Stop and Smell the Flowers

[Julie Kenward]

I'm not sure I've ever photographed a grasshopper that was this brown before. Anybody know what species he is?

Canon 40D, EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro
f5.6 @ 1/250th, ISO 200
Manual mode, pattern metering, handheld, natural daylight
Processed in ACR & CS4; small crop and tilt, increased light tones in levels and curves.

[Desmond Chan]

Know nothing about that grasshopper, but I like the composition. The grasshopper is at the right spot. I wonder if more dof would help though.

[Ramesh Adkoli]

Julie,

i liked the placement of the center of the flower and the diagonal grasshopper. Excellent work there. Any reason for such a shallow DOF? a little more DOF would have given a better feel for the interaction between the flower and the insect, IMO.

TFS.

regards,
ramesh

[Julie Kenward]

Yes, now that I look at it, F8 or 11 might have given me a bit more DOF. I remember being surprised to see him in the middle of the white flower and quickly composed and shot the image. I really didn't even stop to reconsider another aperture as I was on my way home!

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Jules. I like the comp with the center of the flower near the rule-of-thirds intersection and the grasshopper angled diagonally toward the ULC. I too would wish for greater DOF to get more of the flower center and grasshopper in focus. Sorry, but I can't help you with the ID - there are lots of species and I don't have a good handle on them yet. :)

[Fabs Forns]

Love the composition, and here, I would have used f 32 :D:D

[Bob Allen]

Nice job holding the whites back. Yep, needs more DOF but that's hindsight in a grab shot.

For ID, you can submit it to bugguide.net where experts hang out. There are several grasshopper-folks who are quite helpful.