Another Ant (The bitey one!)

lauriek · Post by **lauriek** » Wed May 07, 2008 12:24 pm

This is the first stack of the 'bitey' ant described in my recent 'general' forum post (here)

I think there is a small stacking error round the top right of the head, and there's some mild halo'ing, but not too bad I think! There's some considerable detail in this at full size:-

Note that bright hair (Not the really long one facing down, the one to the left of that), had the usual trouble with that really 'flaring' and tried to clean it up a bit, as with previous ant shots. Not sure if this is something to do with my shooting setup or I suspect maybe more down to Tufuse..

Stack of around 160 images, shot with Nikon 10x CF objective on OM bellows at near minimum extension. Triple layer of diffusion material in an arch.

My usual current software (czm to align, tufuse to stack).

beetleman · Post by **beetleman** » Wed May 07, 2008 1:04 pm

Excellent photos Laurie. With her head tilted sideways, it makes her look like a puppy with a curious look.

Beautiful detail and lighting.

gpmatthews · Post by **gpmatthews** » Wed May 07, 2008 1:50 pm

I thought she was more sizing you up, waiting for a good nip!

Excellent stack.

puzzledpaul · Post by **puzzledpaul** » Wed May 07, 2008 2:07 pm

Super pics, Laurie - very nicely lit

pp

Charles Krebs · Post by **Charles Krebs** » Wed May 07, 2008 3:23 pm

nto · Post by **nto** » Wed May 07, 2008 5:40 pm

extreme beauty, good composition!!!

rjlittlefield · Post by **rjlittlefield** » Fri May 09, 2008 9:43 am

Beautiful work, Laurie!

Any idea what's causing that little "echo" at the top and right of the head? It looks like a registration glitch, but I've been faked out before by detail that looked duplicated and was actually real. What do the individual frames show?

--Rik

lauriek · Post by **lauriek** » Fri May 09, 2008 12:15 pm

Thanks guys!

Rik, I think it's due to an alignment error somewhere in the last 20 or so images at the rear of the stack. I'm afraid I'm still struggling with PTA so relying on CZM for the alignment, it works pretty well most of the time, but I appreciate what it's trying to do at this level of magnification is extremely difficult! (Plan to have another play this weekend with PTA if I get a chance!)

Here's a slightly shallower stack, which avoids the issue:

This is from the same input images, just missed the last 24 images from the back, same software.. I've added a little sharpening..

Harold Gough · Post by **Harold Gough** » Fri May 09, 2008 10:52 pm

Stunning! The diagonal composition maximises the impact.

It's thinking "If I were a mantis I'd have you!"

Harold

Planapo · Post by **Planapo** » Sat May 10, 2008 12:52 pm

Awesome detail on the sculpturation of the cuticle here, Laurie!
Looks like a Formica (Serviformica) sp. to me.

You seem to be developing a stacking addiction, huh!?

--Betty