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Steve Maxson
07-02-2011, 01:37 PM
This Predaceous Diving Beetle (Acilius spp.) is about 15 mm long and is breathing at the water surface. The grooves in its elytra indicate that it is a female. 5D II, 100 mm macro, 1/80, f/16, ISO 100, MT-24EX macro twin flash (diffused), tripod, cable release, shot in a 2 gallon aquarium. I cleaned up tiny bits of floating debris in the water. All comments are welcome and appreciated.

Jonathan Ashton
07-03-2011, 02:44 AM
Absolutely excellent super clarity and detail, nice exposure too. The only thing I could suggest would be to get a similar shot a little deeper in the water (I appreciate she is probably breathing) so that you don't see the water line and then it would look a little less obvious it was taken in a tank.
Just noticed the green background - whilst it looks pleasant I wonder if a shade of brown would look a little more natural??

christopher galeski
07-03-2011, 08:11 AM
very nice Steve,nice detail,and I like the copper look of the beetle.thanks.

Roman Kurywczak
07-03-2011, 08:46 AM
Hey Steve,
Never thought about the BG color until Jon mentioned it. Brownish may be a good alternative althoughh I ave to admit.....I love the topside pose and seeing the surface! A behaviour we don't get to really see and the rest looks great!

Allen Sparks
07-03-2011, 10:05 PM
What an interesting creature! Love the shot. The BG color works for me and the weeds add a point of interest.

Steve Maxson
07-05-2011, 09:29 PM
Thanks for the comments Jonathan, Christopher, Roman, and Allen.

Jonathan: Changing up the background may be worth a try though I'm not sure if brownish would look more natural. Underwater shots (unless color corrected) typically are heavy on the blue and green tones. Turns out the background I'm using is a print of swimming fish - of course at several inches away it is rendered completely OOF. :S3: