Looking at this apparent celestial meteor through my macro rig, I wasn’t sure what had fallen to earth. Actually, it is the wing of what we call a mosquito eater, an insect that I found in our bathroom. This insect is also called a “Daddy Long Legs,” and (with a bit more precision), “Crane Fly,” Tipulidae oleracea.
Though it is a fly, it is quite benign (as well as beautiful)—and far too spindly to be in any danger of being fed to one of our carniverous plants.
This photo was shot through my 105mm macro lens with 64mm of extension tubes and a +4 diopter close-up filter on front. I did various versions, but this one was as wide open as I could go at about f/6 and one second. (At least I didn’t have to consider motion, as the poor creature was dead and this was indoors.) The more stopped-down versions with higher depth-of-field weren’t as interesting to me as this version with the meteoric, fell-to-earth lighting effect.