HOVERING HOVERFLY

Critiques [Translate]

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• GLEM (5739)
• [2007-03-28 12:47]

hi Ram,
très bonne image, j'ai tenté mais pas encore réussi, l'insect est pas facile à cadrer. Très bonne netteté et lumière.

tfs

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• satish_h (7165)
• [2007-03-28 13:11]

Hey Ram.....

What a shot... Classic picture. Just crop a bit more. Picture is so beautiful, i kept looking at it for a while, appreciating the Speed and capture. Well done. good contrast.

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• Argus (23431)
• [2007-03-28 13:22]

Hello Ram,
A lonely hoverfly in a green world: what a fine capture!
Skillful camera work here, Ram, the timing resulting in a good sharpness with lots of detail for the syrphologist to come up with an ID.
TFS, and take care,
Ivan

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• smitha (3427)
• [2007-03-28 13:23]

Hello Sir,
You have done a great job here. I know how difficult it is to photograph these flies. We have a blue and silver banded one in our place, butI've never been able to focus it. The green blurred background really shows off its colours. Good DOF.TFS,
Smitha.

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• Jamesp (14380)
• [2007-03-28 13:25]

Hi Ram

What an incredibly difficuly shot. Excellent colours and light.

James

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• Mana (16346)
• [2007-03-28 14:39]

Hi Ram,
How have you done it ? Amazing. I know everyone of us must have tried it so many times (thanks to digital cameras) and failed. Perfect lighting and focus. The green BG works wonders.
I have a few shots but none qualifies to be uploaded. However, you have given us all so much inspiration to keep trying.
TFS.
Sumon

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• cicindela (6980)
• [2007-03-28 14:54]

Hello Ram!
Congratulation because of this very nice photo! This is not easy to take a good picture to "not mobile" fly, but this is really nice! :>
Best regards,
Radomir

PS. I like also the note ;>

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• Captive_Light (0)
• [2007-03-28 16:16]

Nicely done, colours are nice...

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• stevkds (1689)
• [2007-03-28 16:34]

Very pure and sharp shot Ram. Harmony of atmosphere, colours, lightning. well done. tfs. stev

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• horia (12502)
• [2007-03-28 16:46]
• [+]

Hi Ram

You seem to be getting closer to perfection with every macro you take...but i know you can learn more about the things you can correct only if they are pointed out to you so here i guess it was the shutter speed. In these cases you should try to use one as short as possible, even if that implies a small under-exposure of the shot.
I know you might be amazed when i'm going to mention camera shake at 1/250, but if the subject is so small, it can be evident. Also, since the great speed taht these guys have, you'll get better details with that.
Besides that, i think everything here is just "peachy" :)
The DOF you chose is really great and more than sufficient to get the entire insect into the focus area.
The lighting and flash work is terrific and so the colors came out lovely and well saturated.
From what i read, the Sigma EX 105mm is a very good lens and it focuses fast, to keep trying and you'll get to the top ;)

Bravo and TFS
horia

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• jeanpaul (13845)
• [2007-03-28 16:52]

Hi Ram
Tres belle prise en macro de cette guepe en plen vol.
La composition est tres belle ainsi que le BG et les couleurs.
Merci et au revoir...JP

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• captainsgirl (4078)
• [2007-03-28 17:09]

oh wow! neat shot! amazing close up of an on the move bee! Great detail and focus! TFS
Donna:o)

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• simon182 (1455)
• [2007-03-28 17:22]
• [3] [+]

Hi Ram,

You have tackled an extremely difficult subject here and just about pulled it off! Here is my critique using a new format I'm trying out (it takes a while but I hope the critiques are more detailed and easier to read, I guess it's the teacher organisation starting to show!)

Composition:
Appropriate and effective. With such a tough subject you were given few options in how you composed it. The placement of the hoverfly just off centre is good.

Image Quality:
Very good. The first thing you notice about this shot is the colour, it hits you with vibrant greens and tempting yellows. The hoverfly could go unnoticed for the beauty of that background.
The detail in the subject is not as much as it could be, I'm not sure why entirely, perhaps due to the shutter as Horia said and motion blur. However, at this size it is barely perceptible and we can enjoy the bug apparently frozen mid-air.

Technique:
Ahah! It has only just dawned on me! The reason your shutter was 1/250 was because you were using the flash and therefore was as fast as you could go, I assume you were using the flash as light was low so you had no choice in the matter! (I also imagine that after this flash he buzzed off, meaning one shot was all you had?!). You have used a nice wide aperture to achieve the shallow depth of field and blur the background into oblivion.

Presentation:
Professional. The 3D effect frame goes well with the photo and your note is useful and appropriate.

Possible Improvements:
Well other than the shutter issue which was flash induced, the main improvement would be to get even closer! Obviously this could take months of trying but I think if you could fill the frame with the hoverfly and nail the shutter speed whilst it was mid flight...well you'd be selling it for thousands!

All in all a tricky subject which you've given a really good go at photographing, I hope to see more!

TFS
Regards
Simon

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• Silvio2006 (24022)
• [2007-03-28 17:34]

Hi Ram, splendid capture with wonderful colors and great details, excellent sharpness, very well done, ciao Silvio

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• Adanac (14008)
• [2007-03-28 20:52]

Hello Ram,
Well congratulations, this is a great capture I have trouble with birds and look what your doing. Great colors and good details, a very good job Ram.
Rick

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• jcoowanitwong (11467)
• [2007-03-28 21:15]

Hi Ram,
This is quite an achievement. To catch this this tiny and fast moving hoverfly. I like this simple composition with green background.
JC

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• pankajbajpai (14272)
• [2007-03-28 22:15]

very nice capture of hoverfly in motion, sharp image with good details, lovely bg, excellent colours,
tfs & regards
pankaj

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• scottevers7 (12259)
• [2007-03-28 22:28]

Hi Ram,
A tough task you gave yourself here. You did get a very good shot on him with your persistance. Nice colors and detail. The green OOF backround really makes him stand out well.
Scott

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• pablominto (15486)
• [2007-03-29 2:32]

Hello Ram,
Action well captured!
I'm amazed to see the wings are frozen at 1/250...
Pleasane details, well composed and good colours!
Greetings,
Pablo -

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• marmottelolo (14467)
• [2007-03-29 6:11]

bonjour ram
l'exercice est difficile,vous vous en étes tres bien sorti avec un cliché coloré et une mouche relativement nette.
laurent

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• uleko (23630)
• [2007-03-29 10:37]

Hello Ram,
Brilliant in-flight capture of this Hover fly with all parts in focus. That's really hard as they tend to shoot away when you shoot!! Very beautiful colours against the green soft background. Well done!
Many thanks and best wishes, Ulla

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• SkyF (8113)
• [2007-03-29 15:09]

Hi Ram,
wonderful inflight shot. The OOF BG combined with the sharpness of the hoover fly gives a wonderful of floating. Details are wery nice and I like the sparkle on the wings. Lovely colors and the sharpness is very good.
Sky

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• jmp (8400)
• [2007-03-29 16:29]

Hi Ram,
This hoverfly seems to be planing instead of flying! Absolutely motionless wings as just 1/250. Very nice colours and wonderful blurred background.
TFS and best regards, José M.

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• greenpinkorange (1777)
• [2007-03-30 5:12]
• [+]

Tell me, do hoverflies fly real fast? coz if they do, you are amazing being able to snap one this sharp! The DOP is fantastic!

I'm applauding you!

STeph

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• maheshpatil (1231)
• [2007-03-30 7:50]

Aha.........here you are, just mastering your new cam.Let me tell you. capturing flying birds is very tough task, forget about capture flying insects. You have done commandable job. Your patience has paid.I like the wings spreadout.It came just perfct. Had wings not straigt, picture would have looked incomplete. The BG is excellant.Head part (eyes) are mor in focus thab abdomen. Excellant workKeep shooting and say "Hoverflies, main tumhe nahi chodunga"

Regards
Mahesh

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• Alex99 (14701)
• [2007-03-30 13:18]

Hi Ram.
It is a really great shot. Technically, you have done all very well. BRAVO. In-flight insect shooting, I think, is one of the most difficult type of photography. My congratulations and best wishes.
Alexei.

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• pilonm (2667)
• [2007-03-30 15:23]

Hello Ram,

Very interesting picture of this syrphidae fly! I like the pov and the nice green bg... What is amazing is the fact that the wings are all in focus but not the body of the insect... Usually we got the opposite...

Excellent try and TFS,

Michel

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• Spanishalex (293)
• [2007-04-08 9:12]

So hard to do! How many attempts did it take you. Lovely colors in the background and great sharpness in such a fast moving subject.