The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
I took this bee fly picture while my son and I were collecting insects in Southeastern Arizona last August. Dr. Kevin A. Williams is an entomologist for the State Ag Department. He just got his Princeton Field Guide to the Velvet Ants of North America published. It has some amazing photography by my son’s co-doctoral student Dr. Joseph S. Wilson. Every year he drags me to the California and Arizona deserts in search of his special group of insects. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.
Specific Feedback
It was very bright in the sun when I took this photo. I hope the whites aren’t too blown out.
Technical Details
Canon 7D Mark II, 100-400 EF lens with 1.4 Ext. at 560 mm, f8, 1/1600 sec, iso 400
Ed, that sounds like a wonderful experience with your son out in the deserts where you can photograph insects. The details are good in bee fly, but looks like the focus point might have been on the back end of him. Still, but being set at f8, it gave you enough DOF. I think if it was mine, and I had any room at the top I would add room at the top and crop some off the bottom, just to give the bee fly room to take off. I hope you have more shots from your trip to share.
A very nice shot of the Bee Fly Ed. The depth of field works well. I think you could crop up a bit from the bottom to eliminate the out of focus flower in the lower right and maybe take a touch off the right, though if you add to the top as @Shirley_Freeman suggested, the latter may not be desirable.
@teri3 Teri, @Dennis_Plank Dennis and @Shirley_Freeman Shirley, thank you for your comments and suggestions. I went back through my files and found another shot of the same bee fly that I like a bit better. It is actually sucking nectar from the little flower in this one. Both of these are pretty deep crops, (?40% of original?). Same specs as before. I gave it a bit more room at the top this time.
I prefer your added shot, showing the proboscis in action. If you were to crop off all of the top here, including the mimosa-like leaves (i.e. about 35%), I think the composition would be better - and it would highlight your gorgeous insect more. Nice shots! (I’d like to see a shot of a Velvet Ant one day too).
Ed, these are both nice looks at this small fly. I do somewhat prefer your 2nd view, mostly because of where you’ve placed the fly in the frame. I like that you show the surroundings and that they don’t compete with the fly due to the sharpness difference. I used your camera & lens combo for a number of years and it’s a good one for fast moving critters, although in my personal testing, I could see a decrease in sharpness with the 1.4 TX when looking at 1:1.
