Grasshopper II

[Mitch Haimov]

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7316/9394653805_e4281ffacb_o.jpg

This is a different perspective of the same hopper I posted a couple days ago. I suspect it may be a nymph, but that is essentially a guess based on size as I am not knowledgable on these critters.

All I did to this one was a little exposure adjustment, +8 vibrance in ACR, and a bit of sharpening. This is un-cropped. Wish I had enough DOF to cover the mouthparts, but I find this unusual perspective interesting an amusing. All comments and suggestions appreciated. Thanks for looking.

1/160 sec at f/11 and ISO 100
EOS 5D II
65 mm macro lens at approx 2.5:1
twin macro flash
hand held

[christopher galeski]

nice image,like the BG,pity about the mouth,but I still like it.

[Jonathan Ashton]

An interesting image, I agree a little more DOF would have been beneficial, I like the water droplet.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Mitch. Excellent sharpness within your DOF. I agree that the OOF mouthparts detract from an otherwise very strong image. The temptation with this lens is to get in very tight - but DOF suffers. As you increase magnification, going to f/16 leads to diffraction issues with this lens and doesn't really make a significant difference in DOF. If your desire is to get the whole head sharp, then I think you will need to back off somewhat on your magnification (will require some experimentation on your part) and then crop tighter in PP. You're off to a fine start with this lens and experience will help you fine-tune your technique. :S3: