Cicada Macro

There seems to be an abundance of these things around at the moment



Taken with the Tamron 90mm

Wow

Not many insects around in the UK at the moment, but you've inspired me for next spring.

Come to think of it, I think there might be a spider lurking somewhere in the bathroom??????????

Rob

That is an ugly one, isn't it! Looks like it's made of mud.

Can I make a suggestion? Try playing around with diffusion for the flash. I use a Lumiquest fold out thing, but before that I made one out of a plastic bag.

It softens the light so it's not so harsh, and looks less like flash, like this one: http://www.danielbridge.co.uk/pentax/fly.jpg , or this one that is just a bit of a laugh, done when I had a spare ten minutes: http://www.danielbridge.co.uk/pentax/Wasp-Weekly.jpg

Here's a post about the plastic bag one: https://www.pentaxuser.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2531&postdays=0&postord... , sorry, same pic of the fly again. It's called Merlin by the way.

Hope that helps, but anyway, you're getting some great macro shots out there, just wish I wasn't looking out of the window at torrential rain, high winds, and no insects.

Dan

Thanks Dan, In fact i have a diffuser for my AF360 on order from HK and should see it next week
I love the eyes on Merlin.
The Cicada is covered in mud, apparently they burrow in the ground at the base of trees and make an appearance every so often and shed thier skin.

One of these diffusers to be exact
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Flash-Diffuser-Cover-for-Canon-Pentax-sigma-minolta_W0QQitemZ320190710371QQihZ011QQcategoryZ43479QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Clarky, everytime you post one of these beastie pictures I wonder more and more why British people want to live in or visit Australia

Maybe its a ploy on my part

Clarky - as always a good macro shot.

Could you post the original picture. I wonder how much you crop the pictures before posting. When I ordered my macro lens I was a bit surprised I had to crop pictures - even when I'm doing 1:1

I like it.
I wonder if you've tried turning the brightness down a touch....on my laptop, when I view it from a bad angle, it truns the brightness down and ups to contrast, and I like the effect....

Thanks for your comments.
This is the original version as it came out of the camera (no crop). Just converted to jpeg and resized for the web




Nimitz: You would expect to crop most if not all your pics, at least i do. Maybe you need to get a touch closer to your subject if you feel you are cropping excessively.

Thanks Clarky much appreciated.

...and it obviously depends on the size of the insect, find your self a willing dragonfly and you'll have to back off to get it all in, or at 1:1 you'll just get it's head and torso.

It's surprising how small insects actually tend to be. Ladybirds seem quite big, perhaps because they're red, but are usually around 5-6mm long, so less than 1/4 of the width of your sensor.

Dan

Oh, and the fly shot in my first post above was using my Sigma 105 and extension tubes (can't remember how many).

Dan