Auvergne pictures (Grass-hopper)

[msol]

Hi there,
Just returned from my 3 weeks summer holidays in the French Auvergne. (Camping Du Pre Bas at the Lake Chambon for those interested).
Of course I took my G3 and completely filled my two 256 MB CF cards.
The coming days (weeks?), I will be sharing several of my shots here with the kind request for your feedback. (I already am much happier with this year's photo's than with the previous year's, mainly thanks to what I have learned here.)

So, lets start...

http://images2.fotopic.net/?iid=y3u1az&outx=600&noresize=1&nostamp=1
Used a G3 with +1+3 diopter and PS for levels, sharpening, cropping, etc.

[Big_B]

Looks like a chearfull fellow doesn't he? Nice and sharp. I like it.

[shniks]

Great capture, nice and sharp too. Maybe needs a slight increase in contrast or saturation, to make the bug stand out more. Do you have any noise reduction programs? If yes, use it one the background, I do it all the time with my pictures to emulate the nice blurred backgrounds you get with good lenses.

[PhotosGuy]

...to make the bug stand out more

You can also make him appear to stand out more by toning down the blown out flower at the left & right of him. Maybe burn in the top L&R corners a bit. Add noise reduction to the background & you've got an outstanding pic! :wink:

[msol]

Thanks for your feedback! I tried your various suggestions and, I think, indeed produced an improved version. I reduced noise (NeatImage), toned down the upper left and right corners (PS) and toned down the flowers left and right of the grass hopper. I also tried to enhance saturation but I didn't like the result: the greens became too "agressive". Here is the second version. I hope that you recognize your suggestions and like this version better. (please click it to see the bigger version)

http://images1.fotopic.net/?iid=yf1ak2&outx=600&noresize=1&nostamp=1