Soldier beetles

[Jonathan Ashton]

Hand held Canon 1DX Canon 180mm macro & Ring flash -1.6EV ISO 16 1/250 sec f11
I placed the grass stem in a crack in a gate so I could get the desired background:w3

[Nancy Bell]

Obviously moving the grass did not disturb the beetles! Great side views of both beetles with great details. They're a nice bright orange and the contrasting black eyes and antennae make them eye-catching. I would probably crop away much of the negative space on both sides and top. As is, the beetles appear fairly small and the bkgd too large.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Superb capture of those little Soldier beetles, Jonathan!

Love the colours, "perch" and "interaction"! And especially body language from the male, with those feelers backwards.

BG is great, love the clarity and sharpness, I am happy with the composition, thank you so much for sharing - I enjoyed viewing:)

Kind regards,

[Diane Miller]

Lovely color, detail and body language! I think I could vote for a slightly tighter crop. I'm undecided about the soft focus on the grass near the bottom -- a focus stack would have been interesting to compare.

[Allen Sparks]

Nice behavioral catch and I like the colors of the plant as well as the subject. Maybe crop a little from the right for my taste.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thanks for the feedback everyone, the crop is the ratio it is because I may be using the image, I think however I could crop a tad tighter.
The subject was small the temptation was to go in very close but then there is a lack of DOF. Focus stacking is not practicable when I am out with Barney (my dog) and hand holding:w3