I saw this tiny little bug on our Spider Wort Plant, and went and got my camera. Evidently he was feeding so didn’t mind me being there. I could move leaves around and that helped me get a fairly good angle on him.
Type of Critique Requested
Aesthetic: Feedback on the overall visual appeal of the image, including its color, lighting, cropping, and composition.
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 always like getting shot of small critters that we really can’t see very well just looking at them. This was less than a quarter of an inch long.
Technical Details
Shot with my Canon 5D Mark IV HH, with Canon 100mm f2.8 L macro lens, KX-800 twin flash with homemade diffuser, all manual settings, including manual focus.
Wow, Shirley, a quarter of an inch long. I am pretty sure I would not have even seen him. I do like how you have place him in the composition and how the horizonal lines create a nice flow. Nicely seen and captured.
A a tiny little dude. Looks like a kind of leaf hopper. With such strong repeating lines in this with the leaf and the bug, I’d try putting them into a diagonal - maybe with the head facing up. I think this would be a good way to add interest and some energy. Right now it feels a little flat. A bit of local contrast/clarity on the bug might help, too. Nice details on this wee creature.
I am continuously impressed with your macro images.
I may have try that KX-800 twin flash setup, it has proven to produce some very nice lighting effects.
Either that or make some sort of side bracket so I can mount my current flash and diffuser to the side so the lighting isn’t from the head on orientation. At present I’m using a remote setup where the flash is on it’s own mini tripod but that’s not always convenient or possible in the field.
I think @Kris_Smith had a good idea about rotating this so the little bugger is headed up hill.
I hope it’s OK that I played around with your image, I wanted to see what the rotation would look like and I was curious to see if I could get a little more texture and definition out of it.
I may have went overboard with the contrast though.
I still love to see the world of tiny critters through magnifying lenses, as you say, this level of observation just isn’t possible without our macro gear and skill.
Oh yes, Merv, this looks much better with him going uppers. Thank you @linda_mellor for your kind comments, @Kris_Smith for the suggestion and @Merv for showing me what it would look like. Much better. I might back off a bit on the green though, because on my screen it is starting to look too green, much greener that the leaf really was. I will try my hand at it. I am just still having to watch how much sitting time because of my back, and when I get to editing photos, I can lose all track of time. Again, thanks.
Color and contrast are very subjective so I try not to push my personal opinions on those, I may make suggestions but that’s about it.
The contrast in the green on this one was more of a byproduct (rather than intentional).
My monitors may be throwing things off a bit too. They’re cheap and old and one of them is analog.
I think I have finally made up my mind which brand and model of monitors I want to purchase to replace these cheap dinosaurs, it’s just a matter of hitting the Buy Now button and watch my bank balance drop. Lol
I’ve had a few Dell products, they are a good brand for sure.
My monitors are calibrated as much as possible but they aren’t really suitable for photography so that’s the main reason for upgrading.
I bought them for use with 3D industrial machine design software, that application doesn’t require good color or even good resolution for that matter.
Very Cool Macro shot. Lots of editing ideas and they all work in my opinion…I like the closer shot of the insect the best but they all give the viewer something different to look at… I thing the green is good and i like the softer edges on the leaf. DOF can really be a challenge using a macro lens. …
