Call for more bugs response

[Jerry van Dijk]

After a winter full of experimenting with those "girly flowers", I'm happy someone called for bugs again. This is an image of last year, because the bug season has only just started here.
This is probably one of the ugliest bugs we have in The Netherlands. It's an alderfly (Sialis lutaria). They are a cyclist nightmare. At the end of May, a few days in a row, they massively swarm out of the grass along ditches and roadverges. They're clumsy fliers, so they end up all over you . Add some speed from cycling and you get the idea....:eek:. I had a lot of "visitors" while shooting this image!

Panasonic DMC-FZ18, handheld, 32 mm (192 mm eq.) Suntec 4+ closeup lens, ISO-100, F/5, 1/250 sec, EC 0, pattern metering, aperture priority, RAW.
RAW processing in Silkypix, PP in Corel Photopaint. Minor tweaks on levels and sharpness.

[Julie Brown]

Jerry, I like the backlighting and detail on the leaf and wings, but wish the head and antennae were in focus.

[Ken Childs]

Jerry, the focus seems to be all on the lower half of the bug and much of the bug is too dark to show much detail. We may have had this discussion before and I don't think you have anything comparable but Photoshop's shadow/highlight tool is just what this bug needs. Those veiny wings are the best part of the bug so they should be brighter. The BG is a bit busy and I think it would help to clone away the blade of grass that's to the right of the bug. It' so bright that it's overshadowing it.

My favorite part of this shot is the blade of grass that the bug is hanging on to. I wouldn't mind a shot of just that backlit blade of grass. :)

[Julie Kenward]

Well, I do agree that the focus is not on the head and that's a shame because this is a beautifully lit and exposed image. I LOVE the grass in the BG - I feel like I am right down there looking through it and it makes me so happy! The wings are stunning - now get that face right and we'll all be bowing to the king of bugs!

[Jerry van Dijk]

Hi all, thanks for your comments. The OOF head is indeed the biggest problem of the image. I tried to mask it a little with selective sharpening. Like Jules, I'm in favour of keeping all the grass. I like the diagonals they create and I think the black bug stands out enough to draw attention. Maybe I should clone out the bug ;)? Ken, I deliberately kept the bug dark to accentuate the backlight in favour of the details (these bugs don't have much detail anyway). And I'm happy to inform you that I just ordered Photoshop. I got an incredible deal through my employer to purchase CS4 for a fraction of the original price. But it will probably take me quite some time to learn to work with it. I will definately try out the shadow/highlight tool. I think I will be spending a lot of evenings going to the great PP hints and tricks given here at the forum.

[Julie Kenward]

Jerry, that's wonderful that you got a good deal on CS4. Tips and tricks are great but if you really want a manual that will teach you how to use Photoshop go get "The Missing Manual" by Lesa Snider. Amazon has it for $31.49 and it's worth every penny you spend on it. ;)

[Jerry van Dijk]

Thanks for the tip Jules, I'll look into it. Sounds just like the book I need. I'm also planning to become a member of a Dutch photography magazine, that features a 'how to and tips and tricks in Photoshop' article related to a specific aspect of photography (landscape, macro, etc.) in each issue.
Looking forward to learning a lot!

[Ken Childs]

And I'm happy to inform you that I just ordered Photoshop.
That's fantastic!
Once you have time to learn a bit about what it can do, you'll wonder how you ever got along without it.