Assignment - Macro - Smile for the Camera

[Harold Davis]

one from the fruit and spice park last weekend. i told him to smile for the camera and he did!!

D300, Sigma 150, f/6.3, 1/800s, 0Ev, ISO 1600, front curtain flash w/ bounce

thanks for looking. comments and critiques much appreciated.

[William Malacarne]

Looks good Harold...really like all the colors, and of course the expression that I am sure he only gave for you.....:D
One question if you don't mind, why, the high ISO if using flash?

Bill

[Harold Davis]

good question, bill. truthfully, it's a learning experience for me. i'm trying lots of things and seeing what works. sometimes i get lucky and find something and sometimes i flub it!! thanks for the comment.

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Front curtain flash w/bounce???? Bounce off what Harold? A reflector? I like your colour scheme and he does look like he is smiling. Might give it a bit more contrast.

[Harold Davis]

let me try explain what i was trying to do with the flash. i have no clue if it was actually working. i dont know much about flash. i just try to use common sense and the little bit of experience i have. i had the camera flash head tilted up at 45 degrees. if i am not mistaken, this makes the exif data read bounce flash. i wasnt bouncing it off anything. there was only sky above the df. BUT, from my prior experiences, even at 45 degrees, you are going to get a little flash hitting the subject. it was cloudy and i was trying to get a little bit of pop in the image instead of just flat light. had i positioned the flash at the regular 90 degree angle, i would have had more flash than i wanted on the subject and possibly a lot of hotspots on the df due to his shiny covering. that was the main thing i was trying to avoid. goes back to wanting to do minimum PP. btw, i had the little diffuser bar down over the flash too.

i have no clue if any of what i did was proper. people that know more than me can come in here and shoot holes in it all day long. i hope they do! maybe i can learn something new!!

thanks for the comment jackie. i hope i havent confused you.

[Jackie Schuknecht]

No thanks for the explanation, you didn't confuse me. Also I take back my comment about contrast, I am my Desktop, and it looks fine. Nice shot, with great details.

[denise ippolito]

H. -Not sure what you did but I gotta tell you I love it!! Beautiful details and the colors are awesome. I love the folded leaf tip and the gold tones of your subject. I might take a sliver off the top.Very well done!!

[OvidiuCavasdan]

Interesting pose and beautiful colors. Fine BG. Like it a lot!

[Alfred Forns]

Harold results speak for itself ... your doing well !!!!

I'm glad you were having luck with that insect and listening to your .. paid no attention to me :)

William for macro your base exposure is going to come from ambient (most of the time) and the flash will be just a little help, we are not freezing the action so we need the high ISO lots of times. One of the reasons we don't much use flash as main is the reflection form the little critter. Can use diffusers in the flash but will be tough getting enough light.

I use the Canon Twin Macro light and its one sweet unit, very flexible !!!

Nailed the point of focus and love that head twist, worked hard enough for it :) Big Congrats !!!

[Gus Cobos]

Nice composition, image and capture Doctor...the color rendition is good, and so is the details in the wings...I like the sharp selective focus...good show...:cool:

[Lance Peters]

Really cool MR H:) - Love that twist of the head - A little disappointed I cant see your reflection in his eyes - LOL.

Geeez... getting tough round here - now we are getting dragonflys to look into the camera and smile :)

[carole wiley]

This image goes to show that even insects have personality.