Bill Foy  


Japanese Beetles like Straw Flowers by Bill Foy

August 2020 - Japanese Beetles like Straw Flowers

August 2020 - Bill Foy

Original

About the Image(s)

This is an image from a few years ago that was made at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA. I used my macro lens but it's definitely a "close up" as opposed to a "macro" image. I don't recalled the post processing but, for sure, I cropped the image, and it looks to me that I lightened it a bit. Nikon D300s, Sigma 150mm macro lens, f/16, 1/30.


This round’s discussion is now closed!
10 comments posted




Bob Legg   Bob Legg
Hey Bill, this a sharp image, and beetles often reflect so that their colors do not come out as our eyes see them, but you solved that. Background is non distracting and flowers showing no damage yet from those darn Japanese Beetles. A couple of ideas. I remember hearing from a judge that he looks to see the faces of animals and bugs. I know, that is not easy, but he uses that to separate the good and very good from the exceptional. Minor thing, I would hit my highlights slider just a big more to bring down the white from the right side top flower and I would open up the shadows with hopes of bringing out more color on the bottom two buds. You also did a good job of cropping and cloning the light ground or plant stuff thru the holes in the green.   Posted: 08/06/2020 17:19:41
 
Thanks, Bob. I'm just getting into the "minor things" you mentioned. Maybe I'll be daring enough to submit images with those kinds of adjustments in the not-too-distant future!   Posted: 08/21/2020 10:10:39



Karen Harris   Karen Harris
Wow. Great editing from the original shot. I love seeing originals. Maybe this should be a requirement for this study group. My eyes tell me that the beetles are not as sharp as the tips of the flower. I guess that is only a problem depending on which of the two is your center of interest. All together, it's a very nice shot.   Posted: 08/17/2020 11:25:47
 
Thanks, Karen. I think I compared the flower tips to the legs of the beetle on right when I was composing the shot. Don't recall whether, or not, I applied any sharpening. The only thing I like about these beetles is that they don't move around a lot once they've found a food source.   Posted: 08/21/2020 10:15:25



Judy Burr   Judy Burr
My memory of those pesky beetles is collecting them in jars and my father adding turpentine or something. They devoured grape leaves among other things. I like the flower, but the background is distracting. I darkened the top of the flower and selected the flower and used gausian blur to solve the background problem.   Posted: 08/17/2020 12:38:58
Comment Image
 
Thanks, Judy. I'm not skilled enough to isolate and adjust the background, but I like what you did with it.   Posted: 08/21/2020 10:18:52



 
Very sharp, very nice macro shot. I tend to agree with Judy with the green background being a bit overpowering on the eye. The blur works but decreasing the saturation or vibrance would have worked too. No bettles here:-)   Posted: 08/21/2020 02:11:51
 
Thanks, Stephan. Just beginning to understand how the sliders can be used to adjust things like saturation and vibrance.   Posted: 08/21/2020 10:20:44
 
Hi Bill, there are quite a few "hidden" tricks in lightroom and they added a new slider feature to be used with the radial and gradient filters. The one thing which I think is often over looked is the Auto Mask - That can be really neat to select an area of the same tone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSo_DuGC_a0 - It would likely work well to lower the saturation of the green background, the red overlay then allows you to see the selection once done and use the "alt" key to brush out areas you do not wish to affect.   Posted: 08/21/2020 13:51:25



 
You crop well.A nice image.It is so sharp and colorful.I like it.   Posted: 08/23/2020 17:02:51