The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
More bugs on the deck!
Flat-headed Apple tree borer - another new bug for me. This one was a little shy, but eventually I managed to get a couple decent photos. The first view shows that flat head pretty well. The second shows a bit of neon green that really is that color, and I noticed a lot more of it in the wings when it popped open the elytra and flew away. Cute little thing. IRL it’s about 1/2 an inch long.
The eyes knock me out - so much like bee eyes. At first I thought it might be another kind of leaf hopper, but then I realized it has elytra and so - beetle definitely. Good thing I have giant beetle book so could get an ID. These guys are common throughout North America and are only considered pests in orchards that are already in bad shape. The male has a bright green face as well.
Specific Feedback
Whatever could make this better is welcome.
Technical Details
Handheld w/LED panel on a flexible arm attached to the hotshoe.
Side view -
Top view -
Lr for all processing including some denoise AI action for #1 and basics for managing luminosity and both. Added some texture and clarity and cropped a little for both. Some distraction and dust spot removal (eek, dirty lens!). The top down view went through Topaz Sharpen AI to add detail and push down noise.
Hi Kris,
wow, that guy is really cool. It looks like it is not from this world. It has very nice textures on the elytra (I have to admit, I had to look up the word first ).
I find the vibrant green background a bit distracting in the first image. Maybe I would try to desaturate that greens. A crop would probably be too tight.
I wonder where you always find these great insects… awesome!!!
Kris: I really like the two different POV. On the first image I would just make the green top go away but it’s no big deal. I like the second as a stand alone image and love all of the incredibly fine details and colors. Just curious, what is the BG? >=))>
Kris, I never knew there was such a thing as a Flat-headed Apple tree borer before.
You really nailed both shots. Great details. It would be better in the first if the green BG wasn’t there, but it is still an excellent shot. Not a bug that I will probably see around here, because as far as I know, there are no apple trees nearby. At least not an orchard. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks @Bill_Fach, @Jens_Ober & @Shirley_Freeman - I love finding new guys to photograph and my open to the sky deck is host to a lot of them. The beetle is sitting on my deck railing which is a synthetic or composite material instead of wood. So it has a strange texture, but makes a kind of nice, neutral background. Good point about the green of the lawn in the distance. I’ve put a 2nd version in the OP for comparison.
Another excellent bug, with lovely detail in soft light. I’m with @Jens_Ober in losing the dark green BG. Simple as it is, it competes with the subject.
Pretty nice buprestid shots and all three views are nice and sharp with excellent color. This group of Chrysobothris is full of cryptic species so at best call the beetle Chrysobothris species in the femorata complex. Well done…Jim
Thanks @Shirley_Freeman, @Jens_Ober, @Diane_Miller & @Jim_Zablotny - you are probably right that I shouldn’t have specified a single species as there are look-alikes. It was funny though, I attempted to use the key at the beginning of the book and turned randomly to a page to get to the one I wanted and my thumb was on this exact species account. I noticed and was gobsmacked. The section I was going to was the wrong one, but randomly I got to the right one. Thanks, universe!
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