Lemon tree destroyer

[Charissa]

http://i45.tinypic.com/5clzz7.jpg
My first post, hope i am doing it right. Taken with a Canon 50D and MPE 65 lens. All help will be appreciated.:)
F16, 1/250sec with ring flash, ISO 100.

[Vida van der Walt]

Welcome Charissa! Great to have another MP E user post in Macro. Excellent detail in this and love the angle of the shot. Great patterns and colours in this.:)

[Allen Sparks]

Love the detail and angle as well. This guy appears to have assumed the "tucked head" position that I often get when trying to photograph these up close. So in one sense it is a good capture of that behavior but it would be nice to see more of the face as well. Excellent first post!

[Julie Kenward]

Welcome to the macro/flora forum, Charissa! This is a very nice first post! I like the position of the snail in the frame but feel it is a little too tight on the right side. If the frame were gone I think you'd be right on the money with that little bit of extra space. There is one slightly out of focus (OOF) area (that little golden brown "knob" on the side of his head) that missed the focal plane but considering the lens you're using and the manual focus I think you did extremely well. Try to keep in mind that people are going to zero in on the face (we do that instinctually) so try to keep that area of the image as sharp as possible and let the rest fall where it may.

In the future, be sure to post the other data for the image as well - we need to know aperture, shutter speed, lighting, what mode the camera was in, tell us anything/everything you can so we can help you with the best critiques. There's a list at the top of the forum called "Posting instructions and guidelines" that will give you the full scoop.

Again, welcome to our forum. Stick around and you'll be amazed at what these other photographers can teach you!

[Kaushik Balakumar]

This is such a beautiful looking caterpillar. Lovely extreme close-up.
Wish to see a wee bit of (more) space on the right.
Thanks for sharing and will look fwd to seeing more of your work.

[Charissa]

http://i45.tinypic.com/2ltci8.jpg
Thanks everyone, for comments. Decided to re work the caterpillar, and take all your advise in consideration. Would u say this is an improvement? Sharpened, contrast adjustments, and had to spot heal some dust spots (a normal thing for the MPE, as it increase the size of everything, including sensor dust... insert smiley here.)
Used a 50D with MPE 65mm Lens,ring flash (not a named brand), all hand held and camera on full manual. Your opinions will be appreciated. Thanks again.

[Allen Sparks]

Yes, I think this is an improvement. The details show up better to me.

[Mike Moats]

Hey Charissa, welcome to BPN and thanks for posting. Very cool critter and I the repost was an improvment. It is sharper and has more pop. Congrats and hope to see more from you.

[Charissa]

Thanks Allen and Mike, appreciate. I already learned a lot.