A little sip

[Vida van der Walt]

A tiny 2mm x 1mm ant. I noticed these little ants on a fuchsia plant and placed a drop of sugar water on one of the petals to get them to sit still. I used f8 on purpose and sacrificed dof in favour of sharper detail on the eye of the ant. I could have lifted the levels a bit but rather like the mood of the darker image. Still not 100 percent happy but think the translucence of the ant and the red and black reflection (don't know what it is) in the water drop is nice.
Canon 5D Mark11; MP E 65mm; MT 24EX
apertf8; ss1/200; iso100
slight crop, shrp, nr, curves and softening of highlights.

[Julie Kenward]

Wow, Vida, that is one incredible macro! First off, the colors from the fuschia make for a fantastic BG. Did you saturate them in pp at all? They are divine! I love your angle and choice of crop as well although it would be nice to have a little more room by those back feet on the bottom and left side of the frame.

I really feel this would be worth the time and trouble to totally remove all the spectral highlights - at least the ones on the ant's head. The image is not bad like this but I think it could go over the top with a little clean up.

Planted the sugar water did ya? You're one smart cookie!

[Christopher Miller]

Hi Vida, This is one superb macro!!! Love the colors and angled composition. Great details on the ant. The image feels just a tiny bit tight to me, but that's a very minor point.

Great job on this, I'm loving it! :)

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Stunning details! love the compo. Great idea.

[Katherine Enns]

Gosh this is gorgeous! Wow, what a splendid BG color! I think this is perfect, actually. I especially like the red and fuschia in the drop.

[Ramesh Adkoli]

This is a fantastic image, Vida. The colors, details on the body of the ant and bg all work together to make it a stunning image. Congrats.

What is the magnification: 5x?

regards,
ramesh

[Vida van der Walt]

Hi Julie, Christopher, Juan Carlos, Katherine and Ramesh. Thank you all for the great feedback.:) Julie and Christopher, you are right and those are the exact reasons why I said I'm not 100% happy with it. Unfortunately I left too little space at the bottom when I took the shot and I have nothing to put back. The highlights are also my other problem and I will work on the image at some stage to remove it. Julie, I didn't saturate the colours at all. Ramesh, you are right, taken at 5x magnification. It gets a bit hairy trying to get that tiny eye in focus at 5x.:D

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Vida, at your very best as always. Just love the colours, and the detail in this is simply incredible. The droplet is larger than the ant. Very well captured.

[caseyargall]

Great macro!! the flowers colour makes a nice bg, the comp. is perfect.

[Charles Wesley]

Vida,

True macro photography here. It's a very lovely image with most excellent sharpness and detail. I like Fuscia as a hummer attractant but I see it works for ants. I do not mind the tight crop since the composition is wonderful. Have done high magnification photography with a bellows before the ME-P 65 mm macro lens came out. I know how how difficult this is and HH no doubt.

Keep 'em coming...
____________________
Charlie Wesley
St. Augustine Beach, FL

[Barbara Kile]

Knockout color and the details and composition are right on!

[Vida van der Walt]

Hi Stu, Casey, Charles and Barbara. Thank you for the lovely feedback. It is highly appreciated.:)

[Mike Moats]

Hey Vida, excellent image, it's all about being in the right place at the right time, and then nailing the shot, well done.

[Ed Cordes]

I just want to add my congrats for this top notch image!!!

[Jerry van Dijk]

Hi Vida. Just one word: amazing!!

[Vida van der Walt]

Hi Mike, Ed and Jerry. Thank you for the great feedback. It is much appreciated.:)

[Anita Bower]

Excellent image. Love those colors!!! I never saw an ant drinking water. What a wonderful shot and idea.

[Arlon Motsch]

Very nice!

[Cindy Mead]

what incredible colors and details.. excellent macro!

[Vida van der Walt]

Hi Anita, Arlon and Cindy. Your comments are very much appreciated!:)