ellery

Another of the mantis on the lotus I was shooting - again, my first

ever opportunity at this insect!! Too much fun.

Any C&C's highly welcomed to this still learning macro enthusiast!

It seems if you wait for long enough around a lotus water lily, good

shots present themselves :D any comments criticisms, etc

appreciated!!

These bloom only in mid-day sunlight pretty much...a cruel

reality...but I compensated by blocking sun with my body and using a

small reflector to achieve this result...ps - I do not know now I used to

live without a shutter release cable...LOVE it for these shots! After I

shot this, I LATER noticed that one little thing at the top of the

stamen that ruins the shot a bit...how did I miss hat when shooting?

Ill learn I guess...

Any critiques appreciated...any tips i nparticular about lighting these

types of subjects mid-day...some of them were down right

impossible..next time i will bring a diffusion panel...left it at

home...grr..

My First outing with my new lens and tripod head, and while shooting

this lotus, my first ever spotting of a mantis...I freaked out...all in all a

very cooperative macro subject...but the few moments it looked at

the lens were priceless to me :D...the extra working distance with my

new lens and the geared head made fine tuning easy and I was

ready for some great shots of this critter....great fun....

Any critiques, criticisms, comments....greatly appreciated!!

excellent...thanks for the data and setup.....

Now I will one day just have to find a place hopefully nearby that I can actually see the milky way (light pollution bummer)

Yeah, I liked the color too....the pose at first was a bit awkward for me....but it grew on me.

lovely shot...like the composition very much.

amazing perspective on the shot!!  the exposure and color is wonderful...an unusual pose for a bee shot, probably hard to repeat such a feat - great caputure!

really really cool lock...and a great subject for such a shot...I really enjoy this photo...

Perhaps just one thought for improvement would be to broaden DOF a bit more to get the key perfectly sharp as well....either by adjustments in aperture or use of focus stacking.....??

I am totally ignorant as to all the technique of astrophotography etc...but alls I can say is that this image blew me away!!  I would love to learn how to take such a photo myself!!!  Hopefully the link above you provided may tell?  7 for me....best regards, Ellery

nice macro shot...I have a shot sort of similar in look as this, but not as good...it is of a different plant though..but it had similar "florets" that make great macro subjects...I love that with this plan you have a couple of them isolated and set against a really colorful interesting background....

as a novice/amateur...I have only tried panning a couple times so far...(have a couple shots in my gallery of my attempts)...and it was tough!  The drama in this image...the sense of speed, is awesome...I will not comment on technical aspects for obvious reasons...but I very much like the background here...and the subject is sharp enough really I think...the shadow really adds to the shot too...very cool...enjoyed it...cant wait to try more panning myself...

YES!  I think what I like about this shot most is a) the specimen b) the amazing perspective and c) the play of color...just wonderful colors in this....really one of my favorite macro shots in a while!  Jealous...and inspired now!

i really enjoy it..6 for me!

fascinating specimen...not sure what it is either...the long snout must be i presume for flowers/nectar...cool shot...

Would be even more powerful if shot was in tighter with more bug detail...

As it is, I may for fun like to just barely boost the yellow color on the bug to seperate it out just a tad...?  a thought anyway....take care.

no idea how to improve it....its really elegant and powerful as is to me!!

I have yet to shoot a bird...so my opinion may be relatively useless...but I like the composition generally...I like some of your other shots better with more in the background to give a nice bokeh vs. this more simplistic background...but then again, it is a nice backdrop to show off the bird's colors and interesting patterns...its a nice image IMO...some of your other bird shots are really nice from my perspective...

I think it is amazing...at first the yellowish blackground I thought was too similar...but I think its really nice as is though!  The detail, DOF, seems perfect, wonderful Bokeh!!

love this....I cannot actually say if I've ever seen the milky way....need to get out where it is truly dark and see it!  the tree of life as a reference to our biological history against the backdrop of the cosmos?  Really cool!!

nice colorful macro...got that little fly on there as a bonus too :D

Nice shot! Regards, Ellery

perhaps I am mistaken (and I suppose others) about what a "4" means....I personally never took a 4 as "bad or wrong"....rather as just good...5 I took as "hey, thats pretty good there, really nice"...and 6 and 7 for upper eschilon stuff....I have no idea how these ratings are formally "supposed" to be done and if there is meant to be set rigid guidelines ideally....

I think you are a bit hung up on the idea of these things being as you said "rigid in your mind"....but many people like myself, we are not formally educated...we do our best to offer an honest opinion after viewing the photo and giving our opinion via rating...are the ratings wrong?  Perhaps....??

I would have given this one a 5 likely  -I find it perfectly pleasing...but I imagine it would not be that hard to imagine folks giving it a 4....again, supposing that for those people it is just a generally pleasing portrait...

wonderful scene...love the color, the composition, and the long exposure...

very cute!  

favorite b/W in a while...love the lines in teh shot..the architecture...the contrasty sky, and the girl walking...all added up for an amazing shot! 7 for me.

what kind of primate are these?  Do not look like chimpanzees...either way they are magnificent....they indeed look so much like us...as they are are close cousins in evolution...our sense of empathy shares a common ancestral heritage here...

Wonderful image...lighting appears very nice...the "emotion" in the image is wonderful!!  Would love one of these for my child's bedroom wall!

Take Care,
Ellery