I walked outside and saw her on the young lilies that are coming up, so ran back in and got my macro camera setup (I tried to keep that ready this time of year) and went out and shot a few shots of her. They move rather quickly, so I used auto focus and tried to keep the focus point on her.
Type of Critique Requested
Aesthetic: Feedback on the overall visual appeal of the image, including its color, lighting, cropping, and composition.
Conceptual: Feedback on the message and story conveyed by the image.
Technical: Feedback on the technical aspects of the image, such as exposure, color, focus and reproduction of colors and details, post-processing, and print quality.
Specific Feedback and Self-Critique
I have always enjoyed Ladybugs, just something about them I really like. In this shot I like how the leaves are positioned and that the fill the frame.
Technical Details
I shot this hand held with my Canon 5D Mark IV, Canon 100mm L f2.8 macro lens with my KX-800 twin flash and DIY diffuser. Settings were f9, 1/200, ISO 100, flash at 1/8th power.
Wonderful capture, Shirley. Love the expression on her face, like she is looking for her friends. The composition with the leaves all bending in the same direction make a lovely setting. Good for you to have your camera at the ready, good lesson.
Really beautiful scene, Shirley! I love the details in the ladybug and leaves that she’s on. It makes for a really nice small world environmental image.
Oh so glad you’re back out at it. Wonderful light manipulation as usual. I really like the repeating pattern of the leaves and how well the beetle stands out there. Your focus is spot on as usual and I really like the positioning. They are trundling little things?
Two tiny things that could make this even better is a crop to eliminate the bright spot on the left edge and the tiny bit of leaf sticking up from the bottom. I’m looking forward to some of our bugs coming back…
Thank you, @linda_mellor@Vanessa_Hill and @Kris_Smith for viewing and commenting. Good catch, Kris. I have cropped in slightly to remove those distractions.
Wonderful!! I think this is the best lady bug picture I’ve seen. The detail and DOF on her are just right! The reflections and soft shadows are so nice and so nicely subdued, and the colors wonderful.
I had to play with the bits in the corner – easy cloning if you’re into things like that. And could have easily done the remaining leaf at the bottom. The very cool little bug deserves all the attention!
You are a master at handholding macro, and especially with a lighting rig – do you train with weightlifting?
Diane, I like what you did. Did you clone out the bottom leaf? If so, you are good and making the leaf behind it look like that was in the photo without the little leaf in front! My post processing skills aren’t that good.
I lift some weights, but they are like 10 lbs. Nothing hefty. Just trying to keep my muscles strong enough to do what I want to do. I like that the R5 is lighter, but I haven’t mastered the focus on it for macro yet. On the old 5D Mark IV the focus point is right there to place onto the subject. I need to really try the R5 shooting manual focus, I think. It is just fast moving things I haven’t conquered that skill yet. Maybe this year we will have more insects that don’t mind posing and I can work on that skill.
Shirley, the color contrast of the orange ladybug against the bright green spring leaves looks great. The shape also lets the bug stand out well. You’ve got a fine, feeling of spring here. While the bit of leaf at the very bottom is a minor distraction (and easy to clone out) everything else fits in well. Your crop also looks very good.
Thanks, Shirley. Just a simple wielding of the clone tool for each leaf and the two spots. I adjust the brush size so I get a soft edge and often set a 50% opacity and go over it several times with slightly different sample points if needed to get a smoother blend. (I’m a frustrated painter and cloning is WAY easier!)
Try eye AF on the R5 for macro. If it can’t find an actual eye it will often grab an insect’s head. Manual focus would be harder, I think – you’d have to move gently back and forth to hit the right spot and then shoot fast.
I have mine set up like this, which puts me in back button focus. I have the settings in one of the custom (green) menus for easy access:
AF method – I usually have it on the square (3rd item over) but it can vary with the subject
AF Operation — servo, for continuous focus on a moving subject
Customize Buttons – Shutter half-press on metering start only, not autofocus. AF-ON button to metering and AF start. AE Lock button (asterisk) to Eye Detection AF.
That lets me use the AF-ON button for normal focusing, and I can set which “shape” of focus area I need. And of course I can move that focus point wherever in the frame I need. But usually I can just hit the * button and eye AF will kick in and find the subject. It may need to have the eye centered to start with (or under the focus point wherever I have it placed) but once it finds it, it will follow the eye when I re-frame. If it doesn’t, I can give it a nudge with the AF-ON button then try the * button.
It’s elegantly simple. Sorta like, would you go back to doing laundry by hand??
This is wonderful!
The lighting, the soft shadows, the colors the pose, all of it is just great!.
“Elegant” is the word I was looking for.
The only strange thing to me is the dents and dings on her Pronotum (the little black shield looking part behind her head), I’ve never seen that on a lady bug before now, did you beat her into submission with a tiny baseball bat for the photoshoot? Lol
Sad story: I was TIG welding in my shop one day while using a pure argon shielding gas and as I was welding I kept seeing little streaks of something in my periphery, when I quit I was shocked to see dozens of ladybugs laying upside down and dead on the table around the weld. I never knew that could happen, I guess the light brought them in and the heat and gas killed them
Now, anytime I use the TIG welder, I close the door so they can’t come in.
Anyway, the cloning treatments that @Diane_Miller did was masterfully done.
I know how tedious (and fun) that can be, I really appreciate the quality of the results!
That said, the original was nothing to balk at, your skills with your macro gear is worth praising to say the least. Well Done, Shirley!
Diane, it sounds like we have our R5’s set up about the same, as far as I can tell. The only time I tried it on insects I think was honey bees, and it wanted to grab other things rather than the eye of the bee. I will try to check it out some more. I know the old 5D Mark IV is heavier, but I like having one camera set up for macro, and the long lens preferably on the R5 for birds through the window. It really does better for birds than the DSLR. I’m not ready to invest into another mirrorless right now just for the weight, and so I will continue using it mostly for macro I think.
Dishes too! I would not want to go back to hand washing dishes. During the pandemic I prayed that dishwasher would hold up because cooking was enough, but having to hand wash the dishes would really be tough. That is one duty I don’t care for, and I grew up doing both laundry and dishes by hand.
Thanks for sharing your settings. I really do like the R5 and hopefully it will be good for macro in many ways (stacking, etc.).
Merv, thank you for your kind comments. I don’t know what made the dent on the Ladybug (I didn’t beat her into submission to pose ) but I am guessing something may have tried to have her for lunch or something. I think I have seen that on them before.
) but I am guessing something may have tried to have her for lunch or something. I think I have seen that on them before.