Regine Guillemin  

The Mating by Regine Guillemin

June 2021 - The Mating

About the Image(s)

I have started to document this phenomenon that occurs every 17 years on The East Coast of the USA. The invasion of trillions of the Brood X Cicadas. this emergence offers Hope , it is an indication that the Forests are healthy enough to function.
I remember witnessing this phenomenom in 2004 but I wasn’t a photographer at that time . I became fascinated ,after recording a video with my I phone , watching the birth of one cicada on the bark of our Cherry Tree. Absolutely amazing !!!! then i decided to take my camera and capture different steps of their life after having spent 17 years in the ground ….discovering these creatures on my computer was quite an experience …
Among hundred of pictures taken , I have picked this one up to share with you. "The mating"
I used the tripod with a 100mm macro Lens . So I could use a greater depth of field F/8 with a slower shutter speed. But I am always unsatisfied with the sharpness of my pictures . Here I used Spot metering and my focus point was centered on the wings. I was expecting get their eyes sharper. Any thoughts about how to get a sharper image ( wings and eyes) ? I thought the choice of F/8 was a good choice .. I am not sure to understand the relation of the distance between the camera and the subject….thank you
Settings : ISO 200 !00mm F8 1/13 sec Canon Mark III & 100mm Macro Lens on Tripod.

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

Art Jacoby   Art Jacoby
Kudos to you for the project and this great capture. For me, the symmetry is the hook that takes the image to another level. You could try f/11 since one the legs is soft. You could also use exposure compensation to tone down the highlights on one of the wings. I used Nik Viveza to bring out more detail and tone down the highlights. I also cropped, burned in some of the background, added a vignette, sharpened the leg with the sharpen tool and used the dodge tool to brighten the eyes,   Posted: 06/06/2021 22:39:37
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Sylvia Bacon   Sylvia Bacon
What a fascinating project Regine and a great shot! For fun, I played around with your image a little bit.
Using PS/Filter Camera Raw - several minor adjustments were made: Basic/Editing/Auto and from that point on highlights, contrast, texture, clarity sliders were used.
Next, Color Mixer: saturated reds and blues, desaturated greens, Luminance/reds and blues.
Sharpened a bit and adjusted Curves slightly, clicked OK to
opened in the main PS screen - used the white and black paintbrush to lighten darken parts of the overall image. Thanks for sharing this image and writing about your project!   Posted: 06/27/2021 11:39:04
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