Resting on a raspberry leaf

[Jerry van Dijk]

This hoverfly (Sirphidae) is called Arctophila mussitans, I'm not sure if it has an English name. Although it occurs throughout central Europe and European Russia, it is quite a rare species. It is associated with
woods with little streams in it and has the peak of its distribution in the central European mountainous areas. Apart from that, little is known about its ecology. Good pictures of it are also a rarity. I was lucky enough to photograph this one in Belgium in the steep valley of the Warche river.
Most hoverfly species have adapted their appearance and behaviour to mimic bees, bumblebees or wasps. Arctophila mussitants resembles the bumblebee Bombus muscorum (Moss Carder-bee) and does a pretty good job!

My first RAW edit :): Comments and critique very welcome!!

Camera: Panasonic DMC-FZ18, handheld with image stabiliser, focal length 83 mm (500mm DSLR equivalent), ISO100 F/4.2, 1/40 sec, pattern metering, RAW

RAW editing: Silkypix, EC -1, auto WB, increased sharpness, strong contrast, NR 19.
Cropped in Photopaint to about 60% with panoramic cutoff. Cloned away some disturbing pieces of other leaves from FG and BG.

[Julie Kenward]

Jerry, glad to see you trying out RAW! It's exciting, isn't it? I think you did a good job on this for your first raw edit. Now I'd challenge you to clean up that background a bit and get rid of everything that doesn't add something to this image - especially the OOF stick behind the bee and the green OOF leaves on the left. Make this image about THE BEE on the one leaf and I think you'll have a much stronger image.

[Robert O'Toole]

Jerry,

Nice image and great background info. I would add that most Hoverfly Sp young are voracious carnivores and consumers of plant pests.

I would crop from the right to tighten up the comp.

Robert

[Robert O'Toole]

Jerry, glad to see you trying out RAW! It's exciting, isn't it? I think you did a good job on this for your first raw edit. Now I'd challenge you to clean up that background a bit and get rid of everything that doesn't add something to this image - especially the OOF stick behind the bee and the green OOF leaves on the left. Make this image about THE BEE on the one leaf and I think you'll have a much stronger image.

Julie,

You should add: if your personal PP (post processing) ethics allow for this or something to the effect.

One thing you might not realize is that the general feeling in Europe is very conservative with Image manipulation/optimization when compared to the US. Even cropping is sometimes frowned upon. This might not be everyone and every country in the EU but I have friends there now and have been there a few times and this is what I find to be true.



Robert

[Mike Moats]

Hey Jerry very cool pose, and I like the lighting, agree on removing the OOF stick in the top right of bee. Well done.

[Anita Rakestraw]

Nice job, Jerry, I too like the way the HF is posed. I too would crop, but if that is not in your ethics, think this looks good as is.

[Jerry van Dijk]

Hi all! Sorry for not getting back at you earlier, I was out for a few days. Thanks for all the comments!
I must admit that I already felt a little bit awkward about cloning away a few twigs and sprigs. Must be my European heritage;)! But as a good excercise in PP (learing a lot here!) and to get something nice on the wall I see no problems with it! I have submitted the original image to a digital databank of species found in the Netherlands. For such a purpose, I would indeed refrain from a strongly manipulated image.
Robert, you are completely right about the hoverfly larvae! For this particular species, it's unknown where the larvae live, but they are suspected to live in the water. I actually tried your cropping suggestion before I made the current one, but found the result too cramped. Additionally, it cuts of the leaf halfway, which also didn't look nice. Furthermore, with more cropping some lack of detail on the fly would become quite obvious. So not cropping was an aesthetic consideration, not an ethical one. It's just my personal preference to see a little more of an animals surroundings.
Thanks again for looking and commenting!