Yellow Jacket portrait

Images taken in a controlled environment or with a posed subject. All subject types.

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rosemarie
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Jul 31, 2008 11:18 pm
Location: Klamath Falls, Oregon, US

Yellow Jacket portrait

Post by rosemarie »

Image

Found a dead yellowjacket and brought it indoors to practice on. This image is cropped to about 50% (area) of the frame, chiefly because I don't know what to do with the OOF wings, leg, etc. that were outside the planes of focus that I used. I removed dirt specks and what I think were artifacts from CZM, and I added the background in the top corners.

Sony H9, 210-mm equiv + 50-mm Nikkor reversed @ F/2.8;
32 exposures about 250 microns apart: F/4.5, 1/5 sec, iso 100 (EV +.3), tripod, remote, & Manfrotto "micropositioning plate"
CombineZM @ Do Stack + weighted avg correction

This is only the 2nd macro stack I've done, so I'm seeking all the criticism, comments, and suggestions that you're willing to give me. --Thanks!
rosemarie

P_T
Posts: 461
Joined: Sat Jul 19, 2008 1:13 am
Location: Sydney, Australia

Post by P_T »

It looks nice and sharp and I love the eyes!!

If you don't mind a little critique, I think the lighting is a bit too strong and the top part is a bit out of focus, perhaps it might be better to take more photos for the stack so that the bee outline is more defined?

acerola
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Joined: Wed Dec 13, 2006 2:28 pm
Location: Hungary
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Post by acerola »

Hi, Not bad for a first post.
I think you can improve on the lighting. It is a little strong. There are some places where no details left. Lighting is one of the hardest thing. You have to use more diffusion, especially for shining subjects. Like paper towel or something white, i don't know the proper English names, you can read back its an evergreen topic.
The picture is a little crumpled for me. But it depends what do you want to achieve. And maybe you can think about using some background.
Péter

nto
Posts: 181
Joined: Fri Feb 22, 2008 12:56 pm
Location: Italy

Post by nto »

I agree to experiment with soft light, the central quality seems good, perhaps too 210mm compress perspective, or subject compressed?, tried with focal smaller and 50mm at f / 4?, quality board enough?
Antonio

rosemarie
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Jul 31, 2008 11:18 pm
Location: Klamath Falls, Oregon, US

Post by rosemarie »

Thanks for your comments. The light may be harsh because my first experiments didn't have enough light and because I probably increased the contrast too much working on the CZM result. I never would have thought that the 210-mm would distort the subject, but now that you say so, "of course." Two lessons learned, with thanks!
rosemarie

rjlittlefield
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Post by rjlittlefield »

I'm not sure whether this particular image is distorted very much, but since the subject has been raised...

It is definitely possible to get some strange perspectives with these "stacked lenses" setups that place a short lens in front of a long one.

Depending on gory internal details of the lenses and how they are used, you can end up with anything from an extreme "wide-angle" effect where closer portions of the subject are magnified much more than parts farther back, to even a "reversed perspective" effect where closer portions of the subject are magnified less than parts farther back!

Under certain happy circumstances, a setup with stacked lenses may accidentally form a "telecentric" system in which magnification does not depend on distance at all. Such systems are occasionally useful for esoteric work like stack-and-stitch at moderate magnifications.

--Rik

Harold Gough
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Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2008 2:17 am
Location: Reading, Berkshire, England

Post by Harold Gough »

Any change in lighting might include some directional element to show the two posterior ocelli better.

Harold
My images are a medium for sharing some of my experiences: they are not me.

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