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Vida van der Walt
01-11-2010, 05:30 AM
Found these little flies late afternoon in my garden.
crop, shrpn, nr, levels, softened a couple of spectral highlights. I tried to even out the dark and light green of the bg but after a couple of unsuccessful attempts decided to keep the original bg as is. Jules, I know you'll want me to remove that white thingy sticking to the back leg but the other back leg is behind it and I'm not sure I'll replace it in the correct position.;):D
Canon 5D Mark11; MP E 65mm; MT 24EX
apert f16; ss 1/125; iso 100

Allen Sparks
01-11-2010, 06:37 AM
awesome shot Vida. what interesting flies. Detail and color is outstanding. It all works for me.

Morkel Erasmus
01-11-2010, 06:52 AM
awesome colours, light and detail Vida.
exquisite detail. nothing to fault.

Julie Kenward
01-11-2010, 07:58 AM
It works for me, too. Vida, the white thing on the back leg is fine because I can see it in enough detail to make it out so I have no qualms with it - THIS TIME! ;) I just find those little pieces of things to be an eye puller when they are so small you end up staring ONLY at them and miss the beauty of the image.

Gorgeous detail as always. You're making me hunger for the 65mm macro!

Vida van der Walt
01-11-2010, 08:48 AM
Thank you kindly Allen, Morkel and Jules. Always appreciated.:) Jules, I'm just pulling your leg. I always appreciate any suggestions as it is so easy to overlook something distracting.:)

Adrian David
01-11-2010, 08:55 AM
Excellent details and fantastic light!!!

Myer Bornstein
01-11-2010, 08:56 AM
Vida lovely image I would not change anything

Julie Kenward
01-11-2010, 09:31 AM
I know that, Vida...but the newbies to the forum don't know that so when I have a chance to teach them something, I take it! :D

Barbara Kile
01-11-2010, 10:04 AM
Awesome detail and you captured 'the moment' very well! ;)

Don Lacy
01-11-2010, 10:52 AM
Hi Vida, Just another wonderfully sharp, rich, and detailed image from you. Are you hand holding using the flash as main on the subject and the ambient light for the BG.

Vida van der Walt
01-11-2010, 12:21 PM
Adrian, Myer, Barbara and Don, thank you all very much for the great feedback.:) Jules ;):). I almost always hand hold Don. With this lens, very little ambient light reaches the sensor esp at the higher magnifications. It is almost impossible to use the lens without a flash and if the vegetation in the bg of this shot was even just a little bit further away, I would have ended up with a black bg.:)

denise ippolito
01-11-2010, 01:56 PM
Fantastic details and exposure. Great moment captured. The colors are very nice and so is the comp. Well done.

Stu Bowie
01-12-2010, 01:24 AM
Brilliant IQ Vida, and what incredible flashwork, detail and colours. You have nailed the sharpness in this too. Well captured.

Martin Wallis
01-12-2010, 01:37 AM
perfect comp, sharpness, colour. Awesome

Charles Wesley
01-12-2010, 09:33 AM
Vida,

Got to love this beauty. Nice detail, color and contrast. Like the DOF also. Your BG shadows make it look 3D IMO. Photographing at this magnification is very difficult. What was your magnification on this one if I can ask? Thanks for your hard work and dedication.

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

Mike Moats
01-12-2010, 01:56 PM
Hey Vida, awesome detail, light, comp, BG. Did I leave anything out, don't think so, congrats.

Vida van der Walt
01-14-2010, 01:00 AM
Hi Denise, Stu, Martin, Charles and Mike. Thank you for looking and for your great feedback. Always appreciated.:) Charles, to be honest, I'm not sure. This is one of my older shots and I managed to take 3 before the flies flew away. I am mostly only aware of being at the limit of the lens at 5x when I am trying to photograph the really tiny insects that are about 1 and 2mm in size and they allow me time for more than a couple of shots. These little flies are a bit bigger and more or less 4 mm in size. This image is not a large crop from the original so if I had to guess, I would say I was at 3x - 4x magnification. What is interesting about these flies is that one of the diptera experts at an international website for fly identification was of the opinion that these little flies have not yet been described.:)

Charles Wesley
01-14-2010, 05:33 AM
Vida,

Thanks so much for your response. Your abilities at 3 to 4X is most excellent. IMO these images are very marketable especially if you're finding new species.

My photo instructor went to Kruger NP for the last time in 2006. I had to cancel which really upset me. I know another photographer who has been to South Africa about 15 times. It's a most beautiful country. He spent 40K to hire an agent to market his SA images wihh his retirement money back in the film days.

He had several images and a book published. I know you have the talent. It's all about being discovered and marketing.
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Charlie Wesley
St. Augustine Beach, FL

Vida van der Walt
01-15-2010, 12:49 PM
Hi Charles
Thank you for the big compliment. I would love to do a book on insects one day but will have to find a company that prints high quality coffee table books. Unfortunately insects do not have the same appeal as wild animals and birds do to most people.
I have found a spider that has also not been described and according to our SA spider expert probably a new species of tropical tent web spider.:)
Vida

Charles Wesley
01-15-2010, 01:25 PM
Vida,

You're most welcome. My photo instructor self published a South African wildlife book. Check out his web site http://nature-wildlife.com It has the book on the front page and a free link to the software. They do a good job for the price. I have a copy of his book.

Apple also does nice books from iPhoto a tremendous program but it's not PS. I'm working on a book myself. Lost everything in a computer crash. Did not backup... my bad. Not sure how long his web site will be up...
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Charlie Wesley
St. Augustine Beach, FL

Vida van der Walt
01-19-2010, 11:57 AM
Thanks for the link and info Charles.:)

Ákos Lumnitzer
01-26-2010, 04:26 AM
Vida; another incredible shot IMHO. Man, this blows my mind! Period. Can you post an image of your spider? Make sure they name it after you then and you can join my club. :) :) :)

Vida van der Walt
01-27-2010, 08:46 AM
Hi Akos. Thank you very much.:) I do have a couple of images of the spider but I'm not sure if they are such great shots. Maybe I'll post one sometime. Did you also discover a new spider?