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Macro and Flora Moderator
I think the light box produces very even illumination but I have reservations over seeing white everywhere, it doesn't seem natural to me. Having said that it is a very good record shot. I wonder if the wasp was underexposed as I get the impression it is a little noisy??
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Hi Jonathan - thanks so much for the feedback. This wasn't underexposed, but I agree there's definitely some noise there. I think I may have been a little too ambitious in sharpening the .jpg. I'll go and have a look at the RAW file.
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Macro and Flora Moderator

Originally Posted by
Maureen Allen
Hi Jonathan - thanks so much for the feedback. This wasn't underexposed, but I agree there's definitely some noise there. I think I may have been a little too ambitious in sharpening the .jpg. I'll go and have a look at the RAW file.
Maureen do you presharpen in ACR? I would suggest you also use the mask try settings of Amount 40 to 80, Radius 0.5, Mask 20 upwards, you will need to set the image to 100% in ACR to see the effects. This should give good presharpening and minimise noise in the background, you will almost certainly need to less sharpening of your TIFF in Photoshop.
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BPN Member
Hi Maureen. Your repost looks much better - I agree that the OP looks over sharpened. The wasp is giving you a great pose and you have good sharpness (on the repost) within your DOF. I might suggest selectively brightening the head a little to try and match that on the thorax. You're doing great - keep them coming!
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Macro and Flora Moderator
Maureen re post looks better, just one thing I would like to clarify:
"I think at least part of the problem with this image may have been oversharpening the .jpg." Do you really mean sharpening the jpeg or sharpening the Tiff file which was subsequently converted to a jpeg, the latter is the better option.
My apologies if you know this I am not trying to teach you to suck eggs
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Originally Posted by
Jonathan Ashton
Maureen re post looks better, just one thing I would like to clarify:
"I think at least part of the problem with this image may have been oversharpening the .jpg." Do you really mean sharpening the jpeg or sharpening the Tiff file which was subsequently converted to a jpeg, the latter is the better option.
My apologies if you know this I am not trying to teach you to suck eggs

Jonathan, I appreciate the help and certainly don't think you're trying to encourage me to suck eggs
After optimizing the TIFF and subsequently converting to JPG, I generally apply another round of sharpening since the image always seems to lose a bit when converted for web display. In this case, I oversharpened the JPG. But when I went back and looked at the TIFF, I wasn't so happy with that either and felt that it was overprocessed. So, I went back to the RAW file and started over.
I haven't done a lot of macro before, except for some work I've done with sound activated paint motion (which, other than the fact that insects move less predictably and never on cue, is surprisingly similar to using the light box), so your review and that of others has been very helpful.
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Macro and Flora Moderator
Maureen I would suggest that when you have optimised the TIFF, resize it for web size and then apply your sharpening, then "Save for Web", i.e. when you "Save for Web" it is already the correct size and sharpened accordingly. Hope this helps.
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Hey Maureen,
I am disaaempling my light box so now I have a good use for it! I like the white BG but I do understand not everyones cup of tea. Good points covered above and I would tweak the face as per Steve's suggestion. Very nicely done!
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After the repost, there's really nothing to add to what has already been said....lighten up the face and this one will shine!
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Just saw this, Maureen, what a cool looking yellow jacket and image. Great details and exposure looks good!
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