toothpick

[brianfarrell]

Southern Hawker - Aeshna cyanea (m)



He decided to clean his teeth whilst visiting our garden a couple of weeks ago (just kidding kids )

[TheOtherOne]

Great macro.
Even if I dont like insects I have to admitt that these creators are wonderful. WOW! This world is amazing.

[brianfarrell]

Originally Posted by TheOtherOne

Great macro.
Even if I dont like insects I have to admitt that these creators are wonderful. WOW! This world is amazing.

Thanks. It certainly is an amazing world out there

[rikkersc]

Wow! I'll have to say that is an awesome shot. Have you seen the cover of the book Digital Macro Photography by Ross Hoddinott? Almost identical!!! I don't know if something is lost in the printing process, but I would venture to say your shot is much crisper.

Excellent work!

Can you tell us what equipment you used?

[matthewchj]

Whoa!

Really nice shot!!

I love the colour and detail of the fly.

[brianfarrell]

Originally Posted by rikkersc

Wow! I'll have to say that is an awesome shot. Have you seen the cover of the book Digital Macro Photography by Ross Hoddinott? Almost identical!!! I don't know if something is lost in the printing process, but I would venture to say your shot is much crisper.

Excellent work!

Can you tell us what equipment you used?

Thanks for those kind words rikkersc! I looked up the book on Amazon http://tinyurl.com/2fjgjf - I see what you mean! I was fortunate with this guy - he came into the garden and let me get right up close and I was able to get off a number of shots - this is the best.

I used my Olympus E-500 with 40-150mm kit lens and EX-25 (25mm) extension tube. The exif is on the image if you want the gory details.

This version of the image has been sharpened up a tad (I know some folk who'd say it's over-sharpened ) in PS using the high pass filter.

Anyway - thanks again for your kind comments!

Regards
Brian

[brianfarrell]

Originally Posted by brianfarrell

This version of the image has been sharpened up a tad (I know some folk who'd say it's over-sharpened ) in PS using the high pass filter.

Just realised that that might not have been totally helpful... See http://tinyurl.com/3o7a2 for high pass filter sharpening technique - it's utterly straightforward.

Brian

[cathyetta]

Great colors!! Nice capture.

[tjwExperience]

Nice Picture. I love the colors. I just brought a macro lens. This is definitely inspiration go out and use it.

[brianfarrell]

Originally Posted by tjwExperience

Nice Picture. I love the colors. I just brought a macro lens. This is definitely inspiration go out and use it.

That's weird - I haven't been able to get Breakfast at Tiffany's out of my head for the last coupla days... Hmm.

Thanks for your kind words. and I'm looking forward to seeing your shots

What I would advise is that you persevere. When I first started stalking these creatures, I found that they'd usually gone before I was ready to shoot - and if I did manage to get a shot off, it was spoiled by (usually) camera shake or incorrect focus. In a word, disappointing.

So the trick is to not get disheartened, rather to analyse your spoilt shot - work out what went wrong - and fix it.

And I guarantee you'll get better at it and your keeper rate will rise.

Good luck
Brian