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
Possibly agrilus cyanescens, although none of the ones I saw looked especially green (there is a dark morph that’s pretty common, too). These two are only about 5mm long and very cute. I found them on several Wood Anemone flowers happily eating nectar. Not sure if they also nibbled the petal or if that was something else. They seemed pretty blasé about trying to make more beetles and eat at the same time. There were many pairs around, but these were in the best position on the flower. I have a shot looking down at them as well, although they don’t appear very green in that one either.
Feedback Requested
So the composition is a bit odd, mostly because in order to get that metallic sheen to be visible, I had to shoot in direct sun which made the flower itself very bright. To de-emphasize, I cut it off and cropped square. Should I have left it in a more vertical orientation?
Tripod/handheld: hh
Focus method: auto
Filters: zip
Technique: hm…had focus peaking on to make sure
Conditions: kinda windy, but not terrible
Processing software: Lr
Major adjustments: the usual global adjustments to manage dynamic range, texture, sharpening and some masking to further lift darks in bugs and lower whites in flower.
Blending/stacking: none
Other notes:
Kris, these guys sure are metallic, and you did a fine job bringing that out. I’m good with the square crop myself. I like that you captured them at eye level and face on. You have a nice smooth BG that makes them and the flower stand out nicely.
Kris: You really handled the dynamic range well here. I do think I would prefer a 4x5 crop including the entire flower. I do want to see that lower petal. The capture of the beetles and the flower center is excellent and I like the BG a lot too. Maybe not A+ but pretty darn close. >=))>
Hi Kristen, This is a fabulous image and I love the point of view. You caught the sparkle! As for cropping, it’s of course a matter of taste, but to my eye, I would either like to see the whole flower, or much less of it. I can picture a crop of the bottom third or so, right above the flower stem, and going right through the bunch of stamens. That would give more attention to the wood-borers.
Great capture of these interesting bugs. The metallic sheen is very well rendered. I would suggest cropping more from the bottom to focus more attention on the bugs. It would have been great to capture the whole flower, but if that wasn’t possible, then why not crop even more from the bottom to make it look more intentional and less accidental?
Thanks @Bill_Fach , @Elizabeth_Thompson & @canan - thanks for the feedback and opinions on the cropping. It’s so individual isn’t it? So I’ve included a couple new versions for you to soak up. Either of them a clear winner?
Yes, it is very individual! I do like the tighter crop to focus on the insect, but I also very much like the full flower, except that the lower petal is damaged, which is a distraction to this botanist’s eye.
Thanks @canan , @Elizabeth_Thompson & @Diane_Miller - looks like the tight square is the winner so far. The flowers were pretty much all nibbled at this point, they must be tasty to something. Anemone blossoms are really pretty and I went through a phase with those in around 2010-12 or so and also Hepatica etc. Now I just ignore them a lot since I have so many good shots and don’t really bother unless there is something outstanding. You know how it is.
I’m guessing that these are Anthaxia inornata which are common on flowers in late spring. I would need a top down shot to nail the ID. Agrilus cyanescens is associated with Lonicera (Honeysuckle) and is normally metallic bluegreen to green in color. Revision 1 catches my eye the best out of the series. For metallic insects, use a large concave diffuser with flash for the best display of color. You could try a prudent use of Shadows & Highlights on a layer to bring out some of the colors hiding in the shadows. Comp looks good and you did fairly well with your gear getting these buprestids…Jim
Kris: I know I longed to see the entire flower but after seeing its condition I’ll take that back. The tighter crop does bring more emphasis to the beetles and I do think I agree with the others that it’s the winner. Nice job working this series of images. >=))>
Thanks @Jim_Zablotny & @Bill_Fach - thanks for the revised estimation of the species, I am by no means an expert and heck, I’m glad I got the family right! Was lazy and had no flash with me on this walk, so maybe I can do better if I see such little guys again. I forgot to say the petal was partially eaten, so maybe it would have worked better had it been whole.
Insofar as Photoshop goes, I realized that by not using it for the better part of 3 years means I’ve forgotten how to do just about everything and either have to let it go or take a lot of refresher time.
