Afraid of Heights

[Julie Kenward]

I couldn't figure out what this was when I first saw it. Once I got home I looked it up and it appears to be a cow killer ant - so named because its bite is so painful it can "kill a cow." I don't know...he didn't look all that tough to me!

Canon 40D, EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro
f/3.5 @ 1/500th, ISO 100
Natural light; handheld
Processed in Camera Raw and CS3 with a medium crop.

[Amy DeStefanis]

I love your title for this one. Looks like a long way down from his perspective! :eek:

He's really sharp - and fuzzy! and stands off the background really well. We don't have to hide him from the HAP, do we?

Ok - I had to edit: The highlight on the leaf is a little distracting....

:)

Amy D.

[Gus Cobos]

Excellent Julie,
I like this image. Its well balanced in frame and it tells the story and captures the moment in time of this little hungry guy, who is probably having second thoughts on climbing so high to eat his snack...:D The different hues of green are very pleasing and your focal point is dead on. You have sharp details on the little fellow. Congrats...looking foward to your next one...:cool:

[Julie Kenward]

Amy, I've gone back and forth on that white area. When I tone it down it is still white (as was the leaf in person) so it doesn't really change the look that much. If I take it all the way down then it just looks like a giant sea of green so I left it in for a little contrast. It will be interesting to see what others think of it???

[Markus Jais]

lovely shot. nice pose of the bug. wonderful calm BG. the only thing this I find a little distracting are the very bright reflections on the leave. maybe you can make this a little darker with Photoshop.

Markus

[Jonathan Michael Ashton]

Lovely shot, I like it just as it is.
Jon

[Aristotle Georgiou]

Excellent Julie! very well balanced image, great detail, love the BG, great light and what a beautiful looking ant.
Very well done.

[Mike Moats]

Hey Julie, a very cool looking ant, never seen one that was fuzzy. I like it as is, good comp, and I think the white has a nice contrast in the image.

[Kaushik Balakumar]

Nice title :)
Lovely image. Liked the composition, the DOF, the colours, everything...
I'm not sure, but was wondering if some fill-in flash from below would have helped in brining up the head details.

[Julie Kenward]

Good point, Kaushik. I might try to bring those out with a shadow/highlight adjustment. It was so bright on the day I took this it never really occurred to me to use fill flash for this one. Next time, I'll give it a try.

[Ed Vatza]

Personally, I think this is great image. The composition is great. You can count the hairs on the ant's back. The background is terrific. And the leaf looks fine to me. Very well done, Jules.