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Karl Günter Wünsch
06-20-2010, 05:53 PM
http://www.my-photohome.de/kgw/2010-06-20-tyria_jacobaeae_0091_bp.jpg
Canon 7D, Canon 100mm f/2.8L IS USM @ f/10, 1/13, ISO 200, tripod.
Shot behind the water treatment works between Kleinenbroich and Kaarst (just a few kilometres east of Mönchengladbach) where a large abundance of ragwort has given rise to a sizeable population of this colourful moth... The ragwort are riddled with this moth's caterpillar...

Fabs Forns
06-20-2010, 05:58 PM
Very nicely done, I think the OOF flowers add a touch of interest to the BG, they may bother others thigh. Great sharpness and red and green is always a killer color combination.

Julie Kenward
06-20-2010, 08:14 PM
Very good details Karl! I don't mind the flower in the BG but I usually prefer the insect towards the top third more than the bottom third. I'm sure that's just personal preference, though. Excellent DOF and lighting is beautiful. Might try turning the camera at an angle next time to get the stem/moth to be more on a diagonal.

Harshad Barve
06-20-2010, 08:53 PM
Excellent detals and awesome color combo here , techs spot on and nice BG too
TFS

Paul Lagasi
06-20-2010, 09:08 PM
This looks like a King wearing a robe...what a cool moth, very sharp..well done

Allen Sparks
06-21-2010, 04:44 AM
Love the colors here. Nice sharpness. Well done.

Karl Günter Wünsch
06-21-2010, 05:15 AM
Very good details Karl! I don't mind the flower in the BG but I usually prefer the insect towards the top third more than the bottom third. I'm sure that's just personal preference, though.
It is and I am usually of the same conviction that the insect should be in the top third, but in this case it simply didn't look right to me because the cinnabar moth is invariably sitting quite close to the bottom of the plant...

Excellent DOF and lighting is beautiful. Yes, the light was excellent yesterday with overcast skies

Might try turning the camera at an angle next time to get the stem/moth to be more on a diagonal.
I'm always a bit ambivalent when it comes to diagonal alignments of things that everybody knows doesn't grow diagonally... I'll give it a try next time though.

Roman Kurywczak
06-22-2010, 05:04 PM
Hi Karl,
Like mentioned above.....light and BG are outstanding. Are these creatures skittish? I ask because I want to know if you were able to get the moth slighly towards you? In any case, very nice details in the blacks and the color contrast is also excellent!

Karl Günter Wünsch
06-22-2010, 05:14 PM
Hi Karl,
Like mentioned above.....light and BG are outstanding. Are these creatures skittish?
They are sort of skittish - you have to see them and react correctly to get close but then you are basically free to get as close as you like unless you need to move radially to their perch...

I ask because I want to know if you were able to get the moth slighly towards you?
I don't understand what you mean, could you please elaborate?

Roman Kurywczak
06-22-2010, 05:30 PM
......I don't understand what you mean, could you please elaborate?
Thanks for the advice on how skittish they are. While I am not a card carrying member of HAP (Head Angle Police)......I do think that the subject slightly towards you is better. I'm not sure you could have achieved that as the back leg was set all the way back......so the moth would have to reposition itself in order for you to get that pose. That little turn would make a very strong image.....even stronger!

Karl Günter Wünsch
06-23-2010, 04:56 AM
I do think that the subject slightly towards you is better. I'm not sure you could have achieved that as the back leg was set all the way back...
That's the problem. I usually do put my focus on the head and too like the subject "looking" at me, be it from the side... With this kind of moth this wouldn't work at all because they have a way of folding their wings that would mean that the wing tips are most definately out of focus when you have the head slightly angled at you - so it's either looking away from you and the wings are nicely focused or it's looking at you and the wings are partially OOF. The only way to make such a composition work would be to focus stack - but for that I'd have to have the luck of an evening without even the slightest breeze...