European Syrphid

[Paul Lagasi]

This was taken in the Black Forest region, southwest of Karlsruhe, Germany. I had stopped for a break, and notice this fly on a flower...he gave me some great opportunities, he fed contently and I snapped photos. This image is almost full frame, I only cropped a bit from the top and left...none from the bottom, I know its a little close. Out of the camera. Thanks for looking

D7000
105 Nikon macro 2.8
f16
1/160
iso-1000
handheld
center weighted
350mm (13.7") away from subject

[Ron Sprunger]

Gorgeous colors, love the pastel look. I'd like to see the fly with a touch more contrast and sharpness on the body, though that impression of softness might well just be from my crappy work monitor. It's a terrific image. Catching the fly and the stamens in the plane of focus creates a wonderful 3-dimensionality.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Paul. Isn't it nice when they cooperate!? I like the nice even light, the diagonal positioning of the fly, and the sharpness of the fly as well as the tips of the stamens and pistol. I also like the way the light is glistening off the wings. I would wish for a bit more room on top so that the stamen wasn't clipped and a bit more at the bottom so that the petal wasn't touching the frame - should be an easy fix at the top, not as easy on the bottom. :S3: You might also consider backing off a little on the saturation of the greens. Overall, this is very nicely done and a couple tweaks will make it even stronger!

[denise ippolito]

Paul, Very nice work. I agree with Steve regarding the top and bottom and the green. I also love your OOTB post with the same subject. Beautiful complimentary colors and the wings look so cool.:S3:

[Jerry van Dijk]

Hi Paul, nicely composed with the flower center and fly balancing the composition. Nice light, colors and details. Good points about the tight composition already made. If you are taking this to further PP work, I would suggest to use the color abberation sliders in ACR to remove the blue fringes along the petals (although it is my experience it sometimes has little effect with these purple flowers).
For your records: this is Episyrphus balteatus, the Marmalade hoverfly. Its common name in Dutch it is Pyjama hoverfly (because of its stripy behind) or Moustache hoverfly (because of the moustache shaped stripes).

[Brendan Dozier]

This is awesome, Paul! Very nicely composed, fantastic IQ, detail, and like the bold contrasting colors. Some good suggestions, but very well done! :cheers:

[OvidiuCavasdan]

Good sharpness and very nice colors. Agree about the greens. A bit more room at bottom would have been even better, but still a very nice image.

[Paul Lagasi]

Thanks Everone..appreciate the comments and suggestions, this is my repost and its going in my files.

Jerry, thanks for the ID

[Ron Sprunger]

The repost is perfect. Thanks for sharing.

[Ken Childs]

Hi Paul, the OP looked nice and the repost looks great! On the repost, I think it could be brightened just a bit and you might also look a slight contrast boost. The BG still looks a little strong to me....maybe reducing the yellows might help. There are some spots (dust?) in the BG that should be removed and I think running NR on it would also help. A few simple tweaks and this one will really shine! :S3: