The eyes have it

Image Critiques Macro/Close-up Critiques
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The eyes have it
The eyes have it1251×2000 217 KB

Found a rather small fly (~5-6mm) sitting on the edge of a leaf (some kind of lily I think) on a cold and windy May morning. Didn’t think too much of it at first, but after I shot the first series and started chimping to check focus and light, etc. I noticed the damaged/deformed eye. The fly was kind enough to sit still while I adjusted my position a few times to get a good view of the eye and decent light. It ended up as one of my favorite images of this year. Have not been able to id this beyond “fly” so I am open to any suggestions as to family or species.

Specific Feedback Requested

Is this a “good” image? For me, this is a stunning success on a technical level with a hand-held stack of a tiny bug and I’m worried I like the image so much for that accomplishment and being blind to perhaps poor “artistic” qualities…

Technical Details

EOS RP, Tamron SP 90 + Raynox DCR-250. 1/180s @ f11, ISO 800, diffused flash. Handheld. I took a rather long series and managed to stack 5 images and then added small details from 3 more shots during retouching for a total of 8 exposure making up this image.

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I too like this image very much, Ingemar! The damaged eye is extremely sharp, and it makes me wonder how close he may have been to losing his life, but escaped that time. I like the green on green of the leaf against the BG. The browns contrast well with the greens. Excellent shot, and right off I can’t think of anything to improve the shot.

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Igemar, the sharpness of the eye, thorax, and front two legs look great. The greens of the leaf and the transition from light to shadow also look good. A fine job with a hand-held stack.

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Hi,

I figured out what kind of fly this is. It is a member of the family Empididae which are known as dance flies. They are predators of small insects and mites. The eye morphology is normal and many of them will have very small eye facets on the lower portion of the eye. The photo has excellent sharpness and I like the lighting with darker background. A great shot indeed…Jim

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Hi. Thanks to @Shirley_Freeman and @Mark_Seaver for the kind words and especially to @Jim_Zablotny for the ID.

Much apreciated !

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