The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
I’m not sure what the ID of this little pollinator is, so if anyone has some input on that, I would greatly appreciate it. They usually are skittish, so was glad when this guy was so busy with what he was doing that he let me get in close enough for a 1:1 macro shot.
Specific Feedback
Is the BG too distracting? Composition work?
Technical Details
Canon 5D Mark IV, Canon 100 mm f2.8 L macro lens, KX-800 twin flash with DIY diffuser, HH, all manual settings to include manual focus. 1/200, f10, ISO 160. Edited lightly in LR.
A fuzzy fly and fuzzy flowers. Terrific catch! I think this is a type of Bombyliidae which is a family of bee imitating flies that has hundreds of species. They cannot retract the proboscis and so they bang around with it out like that instead of discreetly folded like a butterfly’s. Adults eat nectar, but the kids…oh the kids. They are parasitic or direct predators of other insect eggs and larvae. Such is life.
I really like the X you managed to get with the flower stems going in different directions. You could crop the top most blossom with its dead part if you wanted - the placement of the fly should work for it. Lovely light and flash control as always.
Hi Shirley,
once again a wonderful macro shot. The composition is great.
I agree with @Kris_Smith about the crop. Maybe I would additionaly burn the brightest blossom in the blurry background slightly (in the upper left).
@Kris_Smith, Thank you very much for my daily dose of insect education. This makes the little unknown critters interesting and somehow likeable.
You’re welcome, @Jens_Ober - I have an ever-growing collection of field guides, general nature books and subject specific books that I use for identification and just to learn about the things I’m taking pictures of. I love learning new things and continue to be surprised by all the things nature does and is. I think I posted about my collection at some point here on NPN in the resources section, but it probably needs updating with the last few books I bought.
Hi Shirley,
I like your rework. I wonder what the picture would look like if you hadn’t cut off the flower on the right edge.
I guess you wanted to keep the same aspect ratio?
Thank you @Kris_Smith for your rework by just clicking. Sometimes I just think crop and not clone. I like what you did. I really didn’t want to lose any of the top flowers.
Shirley, these bees are hard to shoot because they move so fast, constantly. You did well here, with excellent detail in the bee and the flowers. I like your original post where the flowers aren’t cut off on the right edge. I could also see cropping a bit tighter from the lower left to move the bee closer to the LRC.
