Assignment: Fly Shadow and Sun(flower)light

[Christopher Miller]

This is an old photo of mine showing a fly on a sunflower, hence the pun in the title :). I had originally done this in color, but after experimenting I think the shadows stand out better when it's in monchrome. Any C&C are welcome!

Olympus SP-550 UZ
F6.3 @ 1/500, ISO 100, -0.7 EV
Aperture priority mode, pattern metering, auto WB
Processed in PS CS2; cropped, channel mixer, curves adjustment, and added sepia tone using hue/saturation

[Dave Leroy]

Nicely done Chris. It is nice to see the interlayered effect of the petals which may not come through as colour. Dave

[Thanaboon Jearkjirm]

Really nice, very creative on using the shadow cause by the fly on the other side of the petal. Love the shadow details on the petal too. I might crop so that the flower is more center since the fly seems like the main subject to me.

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Hi Christopher I like the shadow overlay of petals but the shadow of the fly is not dark enough to me. I am thinking of your OOTB posts a while back where the shadow was much darker. To me it made a more compelling image.

[Kyle Marie Barcelos]

Nice,it works well in B&W, like the crop and the fly is in a perfect stop with the light. great job:)

[Christopher Miller]

Thanks everyone, I appreciate the comments! Jackie, I didn't want to darken the shadows too much because then I'd lose the translucent feel of the petals, but I did try darkening the shadows, particularly the fly, a little more in this repost. Let me know what you think.

[Jackie Schuknecht]

I think the OOTB images worked better for me because it was harsh lighting and to me it made the shadow more eerie. I think the lighting for the petals in this one is ideal, but doesn't have the drama of the other like the OOTB. IMO only:)

[Christopher Miller]

Thanks Jackie. I agree with you that this photo is'nt as dramatic as some of my other shadow images, but I do still like the softer feel of this.

[Gus Cobos]

Hi Chris,
I like the composition, image and capture...also like the fly's shadow...would recommend on boosting the contrast and the saturation just a little to make it pop...looking forward to your next one...:cool: