Ladybug Stretching Her Wings

[homestar455]

Found this ladybug in my backyard the other day; after a few shots I noticed it seemed to be having the same wing problems as Mark's Weevil did, here.



















All of these were taken with my usual macro gear, without any fancy editing.

Any comments or critique would be greatly appreciated.

[Harold Gough]

Quite an achievement to capture such a sequence. Unfortunately, the lighting does not allow us to see much of what is going on.

Harold

[homestar455]

Thank you.
Yeah, that is unfortunate, the really unfortunate part is that I didn't see that and try to fix it. ...
Next time I'll have to keep the lighting and shadows in mind in my composition.

Thanks for pointing that out, I really appreciate the feedback.

[rjlittlefield]

Much of this difficulty can be fixed by a simple levels adjustment of the current images, to brighten the images and bring out shadow detail. In Photoshop, a Levels Adjustment layer with Input Levels of [0,1.6,212] reveals most of the wing structure, without blowing out the highlights. Should I illustrate?

--Rik

[homestar455]

Much of this difficulty can be fixed by a simple levels adjustment of the current images, to brighten the images and bring out shadow detail. In Photoshop, a Levels Adjustment layer with Input Levels of [0,1.6,212] reveals most of the wing structure, without blowing out the highlights. Should I illustrate?

--Rik

Please do, cause I'm not extremely good at working with layers.

Though you have given me an idea, tomorrow sometime I might try rendering it in High Dynamic Range.

[rjlittlefield]

Here is the adjustment described above.

adjusted image alone
details of adjustment layer

--Rik

Edit: to change inline images into links.

[homestar455]

Here is an example.

--Rik

http://janrik.net/MiscSubj/2010/homesta ... tled-2.jpg

http://janrik.net/MiscSubj/2010/homesta ... Layers.jpg

Interesting, thanks for illustrating.
I think I might try something to that effect tomorrow night, or whenever I can find the spare time to really tinker with it.

[ChrisR]

I'm not extremely good at working with layers.

Fear not, you don't have to be. You can just copy the layer with your image on, (Control-J in photoshop, on a PC) and tinker away, with Adjustments>Levels or Curves, or whatever. If you mess it up, just use another copy of the original.
Just remember to "Save As" with a different name!

Later you can learn better methods, one thing at a time is simpler.

[homestar455]

I'm not extremely good at working with layers.

Fear not, you don't have to be. You can just copy the layer with your image on, (Control-J in photoshop, on a PC) and tinker away, with Adjustments>Levels or Curves, or whatever. If you mess it up, just use another copy of the original.
Just remember to "Save As" with a different name!

Later you can learn better methods, one thing at a time is simpler.

Ah yes, that's a habit I practice all the time with my editing.
But I thought he was talking about getting fancy using multiple layers and lighting tools to lighten up the shadows without majorly effecting the rest of the image.

Yeah, one thing at a time is definitely the easiest way to learn.

[rjlittlefield]

But I thought he was talking about getting fancy using multiple layers and lighting tools to lighten up the shadows without ruining the rest of the image.

I apologize for ruining your image. (This sort of reaction is why we don't allow reposting images without permission.)

I had assumed from the histogram and the overall dark appearance that the image was underexposed. And I assumed from your calling attention to the wing, and from Harold's comment and your reply, that the wing was of primary interest. So I suggested a simple levels adjustment, completely described in my original post, that reveals the wing structure. Not having seen the original beetle or the fabric, I have no idea how badly distorted the tones are in the revised version. Nor do I know how they appear on your monitor versus mine. Perhaps the folded part of the wing is easily discernable on yours, where it verges on black on mine. In that case I imagine that my adjustment looks rather horribly washed out.

I have edited my earlier post so that the adjusted version is not shown inline.

I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

--Rik

[homestar455]

But I thought he was talking about getting fancy using multiple layers and lighting tools to lighten up the shadows without ruining the rest of the image.

I apologize for ruining your image. (This sort of reaction is why we don't allow reposting images without permission.)

Oh no no no my friend, I didn't mean it like that, I chose my words poorly, I'm sorry. I just meant I was thinking of something much more convoluted to achieve relatively the same effect. It looks good, and I do appreciate you taking the time and effort.

I reworded my previous post.

[homestar455]

Well, I'm not exactly thrilled with the outcome, but I've reached the limits of my very limited editing skills.

I won't go into much detail unless any of you want me to, (I don't want to bore you) but I rendered the image in HDR and ended up with this result:




What do you guys think?

[JerryMK]

Nice capture... next step a ladybug "In flight". Last summer I spend some time for this and captured the following





They are so amazing fast it is really hard to time the shot.

[augusthouse]

homestar,

The HDR version is looking a bit 'scary'.

Just noticed you are using Gimp 2,6.7. I'm not familiar with Gimp; but found a tutorial at the link below that you might find useful when considering 'global' adjustments. (adjustments that impact entire image)
Working with masks and selections for adjusting specific areas of an image is also another skill that will prove useful in post-production.

http://world.std.com/~mmcirvin/gimp_tut ... urves.html

Did the ladybug eventually manage to take-off?


Craig

[rjlittlefield]

Oh no no no my friend, I didn't mean it like that, I chose my words poorly, I'm sorry.

Ahh, I apologize also. I did not get enough sleep last night and woke up grouchy. Let us forget this awkwardness!

I won't go into much detail unless any of you want me to, (I don't want to bore you) but I rendered the image in HDR and ended up with this result:

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff41 ... dybug3.jpg

What do you guys think?

This looks good, and I would be interested to know the details. (I am difficult to bore!)

I notice that the shadows are much brighter, while the blue is about the same. But I am puzzled by the way the specular reflection on the wing cover has gone pink when originally it seemed pretty neutral. Did it pick up color from the surrounding pixels or are my eyes deceiving me?

Related to this, I notice that in the HDR version the entire wing is neutral, where in the level-adjusted version, the "elbow" of the wing retains the reddish coloring that shows in the last shot of your original series.

I have little experience with HDR, so I am interested in these color shifts.

Here again, for reference, is an inline display of the level-adjusted version:



--Rik