The photographer is looking for thoughtful feedback on the image as a whole, especially around the areas noted below.
Feedback Focus: Artistic + Technical
About This Image
I imagine this small beetle zooming down the left side then across to the right, attempting to loop the loop. On second thoughts, maybe it’s bowling. Anyway, each white filament contains a seed at the end, and, in dry weather, these get dispersed by the wind. The jar-like structure at the bottom here is released from the seed pod of the vine, and contains a large number of these strands.
Feedback Requested
How is the composition? In general, anything needing a change?
A very interesting image. I have never seen something similar. A special scene.
Your focus stack seems to be effective, everything important is sharp in the image. What I like less, is the large OOF part at the left side of the image. It leaves me with the question if a slightly different viewpoint could have avoided this, but I suppose that you had no choice.
Hi Mike. I do wish the insect were facing away from that wall on the left, but the image is utterly fantastic even with that minor issue. Getting so many of the drops and the whole beetle in focus is quite an accomplishment in itself. While I like the natural history aspect of including the seed at the bottom, since it’s not in focus it tends to bug me a bit. Maybe a tighter crop as illustrated would also work?
Visual Notes
[Crop] avoid out of focus seed and minimize the wall on our left
Boy, this one is special when opened up in full size. Those droplets have a lot going on in them. To me, the seed pod at the bottom and the stick in the upper right are a bit distracting. I know they are part of the context, but they don’t really add much photographically aside from science of it all.
I attempted to other crops (and there would be others if you are comfortable removing that stick. Both of these reveal some other details. Of course, that might not be what you were going for. If you are a botanist, this is likely a bastardization of your photograph . The cut-offs for individual dew drops might be to be rethought, but I liked these two options.
And yes, I’m cutting up people’s photographs for my own enjoyment, so feel free to disregard completely. It may be that this removes the very thing you find interesting. If not, then you might enjoy playing around with some other framing options.
Choicers! Choices! Thanks to @Marylynne_Diggs@Huw_Thomas@Han_Schutten@Dennis_Plank - actually, this is one of the best ways to learn, other people’s improvements. I agree about removing the “jar” at the bottom, and I feel the stick can go too. This still leaves the fairly empty TRC, but that bug didn’t hang around long enough for me to recompose. I have to keep some of the "wall " on the left, but maybe it frames the shot a bit. So I ended up close to Dennis’s version, though I do love Marylynne’s second one too. More suggestions are still welcome! And I’ve added a fun bonus under the original.
Nice work on the revision. I like keeping the long strands of dew drops, and you’re right, at least for me, that just a tish of the curtain on the left isn’t a problem. I think it was the percentage of the frame in the original. Nice job getting rid of that stick!
I like your revision, Mike. If you really dislike the empty space in the upper right, one thing you could do that I’ve managed to make work at times is to move some of what you’ve taken off the bottom right and stick it in that empty space in the upper right. You might have to flip it and do a bit of blending to make it work.
This is a total Holy Cow wonderful and amazing!!! Incredible bug and perfect droplets. I do like the tighter crop but there is just no way to go wrong with this – it is at least a 15/10!!!
I’m a little late here, but I just love this image. All those water droplets on the filaments are amazing, and a few on the beetle itself as an added bonus. Your revision that got rid of the distractions, as was suggested, was a big improvement. I like the portrait orientation, but the landscape one works well too. Nicely done Mike.
I saw your bowler earlier today and didn’t have the time to comment. Holy Wow!
The image just gets better and betterer! The thumbnail image doesn’t do justice. The droplets and detail throughout are outstanding. You’ve got multiple ways to crop and none of them are wrong.
Thank you @Glenys_Passier@Ted_Forman@Diane_Miller@Marylynne_Diggs@Dennis_Plank . This has really been a communal effort in the end, which is great. Dennis, I think I’ll leave the empty space, as part of it I cropped away, and the strands on its left and below it stand out against the darker part. But yours is a good idea.
@Mike_Friel this is an impressive set of images that have color and sharpness. The revision looks good, although your image titled “The Bowler” screams of excellence (Could not help throwing in a veiled Halloween reference!). The repeated patterns of the water droplets are incredible and the diffused flash worked very well in producing subtle highlights and shadows. The subject is an immature milkweed seed bug and the silky filaments arise from the milkweeds 's seeds to help them disperse after ripening. Awesome presentation…Jim
Jim_Zablotny
(Jim Zablotny)
selected this as an Editor's Pick
15
The soft supplemental lighting provided by the diffused flash is essential for understanding the visual impact of this image. A wonderful series and I base the EP on the posting of The Bowler–a great photo very deserving of this week’s Macro and Close-up EP. …Jim
Brilliant textures and patterns here, Mike. A really cool scene. It’s a bummer about having to remove some of the distractions, but I do think the narrow revision is the best of the bunch.
I’m curious about your process. Is there a reason why, while employing flash, you prefer to shoot wider and focus stack rather than stop down? I admit I do barely any daytime macro work, so I’m interesting in learning why this works better for you.
. The cut-offs for individual dew drops might be to be rethought, but I liked these two options.
