A house fly and a bee. Please critique.

[pete.mod]

Here are 2 good shots from today. They are shot with my Canon Pro1. I'm a newbie just starting out (fourth day with my camera).

I cropped the images to what I thought was 'balanced' looking. Can you please critique the following:

1. Are my crops balanced looking? (I want to print out some 4x6's with these, so I tried to keep them roughly to a 4x6 shape)

2. I added a little contrast, but that's it. Should I play with the colors more (improve them but still keep the natural looking)?

3. I would appreciate any tips on shooting you can give me.


Thanks everyone.

[LordV]

Good shots- colours look fine to me although the yellow petals in #1 are a bit overexposed.
Interesting hoverfly in #2 :)

Composition in #2 works well but the compo in #1 is probably too centred
Easiest thing with bugs is to try and give them more room in the direction they are looking- this tends to take them off centre
Brian V.

[Attic]

I like the last one also :-( Welcome to the forum Pete and congrats on your new camera :-)

[pete.mod]

Thank you both.

So #2 is a hoverfly? To me anything that has yellow and black stripes is some sort of bee :) But I did notice it didn't have a stinger. I'm sure I will become better at identifying insects as time passes and my pictures get better.

Attic - Thanks. my 'new' old camera :) I was looking for a camera on eBay to replace my point and shoot Canon that broke. I got the Pro1 because it was in the same price range that I was looking for, and it will let me explore a hobby in photography. I used to sell digital cameras a couple year back at an electronics chain, the Pro1 was my favorite back then, so I picked one up without hesitation.

[pete.mod]

Composition in #2 works well but the compo in #1 is probably too centred


LordV, why don't you want the subject in the center? Is it because it makes the picture too predictable?

Thanks.

[skylab]

Welcome. #2 is a super shot. Keep it up and look forward to more from you.

[Steff]

Yeah man, number 2 is a hover fly! One thing that I've picked up here over the last week (I'm as new to Macro as you are) is the flies have only 2 wings, where bees and wasps have 4.

Nice shots pete, keep finding those little critters!

[bromm]

#2 is a great capture.
Keeping your subject off-center works in most photography areas, I shoot a lot of birds and the same "rule" applies. Do a search for "rule of thirds".

Keep the posts coming.

[Johnboy]

Actually I think No. 1 is the better composition. I know centering is a supposed no-no, but here it's not a problem at all. The negative space around the petals is great. Plus the better use of depth of field -- with the multiple planes of focus -- makes for a more interesting image.

Well done.