Our Fortnight Focus challenge on NiF Hive – Macro – saw a flood of entries coming in from the community. You wowed with some stunning close-up images and here are our top picks.
The winner takes home a Shutterbug Pro camera bag from Wildcraft and exclusive goodies from NiF.
A big shout-out to everyone who contributed, and a definitive invitation to those who haven't yet to join in for the next.
Prathamesh Khedwan
The Pride of Bombay
The Bombayana Slug (Glossodoris bombayana) is a bright coloured, blue-bordered sea slug that was described from Bombay in 1946. Since then, there has been no public record of its sighting – making this the very first in 72 years.
Shubham Akolkar
The Handmaiden
An image of a Handmaiden Moth laying her eggs.
Bhavya Joshi
Eye Drop
An image of a Bark Gecko captured on a late rainy evening in the photographer's backyard, where the lizard was trying to hunt. A single raindrop can be seen sitting magically intact on its left eye.
Merlin Selvan
It's a bee. It's a fly. It's a bee-fly!
The Bee-fly (Bombyliidae sp.), as the name suggests, resembles a bee and most of them have long proboscises that are used to obtain nectar from flowers. This image was made in Theni, Tamil Nadu.
Venkatesh Penjuri
Hypnot-eyes
A close-up shot of a Robber Fly (Asilidae sp.) reveals the hypnotizing details of its eyes.
Tarak Chakroborty
A New Coat of Paint
A jumping spider sheds its exoskeleton during ecdysis.
Ajith Padiyar
For Your Eyes Only
The catterpillar of the Blue Mormon butterfly fools its predaors with its false eyes.
Arjun Haarith
A 'Praying' Mantis
An image of a Praying Mantis, poised in a meditative state, seemingly doing exactly what its name suggests.
Aniket Thopate
The Trapeze Act
Phantom Crane Flies hang together from a single web, as if performing a choreographed circus act.
Ananth Kamat
Heads or Snails
A snail hangs upside down from a leaf.
Trikansh Sharma
Damsels and Eggs
Damselflies submerge themselves to lay their eggs – climbing along the stems of aquatic plants and laying eggs at intervals. While the female lays eggs, the male remains clasped to the female to keep away other potential mates.
Kallol Mukherjee
Mantis in Monochrome
A black and white portrait of a Praying Mantis sat perched on the fallen shoot of a fern.
Gaurav Patil
The Blue Fleet
The Portuguese Man O’war (Physalia physalis) is not just a float with blue ribbons attached to it; each blue coloured tentacle of it is a single organism known as a zooid, performing different kinds of functions.
Depending upon their function, they are classified into the following: Dactylyzooids (to catch prey), Gastrozooids (to digest the prey) and Gonodendrons (for reproduction).
Anagha Mohan
On the Beans
A Glandular Bush Frog perched atop raw beans of a coffee shrub in Coorg.
Mainak Ray
Caught in the Storm
Under a torrential rain, covered by thick moss, a cluster of Amboli Bush froglets lay curled up within their bubble-eggs as they prepare to take birth into this world.
Vineet Perla
A Big Ripe Yellow Banana?
A fly perched fearlessly on the the head of a Bamboo Pit Viper in Goa.
Hayath Mohammed
Rorschach
The colors and pattern on this freshly emerged Baronet butterfly are absolutely mesmerising.
Sundeep Kancherla
Flower Estate
A crab spider pictured along with its beautiful house of flowers.
Viraj Khorjuwekar
Off Guard
Drosera indica, an insectivorous plant, makes a quick meal of an unsuspecting prey in the Kaas plateau in Maharashtra.
