Occasionally one of these weird green blowflies get trapped against the big gable skylight in my studio. I picked this one up the other day, set him up with a light and took some photos. I used an old 28mm vivitar close focus lens with a 1.4x converter. It is a great, sharp lens and despite it 30 year+ age, still works perfectly on my Pentax K20D. All functions are manual, but the camera will still automatically set the speed to suit the selected aperture. It also beeps and flashes a red square indicating where correct focus is occurring. Not bad for backwards compatibility!
They sure look interesting when you look at them this close.
Splashing Paint 
Very very interesting but still gross. such a nasty little animal. great photographs!
Hi Linda,
I guess they are gross, but I cant help thinking what fantastic shapes, textures and colors they are!
I have done a few painting of flies, but don’t think I have ever managed to sell one. Maybe I should look at them differently!
Cheers John
yeah. aloha John. the world of insects is really stunningly rich, as you say, color, shape, textures – not to mention their… equipment to negotiate this world. i’ve had various acquaintances with spiders and other diminutive creatures and they all fascinate me. some will even greet me. as will some lizards – geckos and anoles. altho sometimes i’m sure it’s just to let me know who is in whose house. you did capture some great shots. there are spheres where flies are probably prized and welcome – my aunt and uncle were great fishing people and tied their own… flies. i can imagine these flies riding hooks almost like a witches broom. …which may not make them more attractive to most people but it might be a fun lure. cool on showing this one. – aloha – Wrick
Hi Wrick,
Thanks for your comments. I was shown some fishing flies the other day – almost identical to the creature in the photograph. Apparently they are irresistible to trout in New Zealand!
Cheers
John