Camera shy

A metallic fly on a sunlit leaf should make an attractive picture.  Yet getting such a picture poses a serious challenge.  It is not that the flies are rare, since I often come across gleaming blue, green, and even gold flies perched in the sun.  It is not that they fly away either.  The flies sit still as I line up my camera and are still sitting on the leaves once the pictures have been taken.  However, the flies do not appear in the pictures themselves.

A leaf where a fly had been sitting a moment before.  If you look closely, you can find two of the fly's legs.

In between the time that I press the shutter button and the time that the picture is taken, the flies reliably launch themselves off their leaves, only to land again the next moment.  This amazing disappearing act is possible because flies have extremely fast reaction times.  As soon as the camera begins to flash, the targeted fly initiates its evasive action.  Nevertheless, the flies are not impossible to catch on camera (even when continuing to use the flash).  With some experimentation, it is even possible to capture them in midair.

After many tries, I was also able to take a picture of the fly sitting on the leaf.  Perhaps I had momentarily worn the fly down or the angle of the shot had caught the fly by surprise.

A sneak attack from the rear finally succeeds in capturing the longlegged fly (Dolichopodidae, subfamily Sciapodinae).

 Either way, the fly soon returned to its shy ways.

Can you find the fly's shadow?

Explore some more: Why Flies Are So Hard to Swat