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Maureen Allen
05-30-2012, 11:03 PM
Nikon D3s, 105mm f/2.8 @ 105mm, ISO 800, f/22, 1/250, SB-900, 2 SB-r200, light box

I found this guy buzzing around my greenhouse today. I didn't notice the water droplet on his back until I looked at the image on my computer.

Comments/suggestions much appreciated.

Jonathan Ashton
05-31-2012, 03:41 PM
I think the light box produces very even illumination but I have reservations over seeing white everywhere, it doesn't seem natural to me. Having said that it is a very good record shot. I wonder if the wasp was underexposed as I get the impression it is a little noisy??

Maureen Allen
05-31-2012, 04:40 PM
Hi Jonathan - thanks so much for the feedback. This wasn't underexposed, but I agree there's definitely some noise there. I think I may have been a little too ambitious in sharpening the .jpg. I'll go and have a look at the RAW file.

Jonathan Ashton
05-31-2012, 05:17 PM
Hi Jonathan - thanks so much for the feedback. This wasn't underexposed, but I agree there's definitely some noise there. I think I may have been a little too ambitious in sharpening the .jpg. I'll go and have a look at the RAW file.
Maureen do you presharpen in ACR? I would suggest you also use the mask try settings of Amount 40 to 80, Radius 0.5, Mask 20 upwards, you will need to set the image to 100% in ACR to see the effects. This should give good presharpening and minimise noise in the background, you will almost certainly need to less sharpening of your TIFF in Photoshop.

Maureen Allen
05-31-2012, 08:14 PM
Thanks much for the suggestions, Jonathan. I really appreciate you taking the time to help. I do sharpen in ACR, though generally not as much as you advise. I will give your settings a try. I think at least part of the problem with this image may have been oversharpening the .jpg. Here's a repost. Better?

Steve Maxson
05-31-2012, 09:53 PM
Hi Maureen. Your repost looks much better - I agree that the OP looks over sharpened. The wasp is giving you a great pose and you have good sharpness (on the repost) within your DOF. I might suggest selectively brightening the head a little to try and match that on the thorax. You're doing great - keep them coming!

Jonathan Ashton
06-01-2012, 03:14 AM
Maureen re post looks better, just one thing I would like to clarify:
"I think at least part of the problem with this image may have been oversharpening the .jpg." Do you really mean sharpening the jpeg or sharpening the Tiff file which was subsequently converted to a jpeg, the latter is the better option.
My apologies if you know this I am not trying to teach you to suck eggs:S3:

Maureen Allen
06-01-2012, 08:32 AM
Maureen re post looks better, just one thing I would like to clarify:
"I think at least part of the problem with this image may have been oversharpening the .jpg." Do you really mean sharpening the jpeg or sharpening the Tiff file which was subsequently converted to a jpeg, the latter is the better option.
My apologies if you know this I am not trying to teach you to suck eggs:S3:

Jonathan, I appreciate the help and certainly don't think you're trying to encourage me to suck eggs :S3:

After optimizing the TIFF and subsequently converting to JPG, I generally apply another round of sharpening since the image always seems to lose a bit when converted for web display. In this case, I oversharpened the JPG. But when I went back and looked at the TIFF, I wasn't so happy with that either and felt that it was overprocessed. So, I went back to the RAW file and started over.

I haven't done a lot of macro before, except for some work I've done with sound activated paint motion (which, other than the fact that insects move less predictably and never on cue, is surprisingly similar to using the light box), so your review and that of others has been very helpful.

Jonathan Ashton
06-01-2012, 11:56 AM
Maureen I would suggest that when you have optimised the TIFF, resize it for web size and then apply your sharpening, then "Save for Web", i.e. when you "Save for Web" it is already the correct size and sharpened accordingly. Hope this helps.

Roman Kurywczak
06-04-2012, 12:32 PM
Hey Maureen,
I am disaaempling my light box so now I have a good use for it! I like the white BG but I do understand not everyones cup of tea. Good points covered above and I would tweak the face as per Steve's suggestion. Very nicely done!

Ken Childs
06-08-2012, 09:58 PM
After the repost, there's really nothing to add to what has already been said....lighten up the face and this one will shine!

Brendan Dozier
06-11-2012, 01:56 PM
Just saw this, Maureen, what a cool looking yellow jacket and image. Great details and exposure looks good!