Garden Beasts #3

Thanks for looking

A beautiful critter, perfect exosure, focus, DoF, and PoV showing you somehow got this bug to stand on a fairly reflective surface to get the wonderful reflections I see here. Wow! What a shot!

Fantastic macro - you've done it again :)

Thanks Rick, David and Dale for your very flattering comments.

David the surface you mentioned is just an A4 sheet of photo paper and as for getting the bug to stay still, its not easy. Nearly 4 hours and 300 images before I was satisfied. Eyes tired, back is sore, wifes upset because I didnt mow the lawn. You know how it is. Hehehehe all in the name of fun

I admire your patience and skillful work you do with insects.

Lighting is exceptional and detail brings WOW and OMG!

Only 4 hours and 300 frames? Piece of cake... r i i i g h t! I'll bet your pooped after that long a stint of concentrated concentrating. From this end, your time and effort have more than paid off! I'd never have suspected the reflective surface... great idea and it gives just the right amount of reflectivity.

 

Maybe PN should consider forming a "Disgruntled Spouses" support group. I suspect it's a very common situation! ;-)

7/7 excellent!

Thanks Phos David and Sauciuc for dropping in a leaving a comment

Excellent work, Ken!

Thanks Ruud

This is amazing Ken. How did you get him to pose for you? I love the perfect symmetry, the reflection of his icky little feet. The wings are so beautiful and delicate.

Wonderful!

one more masterpiece Ken...........

Ken Excellent Pic, I can surely take a few tips from you, Nice way of creating the perfect ballanced pic.

Thanks Linda, Joe, Erik and Dr P for your inspirational comments. To answer your question Linda you need hours of patience, luck and really cold weather. All of the Garden Beasts were actually shot late at night or more accurately very early morning when the temp is at its coldest. Thanks Ken

Ken, lovely macro shot and excellent photoshop work to achieve the perfect symmetry. One thing that struck me straight away was the fact that the left side of the bug is identical to the right. I would maybe have cloned out a few hairs on one set of legs and altered a few wing markings just so it doesn't look like a mirror image combined. I have noticed a few blemishes on one side of the photo paper which are replicated on the other side. I'm probably nitpicking, but, IMHO these things need to be addressed in order to create a more believable image. Still a fantastic picture with nice detail, and a shot I would be proud of, but is probably beyond my capabilities. Very well done! Regards.

Thanks Lol C. Its refreshing to read an honest and carefully worded critique. I have carefully considered your opinion and come to a conclusion by referring back to the original image. To my surprise the right side markings such as hairs and wing veins were actually very close to identical. However the right wing was a few millimetres lower than the left and the right feet were about 2 millimetres forward and lower of their current position. It is for those reasons only that I cloned the image. The reason that I have submitted the shot this way is because I wanted to express the fly as a piece of art rather than a documentary but most importantly I wanted the viewer's eye to be isolated from distraction, which I feel emphasizes the garden beast and not the garden. I thankyou for taking the time to study my image in such great detail and may I offer you a suggestion as to why I would want to intentionally create symmetry. In a matter of less than .05 of a second, humans instinctively scan a visual object for symmetrical qualities.

 

 

Perception, symmetry of art discussed at brain lecture

March 22, 2002

 

By Elizabeth Roth

?Not only does the mind create art, it also perceives it,? began Randy Blakely, Ph.D., Allan D. Bass Chair in Pharmacology, and director, Center for Molecular Neuroscience, in his introduction of Dr. Christopher Tyler. Tyler, of the Smith Kettlewell Eye Institute, delivered the second lecture in the 2002 Brain Awareness program recently at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts.

 

Tyler discussed how the brain perceives symmetry and how artists, consciously or unconsciously, create their art based on an understanding of symmetrical principles.

 

Symmetry is a key visual property for humans. Its importance is expressed in its ubiquitous use as a design principle in everything humans construct, from architecture to the pattern in Oriental rugs.

 

Defined as balanced form, a beauty of form arising from balanced proportions, it is no surprise, then, that elements of symmetry are apparent in works of art. But, it is only partial symmetry that we see. In many of the Renaissance works Tyler presented, architectural elements of a painting were symmetrical while figures in the foreground were arrayed. Similar examples from other eras and artistic styles were presented as well.

 

Perhaps, it was theorized, that artists were unconsciously using symmetry to represent order, harmony, or serenity while the asymmetrical elements depicted that life and art are not perfect and therefore, cannot be perfectly symmetrical.

 

Through functional magnetic resonance imaging, it is clear that the brain reacts to symmetry in the occipital lobe, the primary part of the brain that reacts to visual stimuli. Tyler?s research indicates that human symmetry processing is hard-wired. In a matter of less than .05 of a second, humans instinctively scan a visual object for symmetrical qualities.

 

Questions were raised during the lecture about an evolutionary bias toward symmetry, possibly due to the fact that symmetrical bodies, biologically speaking, seem to be the best designed for procreation. Studies have shown that those human faces that are widely considered to be the most attractive are also quite symmetrical. Is this equivocation of symmetry to beauty, as was asked during the lecture, why humans very often tilt their head to one side as they speak directly to someone, or they stand with one foot forward, at an angle, perhaps in an attempt to mask any asymmetry? Could this explain the subconscious attention to symmetry in so many works of art?? Could this explain the subconscious attention to symmetry in so many works of art?

 

Symmetrical elements are often found in artistic works, and specifically paintings throughout many eras. Tyler noted that one of the clues to the importance of symmetry is evident in the placement of eyes in painted portraits.

 

According to Tyler, a survey of portraits over the last two millennia revealed that throughout history, one eye tended to be placed symmetrically at or near the vertical axis of the canvas. This placement violates the inherent symmetry of the face and body, but expresses a deeper symmetry and concentration on the ?window on the soul.? Perhaps the artists felt it was more accurate to represent their subjects in their realistic imperfection.

 

Interestingly, Tyler found this theme to be present in diverse works from various cultures. Despite Tyler?s extensive research, he indicated that he was unable to find any reference to this principle, leaving him to conclude that the artists were not purposefully centring eyes in their portraits, but rather, did so unconsciously.

 

http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/reporter/index.html?ID=2007

 

Wow! ......er! ..... Thanks for that Ken. That'll teach me. Regards.

Thanks for the reply Lol C. Your comments are always appreciated and without a doubt very helpful. Thanks again my friend for your unbiased opinion. Regards Ken

Great image, Ken. Congrats!

Nice shot!

Thanks Claudio and Bob

This is beautiful!!!!

 

original, striking and fascinating!

wow! You sure nailed this one!!!Perfect for a study on insects! I love everything about it~ well executed! Bravo, Iren

ps and thanks for your "fix" on my photo. I really appreciate your time spent working on it to better it. Much oblige!

Thanks very much Iren and you are welcome. Anytime