Leaf hopper

[Stephen Stephen]

I created this image last summer. The leaf hopper was feeding on one of the petals of one of our Clematis plants. It's a big crop (~30% of full frame), probably too big, but I was intrigued by the colour of the bug and the way you could see it's proboscis embedded in the petal as it feed. I wish that I had used more DOF but this was one of the first days that I had used a true Macro lens.

I don't have all the specs here at work so will add them later.

Rebel XT, Sigma 105mm F2.8 macro handheld with Fill Flash.

[Vincent Grafhorst]

Great colours Stephan. Too bad it is rather noisy, probably as a result of the heavy crop. Also the eyes are not sharp.

[Mike Moats]

Hey Stephen, the color really makes this pop, as you pointed out it about wanting more DOF, it would have been nice to see more in the bug but also the veins in the leaf.

[Stephen Stephen]

Vincent and Mike thanks for the comments. As I noted this was a very early attempt at true Macro for me. I plan to get a lot more practice in this year.

[Robert O'Toole]

I like the cool colors and textures but as you and others have pointed out there are problems with the big crop.

One thing that would really help, maybe for next time, would be to take 2 steps to the right to get the bug looking or at least angles toward the lens.

Robert