A couple of days ago I was sitting in my garden enjoying the unexpected summer sun (it might be the only one this year) when I spotted something on an aging oak fence.  What was surprising was it was 30’ away and I could easily see the shape of the object dark against the light weathered oak.  I didn’t remember it being there so I squinted a bit and noted that it had legs and antennae.  So I got up and moved closer and it became apparent that it was a large male Stag Beetle.  A couple of minutes later and I had the camera and macro lens and was taking pics.  Although I’ve seen Stag Beetles before in our area, it was the first time I’ve been able to photograph one.  Nice!

The Stag Beetle is Britain’s largest insect (not to mention, one of the easiest to identify). 

Gear: Nikon D500 105mm f//2.8 D micro nikkor lens at f 7.1mm ISO 400 and 1/80sec.