A Robber

dpastern wrote in post #3545331
It be a Robberfly - lighting on this shot seems a bit harsher than your other shots though Crypto?

scot079 - most of us enjoy macro photography of Insects and Arachnids. I think the market for this type of genre of photography would be very small, I mean, most people don't give an Insect a 2nd glance, and most spiders are killed very quickly, without a 2nd thought. That's the general population for you, they fear what they don't understand due to a lack of knowledge and misinformation. They make fascinating study and then there's the technical skills involved in nabbing the shot. Making a 'bob' is English slang for 'making a buck'.

Dave

thanks dave, it's definitely a different genre for a guy who does mostly portraits and landscapes. i really enjoy the insect shots and I would have plenty of subjects here in germany, lot's of "bugs" for everyone.

has any of you macro guys every experimented with "microphotography"? I read an article about a guy who would use a camera mounted microscope to capture snowflakes. It was really neat, the snowflakes look exactly like the paper ones we all made in elementary school.

Nice vibrant colors and a fun catch.

Nope, I haven't, but some of the guys have had setups at 8x magnification...

Dave

dpastern wrote in post #3545331
It be a Robberfly - lighting on this shot seems a bit harsher than your other shots though Crypto?

Dave

I agree. His silvery body made it a little more challenging. Maybe I should have hit a different angle or use spot metering. I've noticed the sharpening will enhance this harshness too.
This happens a lot, what do you suggest for subjects that reflect the flash?

Brilliant shot!!! I Really like this shot!!!! Well done!

Bryce

Nice shot - good focus without too much distraction in the background

Appologies for bumping this up - but I couldn't resist.

This is an AWESOME piece of art ! The PIC is so lively that it pops right up directly into your face.

Beautifull.

great shot

Crypto wrote in post #3547500
I agree. His silvery body made it a little more challenging. Maybe I should have hit a different angle or use spot metering. I've noticed the sharpening will enhance this harshness too.
This happens a lot, what do you suggest for subjects that reflect the flash?

Crypto - my sincere apologies for not replying to your query, I was in the process of a huge move interstate and a large upheavel of my life to boot. The first thing I'd suggest is trying LordV's Coca Cola diffuser - it does work well, although placement of the flash/diffuser in relation to the lens/subject does seem to make a difference as per Brian's advice. I'm still experimenting myself. Adjust FEC of course, as needed as well.

Personally, I've found that some Robberfly's are highly reflective (as well as some insects of course) and there's very little you can do to avoid reflectance. You can minimise it in some circumstances, but not entirely remove it. Angle of the flash to insect body might also help, you're a very competent photographer, I'd say experiment and find the balance that suits you and the subject the best

Dave

Thanks everyone for the additional comments and information.