Half Banded Toper (Dragonfly type insect)

[ff151]

What do you guys think?

[mysticeyesx]

nice series of shots.i like 2 & 4

[matthewchj]

Lovely shots showing lots of detail on the insect but leaving a nicely blurred background.

Love the first one the best.

[wulf]

The first one is also my favourite - I'm not quite convinced that the cropping couldn't be improved and I find the writing distracting but I love the sharpness of the wing detail. I don't think the others are quite as successful in focusing on a critical area and look a bit soft in comparison.

What lens did you use for these shots?

Wulf

[brianfarrell]

Second one for me - and like Wulf, I too would prefer to see the image without the text. In the close-ups, you have focus on the face - for better impact you need to put critical focus on the eyes - same rules as any portrait

hth
Brian

PS the big domed things behind the antennae are the eyes for those who need to know...

PPS I've got a shot on here which has focus on the eyes - it isn't perfect by any means but might show you what I mean... see thread 'toothpick'

[ff151]

Thanks for your comments guys, I am still learning as I go.

The lense I was using was 80-200mm f2.8 with extension tubes hand held.

FF

[wulf]

What aperture did you use? I wonder if the sharpness problem is that DoF is minimal when you get close enough for macro photography - 2.8 might let in more light but stopping further down gives a wider area of sharpness, even if the resulting picture is a bit underexposed and needs to be boosted a touch in post-processing (much easier than trying to simulate sharpness!).

The pictures of the bug's face are impressively close-up and would be breathtaking if they were sharper.

Wulf

[brianfarrell]

Originally Posted by ff151

Thanks for your comments guys, I am still learning as I go.

The lense I was using was 80-200mm f2.8 with extension tubes hand held.

FF

For a handheld shot with that lens and tubes, you did really well

[ff151]

I was trying to get my exposure correct yet give more DOF. I tried to adjust my aperature from 2.8 but found that the pics turned out quite dark. I am fairly new to photography and have not experimented with creating a dark exposure and lightening it up with software. This I will probably do in months to come.

If only you guys saw me trying to brace myself on the edge of a ditch, and handhold the camera, you would be laughing!

[wulf]

Did you adjust your ISO setting? Each "click" along that track would let you adjust the aperture by one step in the other direction. Likewise, it looks more like DoF rather than motion blur, so you might be able to use a slightly slower shutter speed to make another adjustment towards a smaller aperture (ie. larger number, less light but greater DoF).

Wulf