Male Mosquito - I think?

[Patrick Sparkman]

I was trying to photograph a Grasshopper, when this mosquito landed close by on a leaf. I think it is a male, since it has the large feathery antenna, but I could be wrong. This is two images stacked in PS5 to gain some depth of field. Still did not get the legs totally sharp, but I was looking at the cool feathers sticking out of his head.

Canon 1D IV, 65 MP-E, MR-14 with diffusers, ISO 200, f14,1/300 sec. Let me know what you think?

[Roy Priest]

Great detail and the dark background helps the Chironomid, not mosquito, really stand out.

[Mike Moats]

Hey Patrick, nice details where they need to be on the head. Maybe another couple stack images would have brought the whole critter in focus, but it works as is.

[Johan Kruger]

very kewl

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Patrick,
Great use of the stack! I'm fine with the DOF as presented.....it is sharp where it needs to be. I do think that you could crop 1/2 the dark area at top.....putting more emphasis on the Chironomid (thanks Roy!).....but overall very well done!

[Patrick Sparkman]

Thanks for the ID Roy. I really have a lot to learn about insects, and there are a lot of them here in East Texas Lake Country! Thanks for the input Roman. I tried it that way, but felt it was too much of a panorama, and the leaf edge was right down the middle. So I cloned in some leaf on the bottom, then did some Tim Grey Dodging & Burning to tone down the body of the insect. Let me know if more green on the bottom is better than black on the top?

[Roy Priest]

Thanks for the ID Roy. I really have a lot to learn about insects, and there are a lot of them here in East Texas Lake Country!

I'm no expert either but any fly fisherman worth his salt would know this insect.:)

[Ken Childs]

Hey Patrick, more DOF would be nice but as already mentioned, this is sharp in the important areas so it works as presented. The repost does look better. I don't think many people would notice it but when you clone in some new canvas, watch for repeating patterns. There's a pattern of spots that repeats along the bottom of the frame and cloning over parts of this pattern would disrupt it and make it so no one would ever know you created the new area. :)

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Patrick. Very nice shot of the male midge. You really nailed the focus on those feathery antennae! As the others have noted, more DOF would be great, but this works very well, as presented. I like the comp of the repost as it gets the midge off center, but my personal preference would be for a non-black background (hard to do with some of these macro shots unless there is a background object very close to the insect for the ETTL flash to bounce off of - or if you adjust ISO, shutter speed, and f/stop so that the ambient light exposure and flash exposure are similar). :) Overall, very well done.