Alex
My name is Alex McCarthy and this blog combines my passion for wildlife and macro photography. Although the focus of WildlifeMacro blog is on insects and insect photography, I will often stray towards other photography – nature conservation and - related topics. I hope you enjoy my musings and please don’t hesitate to leave a reply.
Volunteers are essential to the management of Nature Reserves. Kenfig Nature Reserve has two groups of volunteers, meeting every week. One group meets on Wednesdays to help with monitoring and identification of species, and the other on Thursdays to carry... Read More
Whenever I visit Kenfig Nature Reserve’s waterlogged terrain during the early spring months, I’m reminded of Charles Darwin’s ‘primordial soup’ theory. The theory suggests that life probably started in “some warm, little pond”: “It is often said that all the... Read More
Green wings give excellent camouflage against vegetation, making Brimstones difficult to spot against leaves. So good is their camouflage that the venation and creases on their wings closely mimics a leaf’s texture. Such camouflage, however, is only effective providing the... Read More
I know of many photographers who have no qualms about killing and freezing insects in order to gain more control over macro shots. While I admire their skill as photographers, I question their methods and not collect insects purely for... Read More
Here are my favourite 5 images of 2022. I started doing this last year and settled on 5 photos, so now that will be my standard number of images I pick out each year. With so many glorious images to... Read More
I LOVE TO PHOTOGRAPH INSECTS and using a long telephoto lens enables me to capture their behaviour in a less invasive manner than using a macro lens. Instead of creeping up to within 1ft of the insect and risk scaring... Read More
Back in May, 2022, I visited Andalucia, Spain, reacquainting myself with an old childhood favourite animal of mine… the Iberian Wall Lizard, perhaps more accurately referred to as the Andalucian Wall Lizard. Whenever I visit Andalucia, I make it a priority to... Read More
While going through some unprocessed photos taken in August, I came across some images of Beautiful Damoiselles. I took the pictures while on a weekend holiday in Cornwall. Since it’s now September and the insect season will soon come to... Read More
This summer has seen a record-breaking heatwave; in this post, I will discuss why hot weather is not all good news for the sun-loving Dragonfly. We often associate dragonflies with summer and sunny, dry weather. It’s logical to think that... Read More
This article discusses using the Olympus 1.4 teleconverter for almost macro like magnification. I will consider some of the practical considerations that come into play when photographing butterflies, pointing out the strengths and limitations of using a teleconverter. I love... Read More