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Post by katynoelle on Oct 12, 2011 13:42:25 GMT
I don't know if this is officially a honey bee or not (not being the scientific sort) but the little marks of honey footprints on the inside of my flower pots puts me in mind of part of "The Tale of Mrs. Tittlemouse" by Beatrix Potter. She shut herself up in the nut cellar while Mr. Jackson pulled out the bees-nest. He seemed to have no objection to stings.
When Mrs. Tittlemouse ventured to come out-- everybody had gone away.
But the untidiness was something dreadful-- "Never did I see such a mess-- smears of honey; and moss, and thistledown-- and marks of big and little dirty feet-- all over my nice clean house!" Maybe, not the most artistic? Maybe, I should just get the technicalities down, first? Maybe, I should have used flash? or, maybe, not (it seems like there's a glare around his mouth but it doesn't show as blown- ) What do you think?
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Post by robmarshall on Oct 12, 2011 13:50:44 GMT
katy
What lens did you use for this? I'm surprised that so much of the bee is in focus. It's actually pretty darn good. How close were you to it?
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Post by katynoelle on Oct 12, 2011 13:56:18 GMT
Thanks, Rob! I used my beloved 60mm f2.8 macro (I LOVE that lens!) on a tripod. I was very close. It was a cool morning and he was a pretty 'chilled out' bee; so, I figured that I could get pretty close. He kept wagging his 'tongue' at me, though, and when I tried to move the pot to try a different angle of morning light, he flew off. How could I have improved this? I'm wondering if I had a better angled light, instead of from behind him, that would have helped? Speaking of good light - there's a moment of 'lift' in the gathering clouds - back out I go!
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Post by katynoelle on Oct 12, 2011 13:58:40 GMT
Oh, I, also, meant to say...f16 ISO100 - only cropped a little. i used the 60mm because with the quality that I get from it - it crops in nicely. Also, I thought it was pretty nifty when I seriously zoomed in on the eyes: edit: that didn't work like I thought it would, sorry! farm7.static.flickr.com/6040/6237204419_dc91dfaec0_o.jpg(You can tell that it's all new to me! )
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Post by jiro on Oct 12, 2011 14:04:31 GMT
Good job, Katy. A little PP work and he/she's a bonafide model alright. ;D I wonder why you decided to show it upward and not landscape...
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Post by katynoelle on Oct 12, 2011 14:12:25 GMT
Thanks, Willie! What would you do to this pp-wise? (I'd love it if you could tell me what it needs, though - I'm trying to learn how to do it myself. ) He was "clinging" vertically to the inside of the pot. I rotated it at a bit of an angle but couldn't fit him in closely enough in the frame, that way; so, went back to only a slight diagonal (for him) rotation. Perhaps, the reason his feet are hunnified are because he needed some 'stick' to stay on the side of the smooth pot, like that. Are there any scientists in the house?
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Post by jiro on Oct 12, 2011 14:22:19 GMT
I'd probably rotate it full 90 degrees CW then brighten up just the bee alone and add a very slight vignette and that's it. Your macro lens is nice! Now I need to find a willing fly to bribe upon so I can do shots like this. ;D
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Post by DonS on Oct 12, 2011 15:40:15 GMT
Wow Katy, this are really really really great macro shot... Everything are in detail and very sharp... And I know how close you were with that bee using a 60mm... ;D
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Post by robmarshall on Oct 12, 2011 16:22:12 GMT
Thanks for the info, Katy. That does look a very good lens indeed. I agree with Jiro that a rotation gives it much more oomph. I did an edit, if that's OK. I also added a black border around the image and then deleted it using 'content-aware' delete in CS5. That filled in some extra space around Mr Bee using the same colours and textures in the shot. I thought it needed a bit more space to breath. I'm surprised it worked so well - content aware isn't normally that good. I also sharpened it a tad. I know you probably did, but i thought it might take a bit more. But I'm just fiddling. The credit must go to you for the shot. Nice one. EDIT BY ROB
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Post by jiro on Oct 12, 2011 16:27:57 GMT
Very nice work on the edit, Rob. The rotation really did add a lot of dynamism to the shot. Now, he look more menacing. Hehehe. A good shot with a good edit is an eye candy for me anytime of the day.
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janis
Working With A Pro
[Mo0:0]
Posts: 898
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Post by janis on Oct 12, 2011 16:28:34 GMT
Very cool shot, Katy. I have lens envy. Is there an icon for that?
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Post by rasbury on Oct 12, 2011 16:33:58 GMT
Beautiful bee Katy.Will be nice when i can get me a macro lens but alas my pen and tablet took a crap on me yesterday and i'm lost without it for my pp work.Oh well,the lens will have to come at a later time.
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Post by katynoelle on Oct 12, 2011 16:49:21 GMT
Oh, super thanks, all y'all! Thanks for the edit, Rob! It's interesting, I'm seeing more about the bee, in your edit, than I did staring at it all that time, editing. And, alright,... I'll see if I can reproduce it. I'm really struggling with wanting things to be brighter but feeling like I lose a lot of detail when I do that. Yup, that lens is super and it is, relatively, not very expensive, at all. It did take me four to five months to save for it, though. It was a priority for me because of the frustrating kit lens I was using and the type of photography that I KNEW that I wanted to explore. It's super for landscape, in some ways (because of the compression ability in 60mm vs. wider) and it's really, really wonderful for portrait, too! I have a hard time taking it off my camera! It's just really a tad too tight for food and interior photography, though. Dang!
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Post by Kay on Oct 12, 2011 20:05:21 GMT
Very nice indeed, love the softness of the body & the delicate detail of the wings that you have bought out. With no idea or experience on this area I am looking forward to seeing & reading what everyone else posts....... except for the 8 legged ones! Sorry Seriche, I must admit to being 'the only arachnophobe in this village' I read the posts in the spider threads at work, the images don't show there, must be some weird "get off the internet & get back to work setting" and I wanted to see them, so i tried, but ran screaming from the room, in desperate need of men in white coats with suitably clean hypodermic syringes, to calm me down So I will only be found in the Butterfly, Beetle & Bug areas of the natural world I'm afraid.. But thankyou all for putting the S word in the titles, then I will know the sign says 'don't look' (insert wee smilie with bandaid over eyes here )
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Post by katynoelle on Oct 13, 2011 1:09:07 GMT
Thanks, Kay! I was never scared of spiders or snakes, until in the sixth grade, someone brought a snake into the classroom. I was fascinated - touched it - couldn't understand the others squealing and screaming. Then, that night, I had a dream that spiders and snakes were coming out at me from under my bed....as long as that spider stays on the flower or his web, he doesn't get stomped. Forget the snakes - the whole valley hears it when I encounter one. All, I'm saying is...I understand, Kay!
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