OMG MY FIRST CRITTER!

[DigitalDawn]

YAY The sun came out! And even though the grass was wet, I went and sat in it just to make sure I got my first critter shot.
A big ol' nasty wasp none the less! Not cropped, Exif data is intact.

Please C&C

http://ourspace.biz/personal/photog/macro/april_wasp.jpg

Question: When posting these here, should I crop so that I can show a good closeup since we are held to 1024px?

[Bill Pham]

nice wasp. i been trying not to crop any of my pics lately. some do crop to show more detail or getting rid of some distracting object. just my 2cents.

Bill

[DigitalDawn]

nice wasp. i been trying not to crop any of my pics lately. some do crop to show more detail or getting rid of some distracting object. just my 2cents.

Bill

Thanks!

Yeah I was totally torn on whether to crop or not. The composition in my opinion is right on, so it would be a shame to crop it. But at the same time I wanted to show an even closer photo seeing how it is in focus on his eye and shoulder. Front of the face however is OOF since I got shoulder and eye with such a shallow DOF.

I totally love this photo. I'm pretty darn proud of this first attempt. My husband hates wasps, yet before walking out the door to head to work he grabbed a copy of this photo for his desktop wallpaper. :lol:

[Paul McNelis]

You nailed this! The only thing I can suggest is to try and get more parallel to the subject so that you can get more of it in focus. But that's such a minor nit as you got the eye in focus as well as most of the thorax and all that so very good for your first you should be so proud!

[DigitalDawn]

You nailed this! The only thing I can suggest is to try and get more parallel to the subject so that you can get more of it in focus. But that's such a minor nit as you got the eye in focus as well as most of the thorax and all that so very good for your first you should be so proud!

:o *Blush* Thanks so much! I am really proud of this photo, its just not bad for a first try.
Which for me, this only serves to ensures me that my studying and lurking has paid off.

Yeah and you know, funny thing, I asked him nicely if he would sit still and parrallel so I could get a pretty shot, he said NO! :lol:
But thanks for the nit picking also, this serves to only help me better my skills in this area.

[johnkermit1]

nice paper wasp. looks familiar to some i have shot recently. awesome detail in the eyes.
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=479901

[panthrcat]

it's an awesome photo dawn!! I have tried, but as yet, don't really have anything worth posting,, I'll keep at it,, c'mon spring!!

[DigitalDawn]

nice paper wasp. looks familiar to some i have shot recently. awesome detail in the eyes.
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=479901

WOW those are fantstic shots! A paper wasp huh?
But your first two look different from your third one. Is the third one different?

I had gotten another shot of a different one, but I was undecided on whether or not I liked it.
Something just weird about him standing on his head in a flower. :lol:

I think me and my yard are going to become very close friends this year!

[DigitalDawn]

it's an awesome photo dawn!! I have tried, but as yet, don't really have anything worth posting,, I'll keep at it,, c'mon spring!!

Thanks, glad you like it!
I hear ya! I dont think spring has ever taken so long to get here. Not that my desire for it to hurry up and get here is making it any easier.
Hang in there, before you know it we will all be seen crawling around in our yards with a camera in hand. :lol:

[johnkermit1]

. Is the third one different?

I had gotten another shot of a different one, but I was undecided on whether or not I liked it.
Something just weird about him standing on his head in a flower. :lol:

I think me and my yard are going to become very close friends this year!

the third one is very different, thouh im not sure what species it is.

i feel the same way, i always look to the bushes and grass to see what is lurking!

[DigitalDawn]

the third one is very different, thouh im not sure what species it is. i feel the same way, i always look to the bushes and grass to see what is lurking!

Oh dang! I have a huge island I planted between my neighbor and I. Its got tons of bushes and trees in it. I think tomorrow I will go crawling around in there some. Plus this year I had my property cleared, and the brush is piled up on the back of my property, bet there are tons of critters in there.

I have tons of these little spiders in my bushes that I tried today to photograph. On Paul's "Insect Macro Photography" web site he calls them the Sheetweb Spider (Linyphiinae). But not only are they super tiny, they sit in the middle of the web under some webbing, making it tough to get good focus, but tomoorow I am going to try them again.

To much fun! Daylight can't get here fast enough, is suppose to be nice again tomorrow. :D

[sebastianr]

Very nice focus on that eye, looks cool with the spots in it.
Nice background to the left also, and how that leaf just dissapears into the green (cause of the shallow DOF).

[DigitalDawn]

Very nice focus on that eye, looks cool with the spots in it. Nice background to the left also, and how that leaf just dissapears into the green (cause of the shallow DOF).

Thanks! I love a nice boken background also.
Critters have such cool eyes, our are so simple compared to theirs.

[LordV]

Lovely shot :)
DD whilst it is better not to crop if you can, I do crop images for compositional reasons but this is normally fairly minor. In this case though it would be useful to do a 100% crop (ie crop to the correct size for the web so you don't have to reduce the size after) just to show the detail. Funnily enough I sometimes do this in my flickr gallery and it's always the extrreme crops that are more popular than the original image !

Brian V.

[DigitalDawn]

Lovely shot :)
DD whilst it is better not to crop if you can, I do crop images for compositional reasons but this is normally fairly minor. In this case though it would be useful to do a 100% crop (ie crop to the correct size for the web so you don't have to reduce the size after) just to show the detail. Funnily enough I sometimes do this in my flickr gallery and it's always the extrreme crops that are more popular than the original image !

Brian V.

Thanks Brian. Speaking of composition, the same rule of thirds applies to macro photography correct? I ask because as you can see from this shot, I try and shoot with this rule of thirds in mind. Of course this coming from someone who normally photographs landscape, nature, and wildlife.

Just to clarify, are you saying that for the web / forum it is best to crop the photo to the required size? For instance, for this forum the max size is 1024px, I should then crop at 1024px?

When you say that your extreme crops are popular, are you talking about close crops of say mostly just the critter, or even down to just a head? Like the avitars you and others use?

Thanks in advance, and thanks for looking at my first attempted critter shot.

[Zayets]

Beautiful picture Dawn. I love the clarity and the sharpness. I am fascinated by insect eyes and this one definitely qualifies. :)

[DigitalDawn]

Beautiful picture Dawn. I love the clarity and the sharpness. I am fascinated by insect eyes and this one definitely qualifies. :)

Thanks so much!

[LordV]

Thanks Brian. Speaking of composition, the same rule of thirds applies to macro photography correct? I ask because as you can see from this shot, I try and shoot with this rule of thirds in mind. Of course this coming from someone who normally photographs landscape, nature, and wildlife.

Just to clarify, are you saying that for the web / forum it is best to crop the photo to the required size? For instance, for this forum the max size is 1024px, I should then crop at 1024px?

When you say that your extreme crops are popular, are you talking about close crops of say mostly just the critter, or even down to just a head? Like the avitars you and others use?

Thanks in advance, and thanks for looking at my first attempted critter shot.

The same compositional "rules" do apply for macro - but I tend to use a simpler rule which is just to try and give the subject more room in the direction it's facing. Remember though all rules are there to be broken :)

Re cropping for the web. No I normally just size reduce for my web shots, but where this removes some particular detail I'm interested in I will also post a 100% crop of the same image example below.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2378/2363091383_67f8480591_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2347/2360833705_0e43d1e89b_o.jpg

[DigitalDawn]

The same compositional "rules" do apply for macro - but I tend to use a simpler rule which is just to try and give the subject more room in the direction it's facing. Remember though all rules are there to be broken :)

Re cropping for the web. No I normally just size reduce for my web shots, but where this removes some particular detail I'm interested in I will also post a 100% crop of the same image example below.


Yes rules are made to be broken at times. I just dont have the skills required yet to know when a good time to break these rules is. So for the most part, I just stick to the rules. I am sure some day however I will get a little rebellouse and bold. :lol:

Okay this made perfect sense, thanks for an example, I learn better visually then I do instructionally, and I agree this is a good way to show both, the closeup details as well as an overall compositional image.

You are always so helpful and I greatly appreciate it.

[LordV]

Yes rules are made to be broken at times. I just dont have the skills required yet to know when a good time to break these rules is. So for the most part, I just stick to the rules. I am sure some day however I will get a little rebellouse and bold. :lol:

Okay this made perfect sense, thanks for an example, I learn better visually then I do instructionally, and I agree this is a good way to show both, the closeup details as well as an overall compositional image.

You are always so helpful and I greatly appreciate it.

No probs :)

Actually the pic above is a sort of example of rule breaking - I can't give it more room in the direction it's facing because it's straight at me but I totally ignored the rule of thirds and placed it virtually in the middle - you can often get away with this if the subject is large and symmetrical.

brian V.

[DigitalDawn]

No probs :)

Actually the pic above is a sort of example of rule breaking - I can't give it more room in the direction it's facing because it's straight at me but I totally ignored the rule of thirds and placed it virtually in the middle - you can often get away with this if the subject is large and symmetrical.

brian V.

Makes sense this can break the rules. If the critter had room to move into and its facing forward, it wouldnt really be able to be a macro shot at that point because it would be to far backed off for such closeup deatails.

But I still like the idea of using this as an example also of posting these for web. ;)

Even more so I like the idea of a closeup detailed crop for a thumbnail, and then the 100% photo when viewing it larger. Would make it more user friendly for web site displaying. Just a thought.

[panthrcat]

Hang in there, before you know it we will all be seen crawling around in our yards with a camera in hand. :lol:

lol my neighbours think I am crazy in the spring/summer/fall, that's what I do alot of,, crawling around with camera in hand,, :lol:

we are having a good time the last few days with warm weather,, I am working now, but soon will be on days off,, I can't wait to get out!! woohoO!!

[DigitalDawn]

lol my neighbours think I am crazy in the spring/summer/fall, that's what I do alot of,, crawling around with camera in hand,, :lol:

we are having a good time the last few days with warm weather,, I am working now, but soon will be on days off,, I can't wait to get out!! woohoO!!

Our weather has taken a turn for the worse, its been cloudy and cold. *cry*

[newb2pro_1day_or_so]

That is a wonderful shot for your first, or second even! Great stuff.

[DigitalDawn]

That is a wonderful shot for your first, or second even! Great stuff.

Thank you very much!