Don't worry about the criticism Steve, I like to experiment and I expect some shots to work and others to fail. As I mentioned at the start of the thread, I want all comments good and bad as this is how I learn.

I will definitely continue with the macro, but I won't go down the 'freezer' route, it has to be subjects in their natural environment for me.

Cheers
David

Hi Steve

A good example would be 'Looking Straight At You', on this one the front of the lens would have been probably a couple of inches from the subject as I had an extension tube fitted which means closer focus.

It's very difficult to get this close as they fly off at the slightest of movements, so I have to creep around really carefully! Also, a lot of the time I can't support the camera, so keeping it still is a real challenge, imagine me on my knees, crouched forwards as far as I can stretch, trying to get the point of focus spot on (DOF less than a millimetre). It's not easy!

The other approach, i.e. putting insects in the freezer and using focus stacking is another thing altogether and enables the use of tripods, focus rails, focus stacking etc. It's not possible to do this for the type of shots I was taking, the next best option is flash to freeze the subject, but then the pics don't look natural. Flash also helps with lower ISO and narrower apertures, usually F16 or so is good for macro work but I decided on a different approach today.

Cheers
David

It could have been cloned out too? Not sure if it's than important as the image is good anyway, it's all very subjective.

Thanks from me too Dr O for the detailed explanations.

Regards
David

Thanks for the feedback guys, all gratefully received!

Some info about the points made by Gravelrash and Jon:

- There are no crops from the same image, all are different shots

- The eye is in focus Jon, it appears it may not be, but here's a massive crop of the same image:




- DOF was an experiment with these, I decided to use no more than F8, some are wider. This was due to light conditions (quite dull) and also because I wanted to try some shallow DOF stuff some worked, some didn't

- Not sure about this Jon, the eye of the bee is in focus, but it is was so dark there I couldn't get any detail into it. Take a look at the pollen grains around the eye and you can see they are in focus. Needed the flash for this one really as there was too much shadow area

Oh and by the way - I don't do freezing of insects! The challenge for me is getting them 'in the wild' so to speak and focus stacking in these conditions is not really an option, especially when hand holding, as they don't stay still.

Thanks again guys

Regards
David

Yes, the one above is superb, lovely natural colours, which look much better than the 'altered' ones.

Regards
David

Some lovely sharp and detailed shots here, but the colour balance looks very odd. What WB setting did you use? There's a lot of blue in the tones, they could all do with a WB adjustment to bring them back to a more natural shade.

Regards
David

All lovely, sharp and colourful images, but I too would like to see some where the wheels are in motion!

Regards
David

OK, after several posts in the 'What has Happened?' thread, I am opening myself up for the full blast of constructive criticism with some images I have shot today. I have no idea what I want criticism upon, unlike dougf8 I find it hard to ask for critique on individual aspects of my images.

I work very hard on my macro photography and try to use as little equipment as possible. I don't use any camera supports, but I will use flash once in a while, although I prefer natural light. I go for a compositional approach, rather than 'extreme close-up' as this to my eye looks more attractive. I take care with backgrounds and try to ensure the subject stands out. So there you are, I've given you some pointers, now what do you think?

The natural light images in this set are with the K-3 (bar one) and the flash ones are with the K-5IIs. Flash used was a manual Neewer TT560 Speedlite, set on half power and fired through a home-made diffuser. Flash was held in one hand to direct it where I wanted, camera was held in the other hand. All shots are with the Pentax DFA 100mm F2.8 WR Macro lens, some also with a Teleconverter with the glass removed, to act as a short extension tube whilst maintaining aperture control and IQ.

Blue Eyes





Looking Straight At You





Early Lunch (Zebra Spider with Prey)





Early Lunch 2





Eye





Clinging On





Damsel in Distress (this one has lost half its abdomen)





Female Common Blue





Upside-down Bumble Bee (no idea what this Bee was doing)





Launch Pad





Yellow and Green (this one's a bit over-exposed)




Thanks in advance for your comments.

Regards
David

It's my real name! I don't know about a 'Storm' on the Forum, I think this thread has been very healthy and great fun too.

Regards
David

Who is jumping on anyone John? Just giving some friendly advice that may help with the sale, I'm sure people will find it easier to make an offer if they know the provenance.

Regards
David