John Hallmen insect photographer.

John Hallmen has been fascinated by insects since he was a boy. In the last three years he's made a name for himself by photographing the tiny animals he finds in the Nackareservatet nature reserve near his home in Stockholm, Sweden.

Using a mixture of studio and alfresco shots John magnifies his images up to 23 times to show the beautiful colour and detail in his subjects' bug-eyed faces.  

Some quotes by the photographer are below 

'It's a pleasure to show people who are not interested in bugs something they haven't seen before and watch how they react,' said 31-year-old John.

'Looking at a fly portrait some people will find them even more disgusting than they'd ever imagined while others will be surprised to find them quite beautiful.'  

For field shots John rises before sunrise to hunt for slumbering critters concealed in the foliage.

'Sometimes you'll find them covered in dew that forms in small, spherical droplets,' he said.

'This can turn a tiny, gray, inconspicuous fly into a shimmering jewel!' For studio shots John uses dead bugs that he collects from nature or harvests when they happen to come near him.

'I've found that a completely random approach often pays off,' said Mr Hallmen, who works as a freelance graphic designer.

'For example the Nomada bee landed in my coffee cup when I was having a family picnic.'   

Sometimes it takes hours to achieve the desired lighting for his pictures.

'With the sleeping Megachilid bee I anxiously watched it for an hour,' he said.

He added: 'I was hoping it would stay asleep until the sun hit the patch of dry grass in the background, turning it from a drab, dark gray into a nice gradient.

'When it did I had only a couple of minutes before the sun hit the bee and woke it up.'  For John it doesn't matter if his subject is a rare breed or a common housefly.

'Almost any subject can look interesting if you only look close enough,' he said.

Up close they look like the terrifying products of a fevered imagination.

And with their lurid colours, bulging eyes and other-worldly faces these insects can certainly look rather alarming.

But for amateur bug photographer John Hallmen there is a hidden beauty in seeing these creatures up close and personal.

Stuart Goodwin: Bird Photography.

These are some of my wildlife shots of birds that I have taken:

The Blue Tit.  (Parus caeruleus.)

This shot was taken in my garden.  I set up an hide early one winter morning, the sun was striking the Blue tit on the right hand side.  With the sun striking this bird like it does its make this shot a lot better making the bird look very colourful.  I do like this shot, this as had very little done to it in photoshop, the shots that are going on the site have not been touched up in photoshop the whole idea in taking photo's is to set the camera up properly and do very little work in photoshop.


Camera settings Blue Tit.  ISO 400 F4.5 1/125 Sec. Nikon D200.  Lens 500mm.  Tripod Used.

The Jay.  (Garrulus glandarius.)

This shot was taken at Carsington Water in a bird hide.  As you can see I baited the log with peanuts so as to attracted the Jay.  I do like this shot, captured the bird well pity its not looking my way a little but, still like the shot.


Camera settings: Jay.  ISO 400 F4.0 1/80Sec Sony 100.  Lens 300mm.  Tripod Used.

The Wren.  (Troglodytes troglodytes.)

This shot of the Wren was taken at Carsington Water, it was only a few feet away.  I had to be very quick as these birds are so quick.  I do like this shot because I've  captured it as he was catching a bug and got both at the same time.


Camera settings: Wren.  ISO 400 F4.5 1/160Sec. Nikon D2Hs.  Lens 500mm.  Tripod Used.

The Robin.  (Erihhacus rubecula.)

This was taken in my garden, I had noticed this young Robin doing this a few times so I set the hide up and got the camera out.  The camera that I have, shoots,  8 shots per second and I  was able to capture this robin doing what he was doing.  I am pleased with this shot as this captures the Robin in flight, it was a very dull day as you can see from the ISO speed, I had to use but, very pleasing shot.


Camera settings:  Robin.  ISO 800 F4.5 1/640Sec.  Nikon D2hs.  Lens 500mm.  Tripod Used.

The Song Thrush.  (Turdus philomelos.)

This shot was taken on a farm where I was working.  I had noticed the thrush at the beginning of the week, so I took the camera the next day and this is one of 40 shots the I took.  Pleased with the out come as the bird was not there for long.  Pleased with it as I have captured it singing.  These Thrush's are beautiful singers, which what is what I notice in the first place.    Pleasing shot.


Camera settings: Blue Tit.  ISO 400 F4.5 1/250Sec.  Nikon D2hs.  Lens 500mm.  Tripod Used.

The Blue Tit.  (Parus caeruleus.)

This shot was taken at Rutland Waters.   Just looking into the lens,He looks that he is going to attack at any time.  The light was just right the colours are great captured well.  I do like the colours on this Blue Tit I like the blue on the head and around the eyes, love this photo, very pleased with it.


Camera settings; Blue Tit. ISO 400 F5.6 1/400Sec. Sony 450 Lens 300mm with 2=2 converter.  Tripod used.

The Kingfisher.  (Alcedo atthis.)

This shot was taken near Calke Abby, been watching this little bird for sometime.  Set the hide up between the trees.  This Kingfisher landed so close to me that I could touch it.  She was that close that I could not focus on it until she moved.  I do like this shot even though the branch is in the way.  This is an unusual shot as the bird is turning her head 360 degrees and I've captured this.


Camera settings:  Kingfisher. ISO 800 F4.5 1/30Sec. Nikon D2OO Lens 500mm.  Tripod Used.

The Bullfinch.  (Pyrrhula pyrrhula.)

This shot was taken this winter time, the bird was in my garden eating the buds.  I do like the colour of the Bullfinch, along with the snow in the back ground, and the snow in the foreground, captured him well very pleased with the picture.  This was taken from my bedroom window with the lens resting on a bean bag.


Camera settings:  Bullfinch.  ISO 400 F4.5 1/50Sec. Nikon D200 Lens 500mm.   Tripod Used. 

The Great spotted Woodpecker.  (Dendrocopos major.)

This shot of the Woodpecker was taken at Carsington Water, I had been watching this woodpecker coming and going for sometime so I decided to take the big lens at try and get a photo of him.  Captured him well can see the colours of him well, pleased with the shot.  It was quite a dull day so changed the ISO speed to help.


Camera settings:  Woodpecker. ISO 800 F4.5 1/250sec Nikon D200 Lens 500.  Tripod used. 

The Young Robin.  (Erithacus rubecula.)

This shot was taken at home in the garden.  This is a very young robin only a few weeks old, he was bouncing around chirping away.  So I set the hide up and set the camera up to get some shots of him.   This is the first time that I have managed to see a robin without his red breast.  Pleased with the shot love the long hair on his head.


Camera settings:  Robin.  ISO 200 F4.8 1/125Sec. Nikon D200 Lens 500mm.  Tripod Used.

The Grey Wagtail.  (Motacilla cinerea.)

Calke Abbey love the colours of these birds they are forever jumping about.  This one was quite calm.  It was a very overcast day and the bird was in a shady place at the time of taking the photo.


Camera settings:  Grey Wagtail.  ISO 400 F4.5 1/250Sec. Nikon D200 Lens 500mm.  Tripod Used.

The Bullfinch.  (Pyrrhula pyrrhula.)

This Bullfinch was taken at the Rutland Wild Life Centre.  I do like how this bird is stretching to get the buds that are just coming out.  The colours of the bird are nice as well.  Like how I have captured the eye of the bird.  This was taken from one of the hides that they have there.  I used a bean bag to hold the lens steady. 


Camera settings:  Bullfinch. ISO 400 F4.5 1/250Sec. Nikon D200 lens 500mm.  Bean Bag Used.

The Great Tit.  (Parus major.)

This shot was taken at Calke Abby, I had baited a bit of ground as you can see with peanuts to attract the Great Tit.  Pleased with the out come, used a 300mm  F2.8 lens with a 2+2 converter on, which gave me 600mm.  By putting the converter on it gave me the 600mm, plus by using an aperture of F2.8 with the converter making it F5.6  you still keep your auto focus so very pleased with the result.

Camera settings:  Great Tit. ISO 400 F5.6 1/160 Sec Sony 450 Body. Tokina lens 300mm + Converter. 

The Goldfinch.  (Carduelis carduelis.)

This Goldfinch was captured in my garden after baiting the seed holder.  Managed to capture the bird on the branch rather than on the holder.  Love the colours of these birds and they are always fighting one another.

Camera settings:  The Goldfinch. ISO 400 F4.5 1/30Sec Nikon D200. 500mm Lens, Tripod used. 

The Nuthatch.  (Sitta europaea.)

This was captured at a wood near to were I live, I was in a hide that was there.  I had been using peanuts by sticking them in the trunk of the tree to attract them.  These are very quick, so pleased with the outcome.  I used a tripod with a 600mm Tokina lens and 2+2 Converter.


Camera Settings:  The Nuthatch ISO 400 F5.6 1/500Sec Sony 450 Body. 300mm lens with 2+2 converter tripod used.

The Mistle Thrush.  (Turdus viscivorus.)

This was taken in my back garden after moving the bird house.  I was at the bedroom window when the bird landed and just happened to have the camera setup ready, so I just open the window slightly and took the shot.  This shot reminds of the one shot by Chris Gomershall of his Mistle Thrush when I was researching for this project.

Camera Settings:  The Mistle Thrush ISO 400 F4.5 1/80 Sec Nikon Body 500mm Lens.  Bean bag to stop camera shake.