I like dew

[LordV]

Not sure the bugs do though.

Brian V.

Male gall midge about 3mm body length

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2189/2932463874_8f7403cd50_o.jpg

Female gall nidge- about 3.5mm body length

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3204/2932476088_3829b51f57_o.jpg

Twenty

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3011/2933031093_4de9d30abb_o.jpg

Flower towers

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3138/2935847688_a9f1788603_o.jpg

Chrysanthemum

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3035/2937439994_4d5227b45c_o.jpg

Leaf hopper

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3015/2937450724_57828d446b_o.jpg

Harlequin ladybird

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3164/2937450742_0a7697b438_o.jpg

Female gall midge

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3235/2937471790_99794531f4_o.jpg

[J-BO]

amazing pictures! i really like the flower tower one, and the second one. how do you get the reflections so clear in the dew drops? and how do you get such big dew drops?

[Mtn Breeze]

Geez......the 'Macro King' strikes again !!!! AWESOME images Brian. They are quite mesmerising.....like looking into the flames of an open fire.....just can't seem to pull yourself away.

[spidermanrbryce2006]

brilliant series!!!

[orionmystery]

Simply amazing. Pretty soon the whole world will love dews too :D

[Mil]

Great photos! 1, 2 and 4 are my favorites.

[LordV]

Thanks for the kind comments :)

J-Bo - these are shot between 2:1 and 4:1 magnification and all use focus stacking to get the DOF I want.

Brian V.

[sophies]

LordV,

Many many questions I need to learn from you
Nice to meet you in here !!

Sophies

[andrikos]

Dear dog!
That's quite intimidating!
At least tell me that you are a pro!
Unbelievable pics, congrats!

[reneethomas]

Wow Brian! Wonderful series!!!

[LordV]

Thanks for the comments :)

Sophies- PM me if you have any questions

Andrikos - I'm retired and have lots of time to play :)

Brian V.

[dahblazinazn]

wow

[racketman]

top notch, guess they dont enjoy it this time of the year.

[Canonswhitelensesrule]

Amazing as always, Brian.

LordV IS the DEW LORD!!

[LordV]

Thankis again for the kind comments Klee, Toby and WLR - much appreciated :)

Brian V.

[LindaB]

Love that 'flower towers' shot - its absolutely gorgeous

Linda

[ben_r_]

Dew never looked so good! Nice stuff!

[BuzzyB]

excellent work - as usual. Based on comments made in the past by you, I have started playing with photostacking and have a handle on that. My question: where do you find such great dew and willing insects?

[newb2pro_1day_or_so]

Brian. Again, another stunning specimen of your fine work. I must ask you though, how do you get them so sharp? I imagine you shoot 3-6 shots at around f7-f9 before difraction softening kicks in. Are you still hand stacking? If so, which ones of these were hand stacked and which were combineZM'd? I'm just wondering. I seem to get a very low result from CombineZM, though I haven't tried stacking in awhile, maybe my luck will change. Would I be better off downloading the newer version of it instead of installing the old version which I still have?

[phantelope]

outstanding as always! Thanks for sharing.

For stacking, do you change focus on the lens or do you shoot a high speed series and move the camera a bit?

Simply amazing shots, where about do you live? I don't get much dew here inlands of San Francisco, and there are not many bugs either. Which I always was quite happy with until I got into macro.... (found a praying mantis this weekend, of course did not have my camera with me. Oh well.)

Oliver

[macgruder]

Simply amazing!

[Richtherookie]

Wish i would have never opened this one up. Those first two are awesome, love the added effect of the flower in the dew drop. Now I gotta go sweet talk the miss' into buying me MORE gear! Love them all.

[SlowBlink]

I'm voting for Flower Towers in the next POTN Book, if I'm allowed to vote that is. Beautiful shots Brian.

[LordV]

Thanks again for the kind comments all - much appreciated.

BuzzyB - all my shots are just taken in my garden.

Dan - think the last 3 shots are hand stacked. The others were stacked using the older CZ5 (I prefer it to CZM) but many had extensive repair hand stacking on them. Think you are correct on the aperture used. If the shot is hand stacked it gets a dose of USM after de-noise around 200,1,1 faded by 50% and then another dose of USM after size reduction 200,1,1 faded to 30%. For cz5 stacks only the reduced shot gets sharpened as above. I haven't played with the newer czp yet but it seems to be a multi stage thing which is a bit of a pain.

Oliver - when focus stacking I move the camera but only use single shot mode - but I do take shots fairly quickly (about 1 a sec). I live in Worthing South Coast UK.

Brian V.

[crazyjoel]

wow! love the clear reflections in the dew drops

[phantelope]

Thanks Brian, I'll have to practice that! Not many bugs around here, the occasional fly and a bunch of those daddy longleg spiders. Probably quite some black widows hiding here and there, though I have not found any. It's been extremely dry in California this year.

Do you use a focus rail or move by hand?

You should put together a photo book, your images are outstanding!

[midnight_rider]

They all look great but that "flower tower" shot is amazing. Wonderful series.

[LordV]

Thanks again for the comments :)

Oliver - no I don't use a focus rail - I'm normally just resting the lens on something or resting it on the back of my left hand which is resting or gripping something for these type of shots.

Brian V.

[SwingBopper]

Amazing shots. I particularly like Flower Towers.