Mimic

[Mike Hitchen]

A hoverfly on a flower.
I liked the way the stripes on the fly matched the stamens in the flower and the purple petals offset it nicely. I have some with the fly turned more to the camera but they lose the impact of the stripes on the body

Olympus OMD-EM5, Panasonic 45mm f2.8 macro, 1/2000sec, f5.6, ISO 800


167389

[Steve Maxson]

An unconventional pose, but it does work well to show off the stripes on the fly's abdomen. Very good sharpness on the fly, but the yellows on the flower are looking a little crunchy and oversharpened. I would wish that the tip of the petal on the left wasn't clipped by the frame. For an alternate look, you might consider cropping this to a vertical format. :S3:

[Mike Hitchen]

Thank you for your comments Steve.
I wasn't sure about the sharpening on the stamens - I tried hard to make sure they were more than a yellow mush but probably went too far. I will try with the vertical format.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Mike the first thing to occur to me was the excessive sharpening - i.e. it looks granular, possibly contrast is a little high also. Sorry but I have to disagree regarding the hoverfly - it is facing away so I am looking at what is of particular interest. Easy subject to go back and try again.

[Jerry van Dijk]

Some good advice already given. The combination of colors is wonderful and I like how the curved lines of the flower petals converge on the subject. I too wish to have seen a little more of the flies head.

[Amanda Robinson]

The subject stands out well although the picture remains very sweet. really beautiful- nice job

[Nina Smith]

I like the image and fell in love with the colors.