Grasshoppers

[Bus-Driver]

Had to take this one quickly, as a couple thousand mosquito where trying to suck all my blood while walking through a botanic garden in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Any thoughts? What could I do to improve it? I know the big grasshopper is a bit out of focus, don't know how bad do you think that affects the final quality of the picture. Unfortunately didn't have time to set the picture as good as I would have wanted (lesson learned, I'm taking a lot of repellent next time I go there)

Also, is post processing OK or did I overdo it?



EXIF:
Camera: Sony A33
Aperture: 8
Exposure: 1/800
ISO: 400
Focal Lenght: 300mm

I have been taking pictures with a P&S for years, and just decided to get into the wallet and buy myself my own DSLR about a month ago, and have been taking it everywhere trying to learn. This forum is really helping, the amount of info here it's great for guys like me trying to get their photography to the next level.

Thanks,

[RichardTaylor]

Technical:
It appears some of the picture is very overexposed (the heads etc) and yes both grass hoppers should be sharp (maybe shooting at F16 would help).

Aesthetic:
There is a lot of space on the right hand side that would be better cropped out to help the composition.
The post appears ok.

[dlambert]

I like the splash of purple at the bottom -- without that, the image is pretty overwhelming in its "greenness". I agree that the hoppers should be a little sharper - it almost looks like the hind legs are the sharpest part of the photo.

[crockny]

This is a really cute picture but I agree with the above posters -- the hind ends of the grasshoppers are sharp but not the heads which are also overexposed ... you caught a good moment ... the purple adds nothing for me. I think if they were sharp the green wouldn't be overwhelming to me ...

[Bus-Driver]

Richard,

I'll follow your advise and try to shoot at F16 for that type of subjects. I'm going to the same place again tomorrow, so hopefully I'll get a second chance to get a better one!

I cropped the picture that way thinking about the rule of thirds, you think centering the picture a bit more would make it better?

David,

I hadn't even noticed the excessive "greenness" ... thanks for pointing it out. I guess you'll like this new picture better as it has a lot more of different tones now.

Crockny,

Thanks, I modified it a bit to underexpose the head and sharp it a bit more. Not that I think I can fix the mistake I made when taking the picture, but just trying to get the best out of it.

Would you guys think this is better in terms of composition and exposure? Or did the other one with the grasshoppers to one side was better? (I'm also trying to keep the 2:3 ratio for future printing)

Thanks,