years. Make sure to check out his Flickr site for a captivating view of more close up photos celebrating the small world around us all.