The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Temperatures have been up and down this spring and many insects have been caught off guard when air temps change rapidly. This bumblebee queen was trying to pick up some heat from the paved portion of our driveway so that she could head to her nest. Overall, this type of flash diffuser creates a large bright area that eliminates harsh highlights and reveals details that otherwise might be missed in natural light photography. I should have stacked this one, but unfortunately was hand holding the camera for this photo.
Specific Feedback
I under-exposed the image and did not have the lower reflector installed so the shadowed areas do not have much detail. Do you think the highlights look OK? I like how the flash revealed the micro-texture in the wings.
Technical Details
Z9 105mmf2.8 Micro (1/100sec at f16, ISO 800, Diffused flash 0.0ev) Levels, Brightness & Contrast, Microcontrast enhancement, slight crop for comp…Jim
Critique Template
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Jim: Looks pretty good to me. I agree with you regarding the wing detail and the area around the head is finely rendered as well. As an avowed devotee of single capture I appreciate your DOF management and your POF choices. I have to admit I’m softening regarding stacking and find it interesting that we’ve almost come to expect total subject sharpness. It kind of bugs me that the slightly OOF foreleg grabs my attention where in times past I would not have given it a second thought. Perhaps because it’s in the FG where we expect clarity it’s more noticeable. The OOF BG is actually a big plus for me. All in all a fine capture and solid technique on your part. >=))>
Excellent!! The soft highlights and wing detail are excellent, and the darks look just right.
I hadn’t heard about this diffuser and it looks well worth trying! How would you rate it? Does it stay in place well without sagging or flopping around?
Looks like that diffuser works really well, Jim. No glare at all off the brighter pebbles, yet the bee is very well lit. I particularly like the way the highlight areas like the wings and eyes are lit without being garish. A good test of the equipment and very nice result.
Hi @Diane_Miller . This flash diffuser is a double concave design made of flexible plastic that snaps together. I still need to try it out on bright sunny days, but cool temps prevail in my area. The velcro strap secures it to the flash and it seems to work just fine without slipping.
Hi Jim. I bought the same diffuser a couple of months ago (excellent service, arrived in Korea from Florida in < a week). I keep the lower reflector on, and like how dark/shaded areas reveal a lot of detail. In the case above, I’m guessing that you could have got even lower (ouch!) and those bottom parts of the bee would have been even sharper, as the flash should take care of tricky focus points. I usually use manual flash set to 1/32 or 1/64. Do you remember what you used here? I think the BG could be toned down just a wee bit too. However, nice shot of a lovely bee.
Thank you @Mike_Friel. I still have to do some tweaking to my methods and hope to get the lower reflector attached for my next expedition. I used TTL-BL +0.0ev. for the flash settings and it was fairly dark out at the time the photo was taken. There was not enough distance between bee and subject to pull the BG down by 1 stop. I’ll try manual settings next time, although ttl-bl does a good job providing a balanced exposure.
Jim, the lighting looks really nice. It looks like that diffuser is doing the job. I have looked at it before but did by it. I may have to put that on my wish list.
