I took this picture in western Oklahoma a few months ago. I'd love to here your comments. I'm not so sure I like the 2-tone background, but I needed to get low to get his eyes. Maybe should have used fill flash to get its face better? Can I selectively lighten that part?
Also, I'm interested in hearing whether or not this image looks underexposed. I have an iMac that tends to make pictures look brighter than they do on my work monitor (yes, I've visited this site while at work:o). Several images I have submitted looked great on my computer, but several of the comments suggested otherwise. Hmmmm...:confused:
I'm looking at this on a Mac Book Pro, and it looks good to me, but then I tend to like lower key images. The bristles in the sunshine look great to me. Their contrast with the fuzziness of the flower (?) bud seem to be the point of the overall image. The face is a bonus. I guess you could try selectively lightening the face, and maybe the shadow detail down the right side to see how it looks- but I really like it as-is, too.
The two - toned background doesn't bother me much because it's so blurred.
Man, that bug is cute!!! This one definitely doesn't look underexposed at all...almost over exposed because of the bright highlights on the caterpillar's hairs and the side of the thistle - but it's not bad enough to disrupt the viewer. The BG is fine - Amy's right - it's being blurred makes the uneveness okay. The one thing I might suggest is cleaning up the right side of the stem at the bottom. I know it's the back part of the caterpillar but it is so OOF that it might as well not be there. You might consider just cloning the BG right over it.
Very nicely composed and I like the BG as presented. I think the highlights in the hair is over-sharpening. Easy to fix if you mask that part after you sharpen. If you need help on how to do it, check our Edu Resources Forum for techniques on selective sharpening. Exposure looks good to me, you just have side light and that;s why the body looks darker in the shadow of the bud.