Bumblebee

[davidc]

Bumblee taken @ RHS Wisley. Back when it was warm.

f13
iso 400
1/50th second
100mm macro, handheld - with flash, to try to get a nice catchlight in it's eyes.



Bumblebee by cedarsphoto, on Flickr

Thoughts & critique please.

[Nina]

There is a lot to like in this one Dave, colours are great and the flower centre looks good. You are asking a lot of your macro lens though, you haven't got enough depth of field for your point of view to sharply capture both flower and insect. Another niggle is the brightness of the petals, I'd be tempted to tone them down a little.

[davidc]

Yeah the sharpness was a concern of mine, I think most of it is sharp but parts clearly aren't. And at f13 on a cropped body I'm well into diffraction territory too. I might unsharp mask it again and restrict it to DPI, I think it'd not look so hot on print. I think projected it might actually work, the pseudo-softness actually adds to the fluffiness of the bee. Or at least I thought so

Was considering it as a Nature competition candidate though, do you think it makes the grade?

[Nina]

For nature competition te judge will want the insect to be a lot sharper I think.

[davidc]

Bugger, oh well - I think I might have other shots to see if any are a bit sharper.