Flower Fly

[Steve Maxson]

This is one of the larger species of Flower Flies (family Syrphidae) feeding on a daisy flower. 40D, MP-E 60 mm, 1/250, f/16, ISO 100, MT-24 twin lites (diffused), hand held. RAW file PP in CS3 - levels, curves, selective color, crop. I blended some of the dark gaps between the white petals to even out the background. All comments are welcome and appreciated.
(Hmmm, I see that the whites somehow lost some brightness and took on a slight bluish cast during the uploading process.) :confused:

[Jay Sheinfield]

Steve,

Another great one. Love the pollen on the under-body hairs. Good detail and it appears to be angled slightly to the viewer, which is great. I might clone out the darker lines in the BG, mostly the one behind its head. Also, the OOF yellow in LRC, I might try and clone out the top 1/3 or so..............no biggie, I still like as is...........................

[Julie Kenward]

Steve, I was thinking the same thing about the lines in the BG. If they were more in focus I'd say keep 'em but as is they just seem to get lost. You might also do a selection on the BG and pump that up to a less gray version of white.

Excellent detail on the fly - my goodness how you get them to hold still for you like this amazes me! You've really found your nitche with that MPE-60 lens.

[Ken Childs]

Steve, you must have the steady hands of a brain surgeon to get hand held shots like this! The fly looks fantastic!
My eye also went directly to the stripe behind the fly's head but based on your comment about the BG losing something in the upload, maybe it's not so noticeable in the original. Jay's crop suggestion would get the fly's eyes closer to that ROT spot so I think it's a good idea.

Again, I don't know how you are able to get such sharp images of tiny things. :cheers:

[Roman Kurywczak]

Super details and sharpness.....agree with some of the tweaks too but you sure are a lethal combo with that lens and flash!

[pat lillich]

thank you so much for posting this - you definitely showed me what i need to aim for. how incredibly gorgeously sharp he is....

[Mike Moats]

Hey Steve, fantastic details, agree with the other posters suggestions, but as is still a great shot.

[Steve Maxson]

Thanks for the comments everyone. Here is a repost with the darkish lines removed and with a slightly tighter crop (I see that I'm still getting blue/gray whites somehow in the uploading process - I guess you'll have to take my word for it that the original has whiter whites :) ).

I thought I'd share a little about my technique. The MP-E lens is capable of producing stunning images, but it can also be difficult and frustrating - especially hand held with a moving subject. Ken, my hands aren't any steadier than those of anyone else and in my experience, hand holding this lens in the traditional sense is a recipe for major frustration - the DOF is just too small and there is almost no room for error. The technique that has given me the best results, thus far, is to grasp the stem or base of a flower with my left hand and then rest the front of the lens on top of that hand. Then the camera and subject are moving in synchrony (this is the key). I can then focus by moving the lens slightly back and forth on top of my left hand. I can also turn the flower with my fingers to achieve a better angle of view on my subject. Of course, this all requires a very cooperative subject and that too can be frustrating. I find that this method tends to work better on windy days when the flowers are moving around in the breeze. Then the critters don't seem to notice as much when I grasp the stem.

[Julie Kenward]

Steve, did you read about that technique or did it just come to you in the field one day? It's awesome...I think it's done very well by you!

[Steve Maxson]

Steve, did you read about that technique or did it just come to you in the field one day? It's awesome...I think it's done very well by you!
Thanks, Jules, but I can't take credit for it - I read about it on another macro forum I was exploring and gave it a try. It works very well with this lens because the distance between lens and subject is only a couple inches so the lens sits on your hand at about the base of your thumb and index finger. Trying this with a 100 mm macro with its longer working distance is rather awkward - at least for me - because the lens would be resting on your wrist or forearm. :)

[WIlliam Maroldo]

Steve--as usual an incredible image! Appreciate you revealing your methods. I like the less tight crop. I was wondering how you use the twin lights: I know you diffuse the lights but are you using brackets, or have one mounted on the camera? You probably explained this earlier but I missed it. regards~Bill

[Steve Maxson]

Steve--as usual an incredible image! Appreciate you revealing your methods. I like the less tight crop. I was wondering how you use the twin lights: I know you diffuse the lights but are you using brackets, or have one mounted on the camera? You probably explained this earlier but I missed it. regards~Bill
Thanks for the comments, William. I usually have the MT-24 twin lites mounted on the lens (they come with a bracket that attaches to the front of your macro lens and allows you to position the flash heads in a variety of ways). The flash heads can also be removed from the bracket and positioned manually (if you have enough hands :) ) - I do this at times, when I'm using a tripod and shooting a stationary subject, in order to vary the light angle. Hope this helps.

[Melissa Groo]

Beautiful picture, and the repost is much better! Astounding clarity.