This rather strange looking Tortoise Beetle (Sub-family Cassidinae) is bright florescent green on top and translucent around the edges. I photographed it in my lightbox during the Bugshot workshop in Belize. 1D IV, 100 mm macro, 1/160, f/16, ISO 100, 2 radio-triggered 430EX flashes, AF, hand held. All comments are welcome and appreciated.
Well, I have to agree that beetle is strange looking, as if the pronotum and elytra aren't done yet. Raised right front leg a big plus. As usual, focus, DOF, exposure spot on. Subject seems a little low in the frame to me, but that is certainly an easy adjustment with that BG if you agree. Perhaps a little selective brightening of the eyes or targeted NIK tonal contrast and/or detail extractor could reveal more detail in the eyes? (Or perhaps it is already plenty visible in your master but gets lost in down-rezing for posting.) I always enjoy seeing the exotic critters you find!
Another outstanding image Steve, such detail and clarity with great DOF. For me the only way to "improve" would have been to have placed the bug on a leaf of some sort.. This would give additional problems with angles and shadows etc, the method you have adopted really show the bugs off to their full potential. I hesitate slightly when I use the word "improve", perhaps portray in a more natural setting would be a more apt way of explaining the potential enhancement of what is a just about technically perfect image.
Steve. Your light box setup has again produced an excellent image of an interesting critter. Still, I wish that this image was not so "clinical". I think that placing the beetle on a natural substrate would have been better.
Last edited by Norm Dulak; 10-26-2013 at 03:57 PM.
I do like the light box images as they put the focus on the subject totally. This allows me to appreciate all those special tiny details that are not usually visible with an image in the field. Habitat shots are great but for me this is just another way of looking at things. And in this image it is great to see the brilliant color on the back and how it becomes tan as a way of camouflage. Plus all those fine details of the head, antennae and legs. But hey, I took tons of classes in entomology (year & years ago) and never tire of insects !
Tortoise Beetle - Belize
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