I'll start right off by saying, I have no idea what kind of ant this is. I googled, honest I did, and even spent some time on the University of Nebraska's Ant Identification PDFs, but to no avail. I do know the flower this ant is on is a crocus, because my wife says it is. The ant is less than two millimeters long, but more than one, not counting antennae. At first glance I thought I had an ant with yellow legs, but it turned out to be pollen.
But I'm getting ahead of myself: I just wanted to have some fun using a Nikon D70 on an old PB5 bellows1, with an even older 55mm Micro Auto P lens. It was late in the day, the first nice day of spring, and the sun was hitting a sheltered side of my house, where the flowers bloom first each year. The light was juicy and golden, with the white siding of the house diffusing the shadows just right. I set up quickly with a Bogen tripod, the kind you can spread wide the legs to get low to the ground. I focused on a crocus, no rhyme intended, and then this guy came along (I'm referring to the little ant, if I'm losing you). I was soon working like mad, in an amusing pantomime of the ant itself, who never stopped moving for an instant. It had me panning the tripod head while focusing the bellows and working the horizontal movement and snapping the shutter, all at the same time... It was mad fun!
The PB-5 Bellows works great with the D70, even without the meter. I got the exposure in three shots, adjusting by thirds of a stop until I had just a little highlight flash in the lcd. Depth of Field is limited, and I had to leave the lens open to slow the little fellow down enough to capture.
Click an image to view a roughly 750px wide version, which can then be clicked for a detailed, full rez, inset of the image.
Keep in mind, these are a first attempt, and it was a lot of fun, so I intend to try it again!
