Water-Striders | sredirtS-retaW

I recently spent an entire morning photographing, and finding myself mesmerized by, a group of water striders in a nearby creek. I hadn't intended to photograph these gravity-defying members of the 'true bug' family but as I peered through my lens, I discovered a scene that reminded me something out of the movie 'Tron'–minus the black lights.

Major battles were waged between rival males that included surprise attacks and retreats, mating pairs chasing away other pairs and placid moments where couples would stand still on the mirror-like surface of the water. Who knew that a group of bugs that I had mostly taken for granted all of my life were living so vigorously? The lesson that I was once again reminded of was that great beauty and action worth photographing, and more importantly protecting, literally exists all around us. I look forward to filling up more memory cards on this species in the near future.

Technical Note: I used a 300 mm lens with a 27.5mm extension tube to get me as close to the scene as possible without frightening the insects.