The photographer is looking for thoughtful feedback on the image as a whole, especially around the areas noted below.
Feedback Focus: Artistic / Expressive
About This Image
While sitting at my desk I noticed all these flies around a pine tree in my front yard. At times they would hover in mid air, perfectly motionless (hence the name). I used a long lens to isolate individual flies and shot several frames through a window, trying at first to capture some images of one as it was hovering. But that didn’t work so well. As quickly as I got one in focus it moved on, so I concentrated my efforts on getting some shots of the flies as they landed on the pine needles. There were several that looked good, but I settled on this one as the best of the bunch.
Feedback Requested
General feedback would be appreciated. It was a very sunny day so I toned down several areas that were bright to eliminate some distracting spots, so let me know what you think. Thanks for looking!
Technical Details
Camera: Canon EOS R6m2
Lens: RF100-400mm F5.6-8 IS USM + EXTENDER RF1.4x
Focal length: 560mm
Shutter speed: 1/640s
Aperture: f/11
ISO: 2000
Handheld
Processed in LR, cropped, highlights toned down.
Ted, I would have never thought to shoot a Hoverfly through the window! They are pretty tiny. It may be my old eyes, but it looks like it might have started loosing details in the fur/fuzz on him, so I’m wondering if the reach was just too much. I haven’t tried any of the RF extenders yet to know if they work well or not. I’m wondering about the composition, if instead of a square crop you made it a 4:3 ratio, losing some of the top of the image that doesn’t seem to be adding to the image. Just a thought. I like how you caught him walking the needle. It makes me think of one walking a tight rope.
Oh the bane of having to shoot through a window! I just did with a doe & fawn in the backyard, but it’s never ideal. As Shirley pointed out, the loss of sharpness is a bummer, the extender probably didn’t help either. Hover flies are very cute and irresistible so I appreciate the effort you made. Seen small it is enjoyable and fun since these guys are so interesting. The side view is a good one, too. I always like the butt bobbing they do when they land. So funny. You can get them used to you if you go out with them, so maybe that’s something you can try next. A few times they were so blasé about my presence that they would land on my forearms. Not great for photos, but getting them to accept your presence is a start.
I like that composition better. I like what @Kris_Smith has suggested, just getting out there and letting them get used to you. That would be a really neat shot in the composition that you have in the revised taken up close. They are cute little guys and fun to try to photograph.
Thank you @Kris_Smith and @Shirley_Freeman. I don’t usually like to shoot through a window, but in this case it was convenient. I’ll definitely have to get out there with the Hoverflies next time I see them.
It’s amazing what will come within range if you sit still. Just this afternoon a chipmunk nearly sat on my foot as I waited for hummingbirds. They did come, but the bush in flower is so busy that I didn’t get a shot off since they moved so quick and disappeared. Also a Robin hopped within a few feet of me and of course where were bees, flies and a carrion beetle that crashed into the house. Silly thing.
Ted: Nice work even with some challenging conditions. Nice job on the repost as well. The sitting still advice is right on unless you start attracting mosquitos, then a hasty retreat is in order. Well done. >=))>
The selling feature of macro-photography is detail and sharpness. Unfortunately, the window glass did not help you out and suggests that you need to head outside and take more photos of these flies. I am amazed that you did get a lot of detail through the window glass and the hair-like arista on the antenna is crisp. The cropped repost looks good and can’t wait for new photos of these hover flies. Well done…Jim
