Now I'm not suggesting ...

... that we all walk around with flowers to stick behind bugs when we photograph them, but you do get interesting results when you do

These were all taken when I was doing dewdrop flower refractions, so I had a flower handy.

Brian V.

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Sweet, Brian. Sometimes a good background can make a huge difference in showing off the subject in the best light.

If you had another hand, it would be holding a reflector, wouldn't it?

Great set Brian. It's about time you put up one of your fantastic stereograms.

Wondersul pics, the flower in the background certainly enhances the insect shot. #1 is very cleverly done

Linda

definitely beats a black BG in most cases but you cant beat a nice subdued green. Awesome detail on the Hover.

very nice idea, looks great

Great shots Brian, and you've let slip one of your secret techniques: carrying a flower around. I suppose an alternative would be to carry a watering can around the flowerbeds.

Another lovely series of images Brian, gonna miss your images

Dave

Thanks for the comments everyone
RM- hover !!!!- it's a soldier fly

eccles I did try once carrying around a pale green piece of card for a background but you tend to scare off the bugs getting that in place

Dave - you're going have to sort something out about internet access even if it's using an internet cafe- you can't just disappear ! - Your too much of a valued member here.

Linda- must admit I wasn't sure about #1- liked the caterpillar but did think of cloning out the dewdrop refraction as being distracting but others on Flickr seemed to like it ?

Alby- thanks for the comment on the 3-D - I like them but think they are a minority interest here. I still regularly do them when I can- you could always check my 3-D set on Flickr every now and then
http://www.flickr.com/​photos/lordv/sets/1571​779/
If you click on detail near the top of the page- it paginates the view and you can then easily navigate to the last pages instead of waiting for the whole set to load.

Brian V.

LordV wrote in post #3546930
Dave - you're going have to sort something out about internet access even if it's using an internet cafe- you can't just disappear ! - Your too much of a valued member here.

Thanks for the very kind words Brian. My father has a dialup 56k connection, but at a download speed of 5kb/s, perusing the forums would be not really comfortable. The average image is 100k, so that's 20 seconds to load, and the average post has 2-3 images. It would frustrate the hell out of me (especially coming from broadband), and it would frustrate my father as I'd be using his computer to access the net. I could use internet connection sharing, but since that would split the dialup into 2 trees, and halve the speed, that's even worse. Since I'll be lucky to have a few hundred dollars to my name after the move, and won't be getting any welfare payments for 8 weeks, I simply will not be able to afford any alternatives, or luxuries such as Internet connection. Public transport isn't the best where my parents are, and I don't have a car, so getting into the CBD of Ipswich is either a long walk, or not really doable, except if my father is going into "town".

Worse, Ipswich has been very very dry for the past 18 months, with very little rainful, and the gardens have suffered for it. I saw very little insect and arachnid life up there during the 3 days I spent there 2 months ago. I'll probably try and concentrate on landscapes/cityscapes and bird photography when money allows. 2007 has not been a good year for me, I've just realised that I've lost a AU $500 Creative 60gb MP3 player somehow in the past 24 hours...I think I will disappear into a shell at my parents place and lick my wounds for the rest of this year in all honesty.

Dave

Wow amazing pictures and what nice bokeh.

How many shots are made or broken on the background? Wonderful series that shows how to increase impact and interest by background choice.

Great work Brian

Irwin

Thanks for the comments Cecil and Irwin
Interesting comment about the BG Irwin- had a few comments on Flickr about the wonderful bokeh with this type of shot. Certainly does give a different impact.

Brian V.

The first one is simply amazing. I really don't know how you do it, but you always seem to come up with something that blows my mind.

Please, PLEASE keep up the good work!

Although bugs creap me out these are great.