Beetle vs. Flower

[Nancy Bell]

I believe this is a Checkered Beetle. What I wanted to portray was the beetle assaulting the stamens of the flower. In return for this rough handling the flower dusts the beetle with pollen to transfer to another flower. I also really liked the saturated yellows of the flower. But I'm just not sure if it all works with such a narrow DOF. In hindsight, maybe I should have increased the ISO to increase the DOF. When it is so bright I do not think of increasing the ISO.

C & C most welcome.

Canon 1D-Mark IV, Canon 100 f2.8 macro, f4, 1/800, ISO 400

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Nancy,
You have good sharpness on the eye and face.....just where you needed it! If you are OK with such things.....I would crop from the bottom to just where it eliminates the green are in the LRC....below the one petal leaving just some green in the LRC. I would then patch in the greenery remaining in the LLC. This will make the focus on the bug even greater and minimize all the distractions in the lower corners. An easy tweak if you so chose and it will take this image up a notch. Nice job overall!

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Nancy. I like the head-on view with all the pollen on the beetle and you have good sharpness within your DOF. For my tastes, I think the image would be stronger with more DOF - you could likely have shot this at f/5.6 at 1/200 to get a little more depth - then, increasing ISO could give you progressively more. If in doubt in the field, and if you have a cooperative subject, it's good to try a variety of options - and pick out the best ones later when viewed on your monitor. :S3: Roman has some interesting suggestions which would help focus more of our attention on the beetle and stamens. Overall, this is well done.

[OvidiuCavasdan]

I like the pose and you have good sharpness within dof, good advice to try different settings in the field ...if the subject is cooperative. The LRC is a bit distracting. Looking forward for your next one.

[Dave Leroy]

In these close quarters dof seems to be a challenge most of the time. Sharp where it needs to be and it tells a nice story.

An interesting suggestion from Roman and may be worth a try just for a look see.

Dave

[Nancy Bell]

Thank you for the suggestions. I'll try cropping/cloning around the lower edge.