The photographer is looking for thoughtful feedback on the image as a whole, especially around the areas noted below.
Feedback Focus: Artistic + Technical
About This Image
Thunderstorms ran through all afternoon and was able to go out in between storms to look for small insects. This very young grasshopper was about 4.0mm in length and was able to get most of it in the plane of focus. Strong breezes prevented me from getting a good set of images for a stack.
Feedback Requested
How would you strengthen this image? The large, mottled eye does contribute to the overall cuteness of the subject. I wish that could have been able to get the tarsal segments in sharp focus too.
Jim, I’m not sure what you can do to strengthen this image. I love the eye though, so I’m wondering if you cropped down to just his head mainly, causing the focus to be on those beautiful eyes? Just a thought. I’m okay with it like it is but just trying to think of something that might help.
Jim: As a not quite converted to full time stacking guy I always enjoy the challenges and compromises involved with single capture. This is a good one although I must admit that the slightly OOF legs and feet caught my eye but probably more so since I associate most of your images with flawless stacking. Getting the focus on that eye makes the shot. I also like the subtle shadows on the leaf from your flash. I would not crop as tight as @Shirley_Freeman but even if you keep the entire critter in the frame it increases the proportion of the eye to the frame and gets most of the attention. >=))>
Cute critter! I really like the eye, and it looks kind of shy to me :-). I’m not sure how to strengthen this image, but for future reference, I’d have tried to be as parallel as I could to the insect to avoid the out-of-focus areas. Topaz AI and Nik Efex’s Detail Extractor may help a little bit, but don’t expect miracles.
Thank you @canan , @Bill_Fach , and @Shirley_Freeman for your critiques and comments. It has been so windy here that I have to use autofocus to at least get a reasonable shot. Every time I tried to rotate the rig to get those tarsi sharp, the hopper would lean away from me. This was the best that I could get for the conditions during the shoot. Stacking was totally out of the question with this uncooperative grasshopper…Jim
