Stag beetle

[Valerio Tarone]

interesting image as behaviour:the beetle push the ball of shits.
Tech: D300 zoom 17-35 at 35mm ISO 500 f2,8 1/125 spot aperture pr.I think it had be better with a short flash.
In PP :reverse curve , levels, sharpness, local enhancement on the black color.. and something that ican't remember.

[Valerio Tarone]

I see I often mistake. Sorry.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Valerio. This would more correctly be called a Dung Beetle. :) While both are Scarabs (family Scarabaeidae), Dung Beetles lack the very large mandibles of Stag Beetles. You have a nice low shooting angle to capture the beetle rolling the ball of dung. I think the use of flash would have helped to open up the very dark areas of the image and would have taken the image up several notches. I would suggest trying to tone down the very bright areas in the background and I would wish that the rock just to the left of the beetle wasn't so prominent as it draws my eye. :)

[Ken Childs]

Hi Valerio, this is definitely interesting behavior you captured here! That is what Dung Beetles are known for! :cool:

Steve has some good suggestions and following his advice will definitely improve this and future images. Using flash would have helped show more detail and would have allowed you to use a smaller aperture which would have captured more DOF. Shooting this type of macro at 35mm is tough so if you can afford to do it, get yourself a macro lens. :)

[Valerio Tarone]

thank you. Yes, first I tried the macro lens, as, (do you believe?) it escaped and wsas difficult thr focus, I changed the focal. I also get the flash later, but it was away.