Ed, seeing the ants here brought back ugly thoughts of my last trip into the field. Although mosquitoes are a given depending upon the season and or available water for breeding. But to have ants attack me was a first. It was in the desert and all I could think of was the old James Whitmore & James Arness movie, “THEM”. The ants that got me were not the same size as in the movie, but their bite was “radioactive” for sure…
I would try a Pano slice on this one to see if you like it. Crop down from the top to eliminate some of the OOF BG up there and help narrow some of the attention to the ant action. …
Wow, GREAT capture! Perfect look at the ants (even their eyes!) and the poor beetle. True colours, and nice environment. I agree to try the crop Paul suggested, to focus on the action
Excellent!
Very cool, Ed. I can see why you cropped it where you did. Much further off the top starts cutting into the stem and faded flower which is going to be difficult to make look good. A very good image-did you have to crop this a lot? Just curious on how close that setup can focus.
Thank you @Dennis_Plank. I’m attaching the original RAW file here. Sorry for the huge file. I just experimented in our computer room and got it to focus at 700 mm from about five feet away. I think it may actually go a bit closer than that. _R1A3839.CR3 (21.9 MB)
Ed, they remind me of fire ants which have an abundance of here in North Carolina and points south of us. I think they are named that because when you get bit by one it burns like fire. If they find an insect that is injured or dying they pounce on it. Not a way the insect would like their final moments to be I am sure. I am amazed that you could capture these tiny ants with a long lens like that. I have 150-600 mm lens, so I am thinking that would work pretty good too. I’m wondering if you had used f9 or even f7.1 you would have blurred out some of the busy BG and still have the insect and ants sharp. Not sure. I had trouble opening the RAW file but just looking at what you submitted here I think you did a good job with it.
Ed: Great action and a fine capture. After reading the comments regarding a crop I thought I would play with it and used generative fill on the dead flower. It’s kind of scary what AI can do. I was pretty amazed at the result. Back to you. >=))>
Thank you very much @Paul_Breitkreuz, @SandyR-B, @Shirley_Freeman, and @Bill_Fach. Paul, it sounds like you had a run in with either fireants or harvester ants. Both can sting really hard, but the harvesters can bite and hang on too. Bill, it is amazing what AI will do. Nice job and nice crop to help focus on the action here. Shirley, thanks for the guidance on apertures. I’ve never been stung by the imported fireants, but I had about fifteen of the little fireants hit my leg at the same time in Yuma, AZ. Talk about an electric shock! Ouch!
@Ed_Williams not sure what ants they were but the were large black ants and dwelling in a volcanic rock area… @Bill_Fach not aware of what AI processing here but that was the visual crop I had in mind. Basically keeping the focus on the action…
