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.
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
