A Glimmer of Sun

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 5:26 pm

Yep you guessed it, taken at work but on my lunch break of course. Nothing special about this little Lady Bug/Bird, it is just that I like to photograph Lady Bugs. However, if you will note, there is a glimmer of the noon day sun reflecting off one of the spots of its tiny shell (center).

EOS 20D
Manual mode/hand held
1/250 sec. @ f/8 ISO 400
Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 macro
Midday, no flash
Processing: Photo Impact 6

Bruce Williams · Post by **Bruce Williams** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 5:35 pm

Is this a whole frame image Ken? I'm just curious how much magnification there's still available to be exploited in that ladybird?

Bruce

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 6:00 pm

This is a crop from 50% of the full frame Bruce, using Photo Impact 6.

I have tried in the past using 100% of the frame and croping from that or sometimes even using the full frame but I shoot in jpeg and not RAW and it seems the image suffers in quality when I exceed 50% of the full frame. I have a RAW processing program which came with my cameras and have yet to really use it or at least give it a try. Just lazy I guess because jpeg is much simpler to handle. Also from what I have read here and there about the RAW processing programs available, it seems just about all of them have some drawbacks and not any one in particular is better than any other. Also they seem to be quite expensive and not being nothing more than someone who just likes to take macros...well I just can't justify the cost of such a program.

Thanks Bruce

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 6:15 pm

Just out of curiosity Bruce, I thought I would at least give it a try at 100% to see what we would get. The results are not as bad as some of those I have had in the past, so here it is. Seems to be a bit more grainy though.

Bruce Williams · Post by **Bruce Williams** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 6:28 pm

I think that's a very acceptable result at 100% - the ladybird's wing cases show a reasonable amount of detail and you can even see the rays of the sun in that black dot

A touch of Neat Image or similar would sort out the slight grain.

Thanks for posting that second shot Ken.

Well it's 2.25 am here in the UK, so I'm off to get some shuteye.

Bruce

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 6:37 pm

I used to use Neat Image but it seems to leave behind a lot of compression artifacts in most images, though not all. Of course I am only using the free "demo" version. The full program would probably work a lot better maybe. Thanks again Bruce

beetleman · Post by **beetleman** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 3:54 am

Ah, the first ladybird of the spring season. Makes me feel warm with the sun in the picture

We are supposed to have 10 days of rain and snow showers in our future.

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 1:53 pm

Doug asked:

We are supposed to have 10 days of rain and snow showers in our future.

I dunno Doug...with global warming and all, ain't no tell'n

Thanks Doug