Velvet Ant

yeatzee · Post by **yeatzee** » Mon Sep 12, 2011 9:44 pm

Velvet ant (wasp) by yeatzee (now 17, but still learning), on Flickr

77 image stack of my beloved (and now deceased) velvet ant. She buried herself about two inches every night in sand so she's very dirty (and I don't want to change that).

same setup as always, $20 el nikkor 50mm F/2.8 reversed on my pentax bellows. 3 ikea jansjo's used, and I am still very much getting used to them and working out the kinks.

Comments welcome guys, I am eager to learn!
(I know about the antenna. I thought I'd ruin it if I tried to retouch that so I left it. I feel like the picture is very tainted because of it but whatever).

yeatzee · Post by **yeatzee** » Fri Sep 16, 2011 2:17 pm

bump

DQE · Post by **DQE** » Fri Sep 16, 2011 5:37 pm

Amazing hair pattern and texture.

I hope you can soon make some more stacks - each one is such a unique creation as well as a work of art...

lauriek · Post by **lauriek** » Fri Sep 16, 2011 5:46 pm

Technically it doesn't look bad. Personally the background doesn't do it for me. I would be trying to bring out the red hair of the beastie, and I think the red in the backdrop confuses or lessens the red of the hair on the wasp.

I'm not sure what you mean about the antenna, are you talking about the slight halo/softness around the antenna that crosses the body? If so there really isn't much you can do about this, as I'm sure you know it's caused by the antenna actually obscuring more of the subject behind it when it's out of focus.

abpho · Post by **abpho** » Fri Sep 16, 2011 6:08 pm

I agree with the comment about the background. Another colour would have been better.

Are you only using the Jansjo lights? No flash? Are they really that bright?

Do me a favour and photograph the head of your Jansjo lamp. I found out some interesting facts and would like to see what yours looks like.

Thanks.

yeatzee · Post by **yeatzee** » Fri Sep 16, 2011 9:23 pm

There we go, thats what I wanted!

just took a bump thats all

DQE wrote:Amazing hair pattern and texture.

I hope you can soon make some more stacks - each one is such a unique creation as well as a work of art...

Thanks! School's a bit much now (still find time for the forums though

) but since I just got a componon 80mm expect something once the adapters arrive

lauriek wrote:Technically it doesn't look bad. Personally the background doesn't do it for me. I would be trying to bring out the red hair of the beastie, and I think the red in the backdrop confuses or lessens the red of the hair on the wasp.

I'm not sure what you mean about the antenna, are you talking about the slight halo/softness around the antenna that crosses the body? If so there really isn't much you can do about this, as I'm sure you know it's caused by the antenna actually obscuring more of the subject behind it when it's out of focus.

It doesn't look bad technically? Be more specific, other than the backdrop what makes it "not look good"? Im here to learn

Completely understand about the background. Every shot I take is an experiment in itself regarding backgrounds..... What I really wanted was a tri-color setup but the green and orange spots to be flipped. Unfortunately I couldn't get what I wanted so i stuck with what i had (in this case a thin box used to hold CD's or something). I don't find it particularly bad with the subject but I do understand your point entirely. Backgrounds are still my biggest dilemma.... what do you use? Im all about the colorful ones but I've exhausted about every in-home item available to me

And yes, thats exactly what im saying about the antenna. It bugs me to no end buts there's really nothing I can do about it.

abpho wrote:I agree with the comment about the background. Another colour would have been better.

Are you only using the Jansjo lights? No flash? Are they really that bright?

Do me a favour and photograph the head of your Jansjo lamp. I found out some interesting facts and would like to see what yours looks like.

Thanks.

Yup just the jansjo's. They are pretty bright, i'll take a pic right now actually since I just got home

edit:

there ya go, a quick phone shot

abpho · Post by **abpho** » Fri Sep 16, 2011 9:34 pm

Thanks yeatzee. That is the new design of the Jansjo. Apparently the older design has a brighter and whiter LED. But IKEA is going for a more natural incandescent look with their LEDs now. I will get a few to try out. Maybe I can save my flash yet. I've fired mine 6000+ times in the last month. And that's only for the files I have saved.

For backgrounds I use coloured sheets of foam. I got them from a crafts store. They come in 8.5 x 11 inch sheets and various colours. The pack I purchased had 10 different colours, including black and white. How about news print, a picture from a magazine, CD/DVD/etc cover picture? If you want two or three different colours just cut strips of paper with those colours and tape them to a piece of cardboard. Anything should work. It will be out of focus anyways. I am trying something new as we speak. I got the idea from one of your shots. I'll let you know if it works out.

yeatzee · Post by **yeatzee** » Fri Sep 16, 2011 9:47 pm

Alright cool

My issue with stuff like that is the color is never..... "rich" enough for me. Only certain stuff gives me good BG's..... like playdoh has utterly failed me every time I use it hahaha

abpho · Post by **abpho** » Fri Sep 16, 2011 9:50 pm

Check my shots and see if you like that.

My flickr is here.

yeatzee · Post by **yeatzee** » Fri Sep 16, 2011 10:06 pm

Do you got a picture of the material used?

edit: nvm just saw your other post. Ultimately I want BG's like this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnhallme ... 5202890832

Im not a fan of solid colors usually, I LOVE gradients but they prove to be very difficult

abpho · Post by **abpho** » Fri Sep 16, 2011 10:27 pm

Talk to John Hallmen. He hangs out here quite a bit. I'd be interested to know what he uses as well.

Do you have a colour printer? Why not make a gradient in photoshop (or what ever) and use that. Once you got the sizing figured out you should be able to generate what ever you want pretty quickly.

yeatzee · Post by **yeatzee** » Fri Sep 16, 2011 10:33 pm

abpho wrote:Talk to John Hallmen. He hangs out here quite a bit. I'd be interested to know what he uses as well.

Do you have a colour printer? Why not make a gradient in photoshop (or what ever) and use that. Once you got the sizing figured out you should be able to generate what ever you want pretty quickly.

I know NOTHING about PP. I dont own photoshop either

I can handle basic stuff but I wouldn't even know where to begin to do anything worth using. John uses clay or something iirc

elf · Post by **elf** » Fri Sep 16, 2011 11:03 pm

I think I'll be disagreeable tonight and say the background looks good with this subject

You can use background colors in several different ways, one is to provide a lot of contrast to the foreground and another is to draw out a foreground color by using a similar color in the background or even in the border.

abpho · Post by **abpho** » Fri Sep 16, 2011 11:27 pm

Correct. Totally agree.

lauriek · Post by **lauriek** » Sat Sep 17, 2011 6:35 am

Technically it doesn't look bad is just my englishman's understated way of saying it looks good, apart from the BG which I'm not keen on but that is a subjective thing.

For backgrounds I use all sorts of stuff. I often use sandpaper. I use leaves, freshly picked and slightly dried. A while ago some clothing company sent me a catalogue and it included a small plastic packet containing material samples, I use a few of those in blues and greens and one orange...