Posted by David Taylor on April 7, 2007 at 4:09 PM
Still getting to grips with my Sigma SD14 certainly a different beast from my Sony DSC F717 . I would welcome any comments on how this image can be improved.
SigmaSD14
50mm EX Macro lens
F8
1/400s
ISO 200
P setting
RAW adjustment in SPP3
cropped
hand held
I think that this is a good shot of a difficult subject (you don't often see flies eating gum!), but for me there are a couple of stand out things. First, the angle (cutting off tarsi & part of abdomen) could be improved. Second, the highlights on the vegetation don't look right to me (our eyes obviously adapt to this and we don't notice it in the field). Some plants are an absolute nightmare for this - I spend a lot of time and effort trying to get ladybirds and aphids on beans right, but in the end it was almost luck to get the right shooting angle to avoid the highlights. Finally, I think that macro photographers have one big advantage and one big disadvantage over bird (for example) photographers. Our subjects are often easy to find and tend to require less discomfort (you don't have to sit in a cramped hide for half a day, or get frost-bite at Slimbridge), but the disadvantage is that the subject doesn't grab many people as instantly as a bird or mammal (we tend to 'get' species more like us), so unless you have a pretty composition (ladybirds on flowers...), or a more charismatic species (butterflies, dragonflies), you have to find the WOW factor, which is easiest done by getting close, and showing the subject in a way that most people won't have seen before.
I think this is a fine effort considering you're getting to grips with a new camera system. Unless you are going for a natural history record shot the angle that Mark mentions doesn't bother me so much. The leaf highlights are slightly distracting and most of the time in the field you will not be aware of them. You have captured something that most people wouldn't see - the bubblegum. This is an interesting world and the smaller species outnumber the larger by some distance so keep up the good work.
The leaves look slightly yellowish which may be the case or may indicate a colour cast?
Rob
Posted by David Taylor on April 8, 2007 at 4:01 PM
Thanks Mark and Rob for your input, it is very much appreciated. The leaves look yellowish because they are! They are leaves of rogue shoots belonging to the Quince 'C' rootstocks my pear trees are grafted on. They should have been removed before now, but a heart attack got in the way
I realised that I didn't finish my sentence which should have read "and showing the subject in a way that most people won't have seen before, which is what you've done here."
Out of curiosity I tried to find out what the fly was doing - I've rarely seen this behaviour. There seems to be no consensus that I can find; the best suggestion seems to be that the flies have overindulged and have regurgitated part of their last meal from their crop before they get around digesting it. Other suggestions include thermoregulation (I'm not convinced by that) or infection by parasites. Anyway - thought you might be interested!
By the way - did you sharpen the image (not in your specs)? If not then a touch of selective sharpening on the fly may help bring it out.
Mark
Posted by David Taylor on April 9, 2007 at 4:01 PM
Hello Mark thanks for the information. I have occasionally seen this behaviour before (in another species) but it is the first time I've managed a half decent image. I have not done any selective sharpening (because I don't know how, as yet, any suggestions?) Thermoregulation is a possibility though IMHO, as it was sunny though not all that warm, and the bubble was reabsorbed after a period of time in the sun.see attached sequence. Thanks again for your interest and knowledge.
Posted by Mark Fellowes on April 10, 2007 at 4:43 AM
Hi David
That's a great series - I wonder if any people on the Diptera websites have any thoughts. With regards sharpening, I use smart sharpening in Photoshop, but there seems to be as many ways of sharpening as there are people posting! I get the feeling that most people use USM (unsharp mask) in PS, which I think is also in Elements, but I've never used that so I can't be definitive. If your editing package doesn't have sharpening, then it might be worth having a look at PS Elements or one of the other editing packages.
Discussion
6 repliesSigmaSD14
50mm EX Macro lens
F8
1/400s
ISO 200
P setting
RAW adjustment in SPP3
cropped
hand held
I think that this is a good shot of a difficult subject (you don't often see flies eating gum!), but for me there are a couple of stand out things. First, the angle (cutting off tarsi & part of abdomen) could be improved. Second, the highlights on the vegetation don't look right to me (our eyes obviously adapt to this and we don't notice it in the field). Some plants are an absolute nightmare for this - I spend a lot of time and effort trying to get ladybirds and aphids on beans right, but in the end it was almost luck to get the right shooting angle to avoid the highlights. Finally, I think that macro photographers have one big advantage and one big disadvantage over bird (for example) photographers. Our subjects are often easy to find and tend to require less discomfort (you don't have to sit in a cramped hide for half a day, or get frost-bite at Slimbridge), but the disadvantage is that the subject doesn't grab many people as instantly as a bird or mammal (we tend to 'get' species more like us), so unless you have a pretty composition (ladybirds on flowers...), or a more charismatic species (butterflies, dragonflies), you have to find the WOW factor, which is easiest done by getting close, and showing the subject in a way that most people won't have seen before.
I hope this helps.
Mark
I think this is a fine effort considering you're getting to grips with a new camera system. Unless you are going for a natural history record shot the angle that Mark mentions doesn't bother me so much. The leaf highlights are slightly distracting and most of the time in the field you will not be aware of them. You have captured something that most people wouldn't see - the bubblegum. This is an interesting world and the smaller species outnumber the larger by some distance so keep up the good work.
The leaves look slightly yellowish which may be the case or may indicate a colour cast?
Rob
I realised that I didn't finish my sentence which should have read "and showing the subject in a way that most people won't have seen before, which is what you've done here."
Out of curiosity I tried to find out what the fly was doing - I've rarely seen this behaviour. There seems to be no consensus that I can find; the best suggestion seems to be that the flies have overindulged and have regurgitated part of their last meal from their crop before they get around digesting it. Other suggestions include thermoregulation (I'm not convinced by that) or infection by parasites. Anyway - thought you might be interested!
By the way - did you sharpen the image (not in your specs)? If not then a touch of selective sharpening on the fly may help bring it out.
Mark
That's a great series - I wonder if any people on the Diptera websites have any thoughts. With regards sharpening, I use smart sharpening in Photoshop, but there seems to be as many ways of sharpening as there are people posting! I get the feeling that most people use USM (unsharp mask) in PS, which I think is also in Elements, but I've never used that so I can't be definitive. If your editing package doesn't have sharpening, then it might be worth having a look at PS Elements or one of the other editing packages.
Mark