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Every year after the first rains, the future kings and queens of fungus-growing termite colonies leave their nest on a nuptial flight. They lose their wings minutes later and most will fail in their quest to start a new colony. The flight only happens for a day or two per year and its timing is dictated completely by local rainfall. The termites from this colony were attracted to a light, but after taking several shots, I realised that I could only capture the effect of the swarm by using a slow shutter speed and gradually panning with the flight of the insects. As they were all moving in different directions, I had to take hundreds of shots to capture what I wanted. It was tricky focusing on composition, having to pre-focus and wait for a termite to fly into my focal plane, while the whole time, I had many termites crawling all over me, but it was worth it in the end.
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James Gifford
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James Gifford
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James Gifford
Every year after the first rains, the future kings and queens of fungus-growing termite colonies leave their nest on a nuptial flight. They lose their wings minutes later and most will fail in their quest to start a new colony. The flight only happens for a day or two per year and its timing is dictated completely by local rainfall. The termites from this colony were attracted to a light, but after taking several shots, I realised that I could only capture the effect of the swarm by using a slow shutter speed and gradually panning with the flight of the insects. As they were all moving in different directions, I had to take hundreds of shots to capture what I wanted. It was tricky focusing on composition, having to pre-focus and wait for a termite to fly into my focal plane, while the whole time, I had many termites crawling all over me, but it was worth it in the end.