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View Full Version : A most hated pest



John Chardine
09-03-2012, 01:25 PM
Well it certainly seems that way when you look up weevils, AKA "snout beetles". Gardeners and farmers don't like them. I found this one in my house so chilled him down a little in the fridge before taking outside to photograph. The chilling did not seem to work that well and I ended up chasing him around some, which is not fun! I guess they are hardy creatures.

I am so impressed with the many fabulous macro images in this forum and I really want to start working on this branch of photography.

I cropped from each side and toned down the bright area at the left.

Date: 3 September, 2012, Time: 1444h
Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: Nikon 60mm f2.8D macro with 12 and 25mm extension tubes with Novoflex adapter
Program: Manual
ISO 800, 1/50s, f/16 (approx)
Flash: off

Allen Sparks
09-03-2012, 03:35 PM
Hi John, this is a very interesting bug up close that you captured quite well. I like the focal point on the eyes and you executed that precisely. Would have been nice to get the front of the snout sharp but that is a nit since I think squeezing that much DOF while you chased this guy around would be quite tough. I like the straight on head angle too. Well done!

Dave Leroy
09-03-2012, 06:27 PM
You must have been pretty tight with the extension tubes on and hard to keep up with any movement. Well done. Just a small thing but I might have squared it up with the in focus line prior to cropping if there was room.
I really like the choice of matching color and texture for bg.

Dave Johnson
09-04-2012, 04:04 AM
A scary looking shot of these cute beetles. Those hairs on the snout look like fangs to me! Very fine focus on the eyes and narrow DOF. A little more to get the whole snout in focus would have been nice but you did well to get this as is imo. I agree with Dave's comment about the focal line in front of the weevil. I'd rotate the image until the line was vertical and this would put the eyes on a leveler plane. Enjoyed looking at this one, TFS.

Roman Kurywczak
09-04-2012, 02:47 PM
Hey John,

Let me start by saying that I like the image.....even though I agree with more DOF on the snout........that being said and looking at the specs......you eeked out as much as you could out of natural light! This is the #1, #2, & #3 reason to use flash.......to allow you to freeze movement while hand holding. Using the flash could easily give you 2 stops without being overdone. A great investment is the twin flashes so if you want to play more with macro.....the MT 24 Twin lights (you can make home made diffusers) or a secondary slaved flash should be in your future! This allows you to explore a whole new world and push the DOF to the max! All in all a great effort for a seldom seen creature!

John Chardine
09-04-2012, 03:14 PM
Thanks everyone! I will look at the line of focus on the "perch" and see if moving it improves the image. As I remember it this was the attitude of the beetle as it stood on the curved side of a wooded chair.

Roman- Thanks so much for the flash tip. You are absolutely right and macro flash is something I just haven't delved into yet.