undernourished

[cristen]

Camera Canon EOS 500D
Exposure 0.025 sec (1/40)
Aperture f/5.6
Focal Length 55 mm
ISO Speed 200
Exposure Bias 0 EV
Flash Off, Did not fire

Taken on a damp afternoon at my backyard. I call this one undernourished coz there seem to be nothing to eat in that area.

This has been edited in Gimp, just cropping and some color enhancement, nothing more. Please critique on composition and the settings as I used close up lenses, stacked one after another, +1, +2, +4 and +10 on my kit lens.

For you, ChicagoJohn..

[chicagojohn]

Originally Posted by cristen

Camera Canon EOS 500D
Taken on a damp afternoon at my backyard. I call this one undernourished coz there seem to be nothing to eat in that area.

This has been edited in Gimp, just cropping and some color enhancement, nothing more. Please critique on composition and the settings as I used close up lenses, stacked one after another, +1, +2, +4 and +10 on my kit lens.

..

WOW...While I may be biased, admittedly, and my friend and resident macro expert Thunder may hopefully comment on it with some gravitas, I really do like it a lot, especially knowing what you are dealing with in depth of field issues by using these filter magnifying lenses, especially stacked to give maximum magnification. Focusing is really tricky under this circumstance.

That band of depth of field is clear on the green leaf and also extending over to the brown, spotted leaf. Yet the bulk of sharpness definitely makes the insect pop, and I like the carry-over of color and pattern of the brown leaf that the insect makes onto the green leaf.

I also like the rule of thirds placement of the subject along with the vibrant color, and I especially like the white tips on the ends of the legs; what a cool-looking dude! With those white shoes, s/he might have worked well in the shoes assignment.

Thanks for sharing! (Maybe s/he isn't undernourished; could be a lithe insect body for all we know)

[cristen]

Originally Posted by chicagojohn

WOW...While I may be biased, admittedly, and my friend and resident macro expert Thunder may hopefully comment on it with some gravitas, I really do like it a lot, especially knowing what you are dealing with in depth of field issues by using these filter magnifying lenses, especially stacked to give maximum magnification. Focusing is really tricky under this circumstance.

That band of depth of field is clear on the green leaf and also extending over to the brown, spotted leaf. Yet the bulk of sharpness definitely makes the insect pop, and I like the carry-over of color and pattern of the brown leaf that the insect makes onto the green leaf.

I also like the rule of thirds placement of the subject along with the vibrant color, and I especially like the white tips on the ends of the legs; what a cool-looking dude! With those white shoes, s/he might have worked well in the shoes assignment.

Thanks for sharing! (Maybe s/he isn't undernourished; could be a lithe insect body for all we know)

I know this is way, way, way out of the league of Thunder's macros.

But let me thank you for your bias, Mr. CJ. Such encouraging and kind words make up for the difficulty in focusing, given my poor eyesight. I guess I managed to pull a good one out of my hat... if only for the color and the composition. :P

And yes, those shoes are cool...

[Thunder_o_b]

Hi cristen,

Taking into account the gear that you are using, I have to say that you did extremely well. You can get around the shallow DOF in macro shots by having the eyes, head, and as much as the body in focus as possible, by getting a straight on shot, working to have the focus trail off towards the tail of the subject. This you did quite well.

Your composition to my eye is spot on. As ChicagoJohn said, your use of the rule of thirds is effective in this shot, having the open space in front of the subject giving it somewhere to go.

The only thing that I could suggest (and I REALY am nitpicking here) would be to darken down the light spot on the dead leaf in the lower right corner.

I think you can be proud of this shot.

[cristen]

Hello, Thunder.

This is nowhere near your macros. But from you and chicagojohn, two of the people I admire most here in DPS for your wonderful, amazing shots, in depth critique and sharp, trained eyes, I get more encouragement than anything else.

Thank you.