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Paul Lagasi
08-01-2010, 09:28 PM
I was out today looking for migrating shorebirds...happened on this Robber Fly with a small Syrphid fly in his grasp. I managed to change lenses and he let me get really close..for this hand held image. Posting this from my laptop so no sure if its too dark or not.
Thanks for Looking.

D300
Nikon 105 2.8 Macro
1/320
f9
iso-500
handheld

Roman Kurywczak
08-02-2010, 09:24 AM
Hey Paul,
Well....I'm a sucker for action .....so this one fits the bill nicely for me! I see you posted from your laptop.....it may actually be a touch bright....but acceptable. It is sharp where it needs to be but the BG is pretty mixed.....so any smoothing you can do will greatly help. I know I've been recommending a lot of pano crops lately.....but here is yet another case that I feel just begs for it....why?.....it will accentuate the grass.......and isolate the fly better while removing most of the areas at the top of the frame that draw the eye. I alsways approach an image with no pre-concieved shape or format.....let the image dictate what that will be. Make the few tweaks to this Paul and this one will shine even more!

Steve Maxson
08-02-2010, 10:30 AM
I really like the behavior you captured here, Paul, but for me, the harsh light and mixed background are detracting from the image. You should be able to improve this with some PP work on the background and I also like Roman's suggestion of a pano crop. :)

Susan Candelario
08-02-2010, 11:33 AM
Love the flies and the action, Paul. The sharpness in the eyes is great.

Julie Kenward
08-02-2010, 04:47 PM
I totally agree with Roman. I think you could have dropped the aperture a notch or two and still made a very sharp image as everything is pretty close to the focal plane. That would have alleviated some of that BG that is so prominent. Still, a nice image of the Robber fly and a pano crop would take it up a notch.

Jonathan Ashton
08-03-2010, 02:54 AM
Nice moment caught though I suspect the prey might disagree! I think a reduction in Highlights or a Curves adjustment would help as would Jule's trick of blending the greens in the background. You appear to have a resonable DOF though perhaps f11 would have prodided a little more latitude and given a sharper tip to the tail.

Nicki Gwynn Jones
08-03-2010, 08:50 AM
Paul, beautiful capture and I agree with the pano crop idea. Love the sharpness and agree that blending the BG would take this over the top.

Paul Lagasi
08-03-2010, 05:49 PM
Thanks again everyone..my main computer at home is still apart, I am installing a new hard drive...so once again, I have used my laptop (which I have adjusted the brightness/color balance again)

I removed some of the highlights, pano cropped the image but I am at a loss when it comes to blending the greens in the background.

Jules I know you've explained this to me before, is there a tutorial somewhere I could look at, as to how to blend the greens?

Looking at the image I posted originally, I should not post anything until I see it on a calibrated screen.

Thanks