Love the wings on this juvenile katydid.... (another in the never ending quest for a beautiful katydid photo)
nikon d300, 105 f/2.8, 1/200 sec at f/22 sb-900 flash, iso 400, handheld, manual, 1EV
lovely soft light, cloudy morning - I definitely need to rig up a diffuser as you have suggested - the deep red rose leaves were very shiny so i spent some time in PS cloning over some of the highlights but I didn't do as well as I should have - I think it would be better to prevent them (looking for fine silk mesh to put over the front of the flash)
Also painted at 23% over some brighter lights in bg, cloned out some white spec highlights on the katydid. cropped a little off the top and right in LR, did a LAB light curves adjustment to increase contrast, NR and a little selective Unsharp mask in PS.
appreciate all suggestions on how to improve this -
Hi Pat. Very nice sharpness, DOF, and lighting on your katydid and I agree that those immature wings look cool. A diffuser will help, but not necessarily eliminate spectral highlights so you will still need to do some cloning - depending on the reflectiveness of the subject. I would suggest spending more time carefully cloning those spectral highlights on the leaves (yes, it gets tedious) as they are rather attention getting at present. You might also try to blend the lights and darks in the background a little more - the light area above the abdomen and the dark area between the back legs would particularly benefit from this treatment. Overall, I think you are headed in the right direction so keep them coming. :)
Hey Pat, Steve covered almost everything I was going to say so there's no need to repeat it. I can add that macro isn't always about getting as close as possible so it might have been a good idea to step back just a bit so the antenna didn't get cutoff. :)
Hey Pat,
To add to the great comments above......this is a tough subject because of all the long protrusions! You may want to explore other angles to minimize their length.....or even cut them intentionally ........just remember to cut/not clip. You are getting closer with these so enjoy the continued quest!
i'm hearing from you all that I need to not get too focused on one part of the photo, but look at the total, and even though I may love one section - if the rest is distracting, the photo isn't good. its that whole learning judgement and discernment thing -- patience. good to hear even if painful to try to learn.
Pat, there's definitely a lot to learn and BPN is the best place to learn from others experience, and mistakes. :D
Before I came here, my main focus was finding and shooting cool subjects. I'd post those shots in various places and get lots of "great shot" comments but I knew I was missing something which is why I searched out BPN. Now I spend a lot more time looking for good backgrounds and angles that show off the main subject and don't distract from it than I do looking for the subjects themselves. I pass on a lot of shots that I would have taken in the past.
beauty - katydid nymph
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