New Wasps' Nest

Herc · August 1, 2008

Found a new nest in the garden last night. It's being worked on quite a bit so I plan to go back and take more shots over the next few days.

New to macro and still trying to get things figured out so any C & C is appreciated.

Thought the colours were cool and really liked the alien look of these menacing little creatures.

Cheers, Shayne

Blaze Z Blaze · August 1, 2008

That is one badass lookin little dude there. Great pictures, and I like the boarder with them it sets them off nicely.

darkdragon · August 1, 2008

Love the images. How do you get that close and not wet your pants with fear? Wasps are so mean and scary

The shots are great, as I said but you should really lose the borders - very distractiong and takes away from the images IMHO

I would love to get some photos like this of wasps, but I'm too afraid (got attaced and stung 15 times within a fraction of a second, somehow, when i was a kid)

Herc · August 1, 2008

Without any framing....

Thanks for the comments.

They didn't seem to be too bothered by my presence at all. They were too busy working on their nest and I was very careful not to disturb them.

Shayne

WilliamClark77 · August 1, 2008

Very nice colors and I like the post processing, especially on the yellows. I have trouble with flourescent yellows coming out over saturated with little detail

Not that I could do any better and it's more personal taste, but my only critique would be maybe use a slightly narrower aperture for more dof if at all possible.

WilliamClark77 · August 1, 2008

I thought the borders looked great and set them off nicely until seeing them without. I like the second set better. :ivar

[edit] Had to fix a typo

Herc · August 1, 2008

WilliamClark77 wrote:

Very nice colors and I like the post processing, especially on the yellows. I have trouble with flourescent yellows coming out over saturated with little detail

Not that I could do any better and it's more personal taste, but my only critique would be maybe use a slightly narrower aperture for more dof if at all possible.

I shot these RAW only and PPd in ACR. Added about +4 Saturation, a little contrast, and 85% Sharpening. These were shot at f/18 so I could narrow it a bit. I was using a flash as well but I'm not sure how much flash was actually getting to the subjects because of tree branches.

I'll go back and shoot some more tonight and see how much they've progressed. I shot these with my XTi as the batteries were dead on my 5D. Tonight I'll try with the 5D and see what the difference is.

Cheers, Shayne

PS: I kind of liked the framing but maybe I can make them smaller. I'll play around on the next set.

WilliamClark77 · August 1, 2008

Herc wrote:

I shot these RAW only and PPd in ACR. Added about +4 Saturation, a little contrast, and 85% Sharpening. These were shot at f/18 so I could narrow it a bit. I was using a flash as well but I'm not sure how much flash was actually getting to the subjects because of tree branches.

I'll go back and shoot some more tonight and see how much they've progressed. I shot these with my XTi as the batteries were dead on my 5D. Tonight I'll try with the 5D and see what the difference is.

Cheers, Shayne

PS: I kind of liked the framing but maybe I can make them smaller. I'll play around on the next set.

Looking back at them posted larger I retract my statement about a narrower ap. The dof is great for my taste. It's funny how the more mag/smaller the subject the better they look the larger they're viewed.

Goodluck on getting more shots! I look forward to seeing them. We have similiar paper wasps here but they become too protective of their nests from early August to late September to photo.

darkdragon · August 1, 2008

Great! I love the shots without the borders because its easier for my eyes to study the image and not get distracted by the yellow border. Now if it was framed and matted like you presented the borders, it would look great - not not on the web (my opinion again).

Just love looking at these aliens.

GOLDENORFE · August 1, 2008

Great shots, good compositions.

i think using small apperture f18 has compromised sharpness, they dont appear to have a good sharp focus point.
try shooting f8-f11 and see the difference.
phil
http://www.flickr.com/photos/goldenorfe/

Herc · August 1, 2008

GOLDENORFE wrote:

Great shots, good compositions.
i think using small apperture f18 has compromised sharpness, they dont appear to have a good sharp focus point.
try shooting f8-f11 and see the difference.
phil
http://www.flickr.com/photos/goldenorfe/

Thanks Phil, I'll give that a try too. I'll also use the tripod next time. I thought any wider at 1/60 would start to push it while hand holding. Tonight I plan on setting up a stool, tripod and maybe a light.

Hope I can do it without getting stung.

Shayne

darkdragon · August 1, 2008

Herc wrote:

Thanks Phil, I'll give that a try too. I'll also use the tripod next time. I thought any wider at 1/60 would start to push it while hand holding. Tonight I plan on setting up a stool, tripod and maybe a light. Hope I can do it without getting stung.

Shayne

I'm going to have nightmares about this :uhoh

Looking forward to seeing the photos though.

Herc · August 1, 2008

darkdragon wrote:

I'm going to have nightmares about this :uhoh

Looking forward to seeing the photos though.

Ah, don't you worry Miss. I'm a trained professional...

darkdragon · August 1, 2008

Herc wrote:

Ah, don't you worry Miss. I'm a trained professional...

I'm not worried....

:hide

Skippy · August 1, 2008

Herc wrote:

Found a new nest in the garden last night. It's being worked on quite a bit so I plan to go back and take more shots over the next few days.

New to macro and still trying to get things figured out so any C & C is appreciated.

Thought the colours were cool and really liked the alien look of these menacing little creatures.

Cheers, Shayne

Hi Shayne, welcome to the forum

I'm agreeing with Phil's comment to you about using a different F Stop.
Give it a go and compare your results.

Wasps have great faces, I love the way their jaws come across.
They pack a pretty powerful sting when they get you too!

Looking good Shayne

.... Skippy

.

Herc · August 1, 2008

Tried again tonight using f/9, f/11, and f/16 all with flash and ISO 400. I like the results. This was with my 5D tonight and a tripod.

Thanks for the tips and the welcome.

Cheers, Shayne

WilliamClark77 · August 2, 2008

Herc wrote:

I like the results.

Me too!

Lord Vetinari · August 2, 2008

Lovely shots- esp like the first one of the 2nd series.
Brian v.

Herc · August 2, 2008

Lord Vetinari wrote:

Lovely shots- esp like the first one of the 2nd series.
Brian v.

Thanks. I forgot to clone out the antenna in the lower right before I posted. I'll have to fix that up.

Shayne

GOLDENORFE · August 2, 2008

much better, well done.
phil
http://www.flickr.com/photos/goldenorfe/

Skippy · August 3, 2008

Herc wrote:

Tried again tonight using f/9, f/11, and f/16 all with flash and ISO 400. I like the results. This was with my 5D tonight and a tripod.

Thanks for the tips and the welcome.

Cheers, Shayne

Nicely done.

.....now all you need to do is clean your sensor.
You have some pretty large dust spots on your images ... Skippy

.

Herc · August 3, 2008

Skippy wrote:

Nicely done.
.....now all you need to do is clean your sensor.
You have some pretty large dust spots on your images ... Skippy
.

Thanks for pointing the dust spots out. I noticed that too. I should have taken care to clone all that stuff out.

Cheers, Shayne

New Wasps' Nest

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