Another Hornworm

[Ian Cassell]

Canon 7D
Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro
Canon 430EX + Lumiquest Softbox

1/200 sec f/8 ISO 500

[Arthur Morris]

Nice caterpillar and BKGR. It looks as if you were not quite parallel to the subject; moving a bit up and left might have helped in that regard....

BTW, TAT for your membership support.

[Ian Cassell]

Thanks, Artie. I took a series and this one seemed pretty parallel to me ... maybe not close enough.

[Arthur Morris]

Close, but not quite a winning cigar. Notice how the head is bent to the creature's left and is thus slight less sharp than the tail.... Actually, you were pretty parallel but the head turned away from the body did you in....

[Ken Childs]

Ian, this is a cool looking bug! Was it eating anything important?

I agree a step to the left would have helped and I'd also like more canvas on the left side. It looks like you have a good, distant BG so if the opportunity presents itself again, consider shooting at f16 and aim slightly down the body.

[Don Lacy]

Nice looking caterpillar and use of flash just needs a touch more DOF.

[Jerry van Dijk]

Nice critter with lots of details and a complimenting BG. I see much noise artifacting in the BG, but my monitor is quite unforgiving.

[Julie Kenward]

Nice one, Ian! Artie's right - the head is just a bit blurry compared to the rest of the insect's body but it's still very good. I really like the complimentary BG color - do you remember what it was that made this beautiful brown color?

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Ian,
Ken's suggestion of going to f16 is a good one.......especially when you aren't perfectly parallel or the head turns away! You are doing well with the flash and sofbox combo......so try dropping some SS to work your way up the f stop ladder to keep theat wonderful BG. The shallower the DOF the more critical the plane becomes. Just something to keep in mind when you are out in the field.

[Anita Bower]

How did you manage to get the BG to match the hornworm? Good job. I like having the worm fill the frame as it allows me to get a good look! I thought hornworms were green?