Assassin Bug nymph - studio portrait

[Steve Maxson]

I photographed this Assassin Bug (Zelus sp.) nymph last September. This species is rather slow moving and has sticky hairs on its front legs that help to hold prey. 7D, 100 mm macro, 1/250, f/16, ISO 100, MT24-EX macro twin flash (diffused - firing downward through a translucent plastic light tent), tripod. RAW file processed in CS5 and tweaked in Nik Color Efex Pro 4. All comments are welcome and appreciated.

[Ravi Hirekatur]

Steve,
Great picture! Looks delicate with light green on white background. I like the composition - which would be a challenge with long appendages. Looks like there is backlight, making the insect semi transparent, which adds to the quality of the picture. The thorax seems to be a little out of focus, but I don't know if that would subtract anything from the overall quality. Also, there is a thick shadow right underneath the body from the top light that may draw attention. Overall, it is great picture IMO. I would be interested in what others say.

[bhavya joshi]

Good to see... semi transparent bug... nice composition.. and detials.. i really like this studios stuff..TFS

[Ken Childs]

Hey Steve, this one looks really good....the lighting is perfect! It's sharp where it needs to be and you've got some great detail here. The softness of the abdomen doesn't bother me at all. Very well done!

[Jerry van Dijk]

Hi Steve, a wonderful studio portrait once again! I would like a little more DOF on the abdomen. I would also consider bringing up the shadows just a tiny bit.