SonyA850~Sony70-400G@400mm~Sony HVL-F58AM~ISO 640~F5.6~1/1000 sec~HH~manual exposure~12-5-2010~Brazos Bend State Park, Texas~CS5
I had gone back to my truck, and dropped off the macro. Didn't seem much use for it since I hadn't seen too many insects. Went back out to photograph birds.
Then I came up on a good macro subject which would have been gone if I went back for the macro. Comments and critique welcomed. regards~Bill
Hey Bill,
Very cool looking caterpillar!!! I would tighten this up with a crop off bottom and proportionally right......to further emphasize the critter. I know you aren't against such things.....but cleaning up some of the BG vegetation would also help take this to the next level. All minor tweaks to a very nicely done image!!!
Hi Bill. A very interesting looking critter well captured! Nice job getting it sharp from end to end plus a good view of the head. I think Roman's suggestion of a crop off the bottom would work nicely and maybe remove some of the vegetation in the near background while leaving the more OOF stems further back. :) Well done.
I've never seen one of these out there and delighted to know they are in the area. When I'm carrying my 75-300 zoom lens and not my 105 I always put my 25 mm extension tube in my vest pocket just in case I see a closeup subject to shoot and it works pretty good for these type of subjects.
Thanks Roman, Steve, Jim. Good cropping suggestions and I like Steves idea of removing the near background vegetation, while retaining the OOF background. I think it added depth.
Jim; I wouldn't look for any of these critters til next spring. Although the lack of green vegetation and the bare branches were a good thing image wise, the lack of leaves was due to the fact that winter was coming and this certainly did not bode well for the caterpillar. I don't think starvation was the caterpillar's most immediate danger; it was the norther than came through that night and temperatures plummeting to the 30s. regards~Bill
Hey Bill, that is one awesome looking bug! Its bright colors contrast nicely with the dead vegetation. I agree with removing the closest vegetation in the BG and if you're good at it, you might try removing the stick in front of the tail end.
Temps in the 30's or a lack of food shouldn't bother this caterpillar but it may be forced to spin a cocoon earlier than it wanted to. The end result would be a smaller than average adult. Mother Nature always finds a way!
What a beauty, William! I'd also close in the crop and take out a little of the BG vegetation. You've got a super sharp specimen here with such detail and the colors really pop against the browns and blacks.
Io Moth Caterpillar
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