Weekly Comp #218 - Best Macro Shots - Summer 2011 Competition

Thanks for all the entries gang! We have made a nice summer collection indeed, and what a colourful one it is! Seems fitting timing for this comp as summer would definitely seem to be over - (where I live anyway.)

Sleepy Bumble Bee - SteveEveritt
Can we gather from the title you happened upon one of those ones that was acting a bit ‘stoned‘? Sometimes you just come across ones that have just slowed down, a big help and top tip.
The focusing here is spot on with perfect DOF for a portrait head shot, leaving the uncluttered background to fade in to a creamy BOKEH. I was a little concerned with the light and feared it was suffering from a bit of flash wash, but lingering on it in full screen you can see none of the highlights are blown, and the colours still strong.

Poppy close up - Prieni
I really discovered poppies myself this year, tremendous structures, great colours (particularly when you stick your lens into the flower) and joy to follow there life cycle.
Focus is absolutely perfect, with specks of pollen visible to prove the point. You have kept some detail in the background which contrast very pleasingly with the green foreground. The lighting helps tremendously with this contrast, it really gives it a certain look of quality. I am in 2 minds regarding the composition, in present form it creates a good tension and lets us see that fantastic purple of the petals, on the other hand the structure of the poppy, like a bullseye, makes one yearn for a straight centre shot, perhaps pulled back to reveal the purple as a boarder.

Peek-a-boo - sandinista
Making a bug look cute is a bit of challenge! Somehow you have pulled it off.
Focus is good, you have got the eye, most of the body and those advantageous water droplets, the focus has maybe lost a little criticality perhaps from the crop. Plenty of detail and structure is visible however and the background is as smooth as a baby’s bum, giving us a good 3D effect. It is a good crop choice and puts the ‘peek-a-boo’ dead in line the centre line while the detail makes a angled slash across the frame from top left to bottom right breaking up the symmetry. The lighting is good but just blows the first 2 water droplets and takes away slightly from the body structure around them.

Low Tide - RPLSF
Strange animals indeed, still they have been around for a while so they must be doing something right.
Focus is good, a encompassing DOF perhaps easier achieved with the wide angle. I wonder what interesting detail we are missing covered by the water pool in the centre and its light reflection, I’m sure the anemone is glad its there however! As you suspected we can’t really qualify this as a full macro shot as it’s not really showing us anything we could not have seen with the naked eye.

Nature's Dinner Table - johnriley
Highly aesthetic shot, really strong colours and contrast, a big advertisement for those bees and bugs to come and dine in that stickiness, which the focus of interest for me too.
DOF has opened up the focus allows us to enjoy the full structure of the flower and those spiky petals. Lighting is very good and I suspect it was a nice sunny day. Given the flower and composition is the whole story here I would be tempted to crop a small amount off the left edge and square the shot up perfectly.

Flower Art - mudge
This really looks like a water colour pencil painting, remarkably so in fact. I tend to think that most PP ‘art effect filters’ are easy to spot and not much better to look at, but not in this case.
Similarly I had put a few close up ‘abstract’ flower shots like this in the Gallery this summer, none garnered many views and even less comment. Like John’s above I suppose shots like these are highly subjective, to be either loved or passed by. If it counts for anything, I quite dig this anyway…

Wasp Eating My Fence - coker
Hey hey this looks familiar! You must have the same fence as me too. Isn’t it strange that you can find yourself actively seeking and getting as close as possible, to something you would usually freak out at if it came near you and your beer at a picnic?!
Spot on focus and an excellent DOF give us a tremendous dose of detail in this shot. You also achieved ’the money’ shot of the capturing the wood gathering activity, something I only managed once (and not as good as this) all summer. I suppose the lighting is a little harsh and unnatural looking, might be something you could calm with PP.

Clutched - AxelLuther
My first thought is, I wanna see the other dragonfly too! But as the title suggest we are getting a close look at the clutch mechanism, compositionally centred which I think works ok here.
A wide DOF and perfect focus is showing us all the detail, and the colours are strong. Lighting is very natural looking which is my preference, again a sunny day helped perhaps. The background is a little frantic with some noise, but not enough to spoil the shot or stop a good 3D effect.

Resting on Petals - mecrox
Well if your trying to sell that lens then I am sold!
First thing that strikes is the lighting which is incredibly natural and subtle. Macro wise all the detail is on the creatures body and you have concentrated focus and DOF there brilliantly. Our friend sits floating atop a superb BOKEH cloud. I wondered for a while if compositionally it would survive critical examination, on first impressions you think there is a lot of dead space along the bottom or that the cricket should be made a more prominent subject. Then you realise the antenna and the scale they provide. You look at the flower an realise the scale it is also giving to this tiny creature and the bonus of juxtaposition of the pink centre and the green body.

mammoth contemporary - pinus
You can see how it got its name, we are seeing the ‘wool’ of the fern looking shabby and damp, protecting a nursery of baby leaves awaiting opening. Good focus and I like the natural light and strong green.

Dragonfly - malcolm leader
Can’t have a collection of macros without some dragonfly’s! I just wish I knew where there are some where I live.
I really like the earthy colour range, (I wonder if our chap chose to land there to blend in.)
The detail that is in the thin slice of DOF is incredible well focused, but here we have an issue. The razor DOF and angle of shot seems to be ‘slicing’ through our friend, giving a distracting effect on the wings and making us stare long and hard to figure out if in fact the whole head is in focus and if the left eye is a sharp as the right.

SLIMEY - nipper
Ah yes I remembered this guy instantly from Gallery.
Compositionally Kermit here sits perfect in frame. The focus on the left eye and its surround is fantastic. You can spend a long time inspecting the detail and that gold leaf effect in the skin. Again the lighting here is natural, helping our colours and keeping the detail, you can see all the indentation on that froggy skin perfectly. I think this shot would be absolutely stellar if both eyes and nose were included in the field of focus. But such is the nature of in the field macro, you can only do what you can at the time.

Fly - scrumpydinker
Flies do stop for sunbathing and will let you get pretty close, another good spot.
The DOF is covering the entire fly, and the focus and sharpening work so there is plenty of good clean detail. The background is also as smooth as it gets helped also by your de-noising I suppose. I think I would agree with the over sharpening, we have little artefact spots of bright highlights and I am guessing the eye has maybe been pushed to far so we have created false detail rather than natural which might look better, if not so dynamic. All in all a good attempt particularly with detail shown, however it is let down by the lighting almost half the fly being lost to shadow. If you shot in RAW you maybe able to rescue the detail, other than that I would have taken a walk around if possible and tried from another angle.

MacFly - Frankie
Ah yes, another great tip for practise, they are a lot easier when they’re dead!
The DOF field is covering the body for a good range. The focussing is suffering however, while we can see detail the shot is still oddly blurred, perhaps the crop is to vicious to support a clean looking image.
Taken during this week so extra marks there!

AUTUMN DECAY - TOZZA27
Again taken this week - great to see!
This what macro photography is all about for me opening your eyes to detail and structure you would not normally know or think about. Lots of detail to keep you interested, the shot is well lit, focus is good and the colours strong.
Thanks to prsjnb for the extra info “a symbiont or composite organism formed by the association, in the case of lichens, of two partners: a mycobiont (fungus) and photobiont (a green algae or cyanobacterium)”

Adult content .. - senn
A fun shot indeed, seriously taken however.
Sharp focus and DOF coverage is nearly 100%., this shot really does look fresh vibrant and full of details. The lighting, though a little bright and artificial looking, is really helping to showcase the ‘action’. Surprised by the noise however, even at ISO800 I thought the KX would be a little better, I suppose cropping would make it appear worse.

Wasp on Heather - gnasher
Another 100% coverage shot. Lots of detail and lit up well, but a little too well. Some detail has been lost in highlights due over-exposure, no doubt not helped by the ISO of 800 which is also affecting the sharpness of the image as it has added a bit of grain and softened it up. A strong shot however with good colours and generally un-cluttered background.

Calendula center - perinea
Wow what’s going on! Another abstract flower shot but this is in another dimension. Again, how macro shots can find alien detail and leave you scratching your head. This is another asthetic challenge to the viewer, luckily I am a fan and could easily see this as some public art, or hanging in an expensive hotel lobby. Also reminds me of microscope shot of a virus?!?
Great colour contrast and DOF effects, I get the feeling you enjoyed creating this image

Beautiful Butterfly - darlene
Isn’t it just!
A wonderfully colourful photo and compositionally great with the butterfly stretching from corner to corner and no unnecessary dead space. There is a bit of background clutter but we still have a 3D effect. The sharpness is a little off however, as we can see from the left antenna, the tips of the wings and the head, there was a tiny movement or a gust of wind which has upset the focus/DOF.

Pine cone - GaryJohn
Easier to shoot indeed. A close up, not some much a true macro, compositionally this is perfect and I really like the lighting. This is an interesting idea, perhaps you could go even crazier with PP - BW is first to spring to mind or a single colour, I think it would make a good stencil print - hell I’ll try it myself!!

Rain - guy
This two tone colour range is great here. A very subtle image with interesting DOF focus play. This shot really succeeds with the calming zen you feel pondering it.

Damsel Fly and Friend - darkskies
This really makes me smile, particular as the yellow friend is so comically looking. The two colour contrast each other so well, which is good for the damsel as unfortunately he’s not standing out as much as you want against a green background.
The colour and details are caught really well, but I want to get closer, a tighter crop yes, but closer with the lens too.

Just out of the Cocoon - JudithAnn
Another fantastic moment, what a catch., photography’s real strength in action.
Image wise, yes the focus has been lost on the head, but of course we want to see the cocoon. A little grainy too, I suppose from the high ISO. However the most important thing is to get the shot, get the moment and it’s a winner here.

Orchid Angles - drofmit
Casper, or a flock of seagulls weird.
Orchids can offer some fantastic opportunities with fantastic marking and colours, must say these aren’t the most colourful or interesting I have seen. Image itself is maybe lacking a bit of contrast and vibrancy too.

Large Marsh Grasshopper - DrOrloff
Another one I definitely remember from the Gallery!
Focus is absolutely spot on. DOF gives us a lovely blurred background. Colours etc etc etc..
You can have a technically brilliant photo, but the subject will always make rise or fall. If this grass hopper was a woman it would be Cristina Hendricks or Scarlett Johansson. Lots of details, endlessly interesting structure, the bonus is that the shot has been taken so perfectly.

Strawberry - ArsenAl
Well this is nice and simple, and good for it. Like the crop, excellent focus and strong colour. Ready for an advertisement this shot

Bee - ericp
Bright shot and very close - Date Taken 2009-03-08 (phew that saves me some time!)

Off Pat! - prsjnb
Zapp! This image says quality straight away. Our stinky fiend is in perfect pose, and you have done him justice with absolutely outstanding focus. The ‘macro fashionable’ water droplets are also a real bonus
Background is also blurred to top standard. A good shot that I think you could either leave as is for perspective or maybe crop down cut out the dead space and make more of the fly and its details.


Well there you go - hope I called it all fairly. Thanks again for all the entries, a bit of work to do but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Like a manager with too many good players to fit in the team, it was a good headache to have.
For the placings I am going to break it down a little differently as the HC’s list would have been rather extensive and undeservedly non-rewarding. I’ve picked up a few ’Qualities’ going through all the shots, I doubt the list will be used in professional competition judging, but its things I liked anyway. ..

Moment Quality:
Just out of the Cocoon - JudithAnn
Adult content .. - senn
Clutched - AxelLuther

Subject Quality:
Large Marsh Grasshopper - DrOrloff
SLIMEY - nipper
Off Pat! - prsjnb

Macrophotography (close up):
Sleepy Bumble Bee - SteveEveritt
Wasp Eating My Fence - coker
Charlotte’s Ladybird would have been first here sadly it disappeared, next time Charlotte I hope)

Aesthetic Quality:
Calendula center - perinea
Nature's Dinner Table - john riley
Rain - guy
Strawberry - ArsenAl

As for the winner, well a very hard pick. I guess you can talk technical ‘till the cows come home, but at the end of the day my rule is to ask myself would I pay for the print, put it on my wall and keep it there.
mecrox just sneaks it, and thinking about it I guess it has a little touch of all the qualities above.

Final Placings:
1st - Resting on Petals - mecrox
2nd - Large Marsh Grasshopper - DrOrloff
3rd - Sleepy Bumble Bee - SteveEveritt

Heck have an HC everyone else anyway…

Nicely done everyone! And a big thank you to our judge as well!

I will echo John's thanks for some fantastic judging Sean. Really enjoyable comp well done all.

Thanks so much for your very considered judging and congrats to the other entrants! That picture was just soooo enjoyable to take and I am very glad I took my DA 35mm f2.8 macro with me when I went away. It's an awesome lens.

Great Comp and very well judged. Well done to the winners and ALL the HC's

Many thanks Sean - enjoyed going out looking for this one and the M42 gear needs to be used in my opinion.
Superb shot Mecrox and some beautifully observed/taken images just behind the winner.

Well done everybody

Tony

This was a special competition - the quality of the entries was sooo good - your judging was also great and provided so many very useful hints.
I had no real favorite this week due to the density of high quality entries but the first three were outstanding also for me. Have seen lots of great pictures this week - thanks to all.....

Great judging Sean . Yes the butterfly did move a bit , they tend to do that often. This was a close up shot. not marco , as i don't own one YET , But it is indeed on my Xmas list. Congratulation to 1st - Resting on Petals - mecrox And all those who where mention in a category . WOW

Wow what a great comp. Congrats to the winner for a beautiful pic by far. And a big thanks for the thoughtful and detailed judging. The poor little anemonies kept closing on me if I blocked their light (buggers), but you are right the centers are very detailed as this is where the mouths are. I still have so much to learn (and buy!) Maybe by next summer with a bit more knowledge and equiptment I can do me seaside subjects justice.

Well done mecrox, nice shot.

Well done to Sean for the judging and for all the other placings.

In fact, well done to everyone for adding to what is, in essence, a little collection.

Congratulations Mecrox on a well deserved win and to other mentions. Thanks to Sean for the meticulous and high-quality judging and of course for the second place, I do like second place.

Much appreciated folks, cheers

It has been a busy day....sorry for my late entry.

Lots of great shots here, for some reason I LOVED the "mammoth contemporary - pinus" ...It's composure was fantastic.

The winners photo had an enchanting lighting and was a worthy winner.

I found RPLSF sea creature a fascinating looking animal...would love to meet one of them.

Dodge69...thank you for your adjudications and hard work.

JA

Was a bit disappointed that my entry was considered a 'close up' - the subject was less than 4cm's long, its really not possible to shoot anything bigger with this method, and I'd always assumed that using a reversing ring was a 'true macro' technique. Oh well... I really enjoyed taking the shot and joining in, which is really what it is all about. The topic produced fantastic entries, and I really liked that a date limit was set to encourage fresh shots rather than a dip in the archive. Great stuff - and thanks to Dodge69 for making it happen.

Great comments, advice and encouragement for all shots. I am more than happy to have got on the podium and thank you for your kind comments.

Thank's for your comments!
The winner is a fantástic shot! Congratulations.