Syrphid Fly in monochrome (male)

[Mitch Haimov]

Converted this one to B&W for a bit a variety. Thought it was missing something, so I added a color fill layer with blend mode set to Color Burn and decided I like the results.

1/200 sec at f/14 and ISO 200, 3:1
5DIII, 65 mm macro lens, macro twin flash (diffused), hand held

[Jonathan Ashton]

Yes I think it works well, I am guessing the flower was bright yellow in which case it would look perhaps a little overpowering?
I like the legs peeping through the petals and you plane and DOF appear to be absolutely ideal. Your hours of practice are paying great dividends.

[Nancy Bell]

Awesome detail on this fly! Those details in the compound eye are amazing. I have to think about the extreme dark/light presentation of the bkgd. I do like the tips of the feet showing through. Seems a bit tight on the right side as the wing tip is almost touching the edge. Maybe just a bit lighter with the dark bkgd?

[Mitch Haimov]

Thank you both. Yes, the flower was yellow (dandelion). Which, with appropriate adjustments in ACR doesn't bother me, but I've had quite a few insect-in-saturated-yellow-flower images lately, so this is a change. This image is un-cropped as presented. It occurred to me shortly after posting that it would be easy to seamlessly add canvas to the right, and I will get to that. May play with the dark BG as well and see how it looks.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Mitch. Excellent detail from head-to-tail within your DOF! The B&W makes for an interesting alternate presentation and I agree that adding a bit of canvas on the right would improve the comp. Very nicely done!

[Mitch Haimov]

This thread is getting a bit old, so I suspect not many will see this post. But I finally got around to reworking this image with extra canvas at the right:



Experimented with lightening the BG, but resulted in posterization even working with a 16 bit file--just not enough information in the darkest areas.

Here the same image in its original color:

[Jonathan Ashton]

The crops are good, I think I like the colour version

[Steve Maxson]

The extra space on the right is an improvement. I also prefer the color version - my personal taste.

[Nancy Bell]

The extra canvas is good. I really like both images, but enjoy the monochrome one for its uniqueness.