Critique Style Requested: Standard
The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
The Pellucid Hawk Moth sucks nectar through its proboscis like a straw. Holding on to the flower with its front legs, it visits each disk floret in turn, while keeping its wings hovering all the time. Its beautiful - if slightly intimidating - eyes ensure full focus on the job. However, it sometimes fail to see a waiting praying mantis. Today the hummer in the second photo later lost a lot of its tail to a mantis, but luckily lived to see another day out. That tongue is also ideal for pollination, as it is so sticky.
Specific Feedback
The first shot (from 4 years ago) is hugely cropped, so is not as sharp or noise-free as I would like. For the second, taken today, I used a Helios vintage lens; the DOF could be better. All comments welcome.
Technical Details
1: D7100 + 105mm macro 1/400 f13 ISO 640
Heavily cropped and run through both Topaz Denoise and Imagenomic Noiseware (which improved on Topaz’s job). Highlights and Curves in PS.
2: D500 + Helios 58mm f2 1/5000 ISO 5000 (f stop not recorded)
Denoise, Shadows and Highlights, reduced Vibrance a little, Smart Sharpen - all in PS