Dragonfly


Status
Not open for further replies.

Zaknafein

New Member
Oct 29, 2005
1,525
0
0
my room
www.flickr.com
can i pls have some c&c on this picture pls?
taken at botanical gardens.
i myself believe a couple of things can be improved...
Thanks for taking your time :)

DSCF1322e2s.jpg
 

does anyone have any tips to good focus? becos from what i noticed... after AF-lock, if my hands move a few mm, or if there's wind, there would already be a bit of OOF. so do u guys usually use a smaller aperture to go around this problem?
this shot is taken at F3.7, some color correction, followed by resizing and unsharp mask.
 

Can't tell if your focus was ok or not. at this size and resolution looks OK, eg can count the 'hairs' on the dragon's legs. Question you asking is whtr in your situation with your cam, can you do better. I can't tell. Only you know.

What I can say is that compositionally its look ok, but processing-wise needs more saturation, as the dragon look washed out, and not distinctive enuff from the background.

One idea is to convert to B&W and just emphasis the textures of the dragonfly: its head, thorax, legs and wings.
 

thanks for the comments espion.
the dragonfly was not a colorful 1. infact, i was lucky to spot it as the color was almost same as the branch, quite camoflaughing, so during post processing, i dun want to put "unnatural" colors on this dragonfly.
i agree with u guys that my subject is not distinct enough, with all the reflections off the leaves. im not too good with B&W tho, but thx for the suggestion. i will try better next time.
i have a couple of similar pics but with diff composition. maybe i will post up for critiques later :)
 

background is too messy. Subject is lost in the midst.

Try going closer. Use a tripod or monopod to increase stability.
 

tltan: in what way do u think the background looks messy?
issit becos of backgnd being too colorful, or the reflections on leaves?
 

Hi,

Basically, the bright reflections, oof white blobs in a sea of green. The tree behind, the stem behind.

2 examples below which I shot recently and posted too in macro section:
(1) Smooth background
191462942_03b9c4f55c.jpg


#2 OOF messy background of red plants. But no strong light reflected and also, i like the half red half green kind of backdrop. hehe.
191462945_5007e9279b.jpg


Anyway, #1 was done at f8 and #2 at f13 using tamron 90mm

Best Regards,
tltan
 

tltan said:
Hi,

Basically, the bright reflections, oof white blobs in a sea of green. The tree behind, the stem behind.

2 examples below which I shot recently and posted too in macro section:
(1) Smooth background
191462942_03b9c4f55c.jpg


#2 OOF messy background of red plants. But no strong light reflected and also, i like the half red half green kind of backdrop. hehe.
191462945_5007e9279b.jpg


Anyway, #1 was done at f8 and #2 at f13 using tamron 90mm

Best Regards,
tltan
thx for the comments. i have seen ur macro shots yesterday in the macro threads. very beautiful :)
i will take note of the reflections next time. do u think i should have not included the vertical branch behind? i included the vertical branch on purpose as part of the composition.
i would like to have a bokeh like yours, but i dun think that is achievable with my equipments. this pic was taken at F3.7 if im not wrong.
again, thanks for the comments :)
 

i think you still can. Just go in nearer at longest zoom and large fstop.

I think the vertical branch makes an interesting composition.
 

i thought u said the stem behind made the backgnd messy? :dunno:
this is the biggest magnification i can get. with longer zoom, i can stand further back, but i wont be able to get a better magnification due to minimum focusing distance. also, this is the largest aperture i can use for my focal length at ~100mm, which is F3.7.
as for going nearer, any nearer that i lean towards the dragonfly and i would lose balance+fall flat on my face :bsmilie:
 

ic
the stem on the right where the dragonfly is perched on is fine.

I think you might need closeup filter or something to get nearer?

not sure also.
 

ohhh, i meant that i was leaning forward trying to balance myself while tryign to shoot this pic.
if i lean any further (to go nearer), i would lose balance already. the dragonfly was inside a bush and i dun want to step inside and destroy the bush. also, steppin on the bush might shake the whole thing scaring the dragonfly away.
 

Zaknafein said:
ohhh, i meant that i was leaning forward trying to balance myself while tryign to shoot this pic.
if i lean any further (to go nearer), i would lose balance already. the dragonfly was inside a bush and i dun want to step inside and destroy the bush. also, steppin on the bush might shake the whole thing scaring the dragonfly away.

okok
understand
i had that scenario
just be patient, use something to disturb the stem its perched on
until it flies to a suitable location
then shoot. =)

They usually stick around a few stems to perch on. let them land for a while then move in!

good luck!
 

ahhhh, thx for suggestion! :)
what i usually do was to shoot what ever insects at where it is. never thought of chasing it away for a better spot. haha i will try that next time on dragonflies...
 

I would prefer the body of the DF to be in the same plane as yr sensor to maximise the DOF. The DOF for Macros is very shallow. If you get close, aperature have to be around f8 to f11.

I normally adjust focus by moving my camera nearer of further if there is slight movement cause by wind.
 

problem here is that, its hard to tell if the dragonfly is in focused or not using my EVF
 

I'm resting my Macro lens for a while cos I'm concentrating on Birds. If yr viewfinder is too hard to focus, get a 2x angle finders. It really help to improve your focusing. Alternative ways to reduce swaying of branches caused by wind is to use a wimberley Plamp to hold the branch. The WP can also be used to hold distracting leaves away from yr subject. Cost about S$70. (plus minus)
 

Status
Not open for further replies.