Carol Sheppard  

"Prehistoric" by Carol Sheppard

March 2023 - "Prehistoric"

March 2023 - Carol Sheppard

Original

About the Image(s)

My settings for this were 1/80th shutter speed, f4.0, ISO250, using my Olympus with M. Zuiko 60mm lens. Handheld, so I couldn't go below 1/80th without risking too much shake. I also did a stack of 4 images to get his face in pretty sharply, and I wasn't too concerned with having him sharp throughout as long as some of his legs were also sharp. In another series, he was eating and the movement made it impossible to get a good focus stack. I had a pretty clean background, but it was a whitish color from siding, so I decided to play around in Color Efex and use the bi-color user-defined filters. Then I added a linen texture that had first been converted to black-and-white so that I got the texture but none of the color of the second texture. It may not be your cup of tea, but please look for technical and distraction issues more than anything else.

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

Stuart Ord   Stuart Ord
I've only photographed a preying mantis once before, when in Kenya 40 years ago. They are weird, and as you say, prehistoric-looking.

It's very much my cup of tea, you've used your processing and texturing skills to create a unique photo I think. I like the composition, the colour, and the limited depth of field. You could have tried going up a few stops in ISO I think, especially with the processing used, and so got to say f11 at 1/80sec, for a bit more, but some blurriness is an advantage here I think. I'd have tried down to say 1/10sec with this lens and IOS working. Nothing to lose!

Maybe clone out the 3 spots below its body, between its legs?   Posted: 03/08/2023 02:57:09
Carol Sheppard   Carol Sheppard
Yes, I see those now, and I also see a weird reddish tint in a number of places. Back to the drawing board! Thank you for your input!   Posted: 03/17/2023 20:41:12
Tom Pickering   Tom Pickering
For me, your modifications made this an artistic piece and the fact that it isn't sharp all the way through it's body is not a concern for me. My only beef is the rather hard edge between the foreground and background which does distract. I tried to smooth that out in this rendition. Thoughts?   Posted: 03/19/2023 15:28:32
Comment Image
Carol Sheppard   Carol Sheppard
Yes, Tom, your softening of that hard edge improved the image. I was afraid if I did that it would look like my critter was hovering in the air, but it looks good where you did it.   Posted: 03/22/2023 21:37:58
Keith Au   Keith Au
Nice capture! The blurring effect makes a more artistic presentation with a blank background. Yep.. most importantly the head is sharp. I noticed that, since you did a handheld shot, you were able to line up with lower angle to the mantis which is a lot more pleasing to the audience.   Posted: 03/19/2023 21:15:07
Carol Sheppard   Carol Sheppard
I was in some very awkward positions for this!! He was in a small space, low to the ground.   Posted: 03/22/2023 21:38:51
Keith Au   Keith Au
Nice efforts.. I can in fact feel it when I look at the image.   Posted: 03/23/2023 10:30:38