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WIlliam Maroldo
10-26-2010, 08:49 PM
Sony A850~ Sony 100mm F2.8 Macro~Sony HVL-F58AM~ISO 500~1/400 sec~F/10~HH~manual exposure/manual flash~10-26-2010~Houston Arboretum~CS5

I recon this is a wasp, and not a mimic. In any case is a relatively small wasp. Steve; note no black background! I know about the highlights, and they are not clipped. I think they should not be alterred, something like the catchlight in birds, that add something to images. Of course I can be pretty easily persuaded to the contrary. Comments and critique welcomed. regards~Bill

Jeff Parker
10-26-2010, 09:23 PM
Personally, I would tone down the flash. It looks overdone.

Steve Maxson
10-27-2010, 10:56 AM
Hi Bill. Good job on the background!! :) :) You might consider lightening the darkish area in the URC and darkening the light flower stalk behind the wasp's abdomen a little, but these are just tweaks. Yes, this is clearly a wasp rather than a fly mimic - this is a very attractive species and I have not seen any up here in the north country with red markings like this. Good sharpness and DOF on your subject and the flowers it is feeding on. I agree with Jeff about the flash on the wasp itself. If this was mine, I would be busy carefully cloning a lot of those flash-generated spectral highlights - and considering getting a diffuser for my flash head. :)

Ken Childs
10-28-2010, 10:07 AM
Hey Bill, good work on using flash and keeping the BG looking nice! Steve has some great advice and there are a few bright spots on the flowers that could also use toning down. If this were mine, I'd give a shot at selectively sharpening that back antenna.