When I started doing field work, about 1972, the cameras available with good enough lenses to take photos of plants or insects were big heavy single lens reflex cameras. My camera was so unwieldy that I only took it with me about once a week, and on that one day got whatever photos I wanted.
Photography wasn't easy. The macro lens unbalanced the camera, so it was hard to keep it stable. Worse, I had to get pretty close to the subject to focus, so the insects I wanted to photograph saw the big dark macro lens and moved to the other side of the stem or leaf.
 |
| shieldbug with prey (ant) on Ipomoea carnea leaf, Guanacaste, Costa Rica, 1972. Maybe the bug thought it was hiding in the leaf or just wasn't afraid, since brightly colored predatory bugs generally bite, sting, or taste awful. |