Faces!

kyrontf · Dec 23, 2011

C&C welcome!

1. European paper wasp (Polistes dominula)

2. Winter cutworm (Noctua pronuba)

3. Callobius severus male with missing palp. Not sure I like the crop on this one.

4. Female Tibellus oblongus I think. Found this critter indoors on a plant.

5. Female Platycryptus californicus.

TheFantasticG · Dec 23, 2011

MP-E?

I like them, except for #4. Something about it doesn't jive. Maybe the crop, maybe the angle, not sure. I'm viewing on the iPhone, so the small display might have something to do with it as well. I do like the jumper.

kyrontf · Dec 23, 2011

Thanks, TheFantasticG! No MPE - I used a reversed Tamron adaptall 28mm on extension tubes for all except #3 (with an M42 adapter for easy access to the stop-down rod thing). #3 was taken with my Tamron 90mm macro.

#4 is my least favourite I think... when I took the picture, my hand ended up shaking and the spider's face ended up stuck at the bottom corner of the frame. Somehow it was still in focus. :lol:

I think it's too far to the left of the frame to make the angle work, but there's nothing more on that side to adjust the crop with.

Buckster · Dec 23, 2011

These are crazy awesome! Well done!

kyrontf · Dec 24, 2011

Thanks, Buckster!

orionmystery · Dec 24, 2011

Very nice set of macro portraits.

kyrontf · Dec 24, 2011

Thanks, orionmystery!

jrice12 · Dec 24, 2011

#1 is slightly low on exposure there is room to go up on the highlights, composition is good for a head-on shot. #2 has washout issues (my least fav). #3 is good exposure, like the color, but not menancing enough

. #4 has weird angle, yellow with the green works though. #5 has red/blue chromatic problems (wonder if that can be corrected?).

kyrontf · Dec 27, 2011

jrice12 said:
#1 is slightly low on exposure there is room to go up on the highlights, composition is good for a head-on shot. #2 has washout issues (my least fav). #3 is good exposure, like the color, but not menancing enough . #4 has weird angle, yellow with the green works though. #5 has red/blue chromatic problems (wonder if that can be corrected?).

Thanks for the critique.

The reason I'd brought down the exposure on #1 somewhat was that I'd found the texture on the nose kept getting washed out. But I tried processing the file again and came up with this (also applied a bit more sharpening to make some of the details on the antennae more clear):

I wasn't able to get rid of the washout in #2 - even in the raw file it was too strong to get the detail back. Some of the blue aberrations in #5 I was able to (almost) get rid of, but for some reason the red stuff (esp. hairs on top of the head) just wouldn't go away, so I haven't uploaded a new version of it. I believe they are caused by my reversed lens which, when on extension tubes, is pretty soft and does exhibit a fair bit of aberration. I'm trying another lens now though, which I haven't noticed any problems with.