Michael Moore
About the Image(s)
I document what’s going on in my yard and create greeting cards for my grandchildren as a way of staying connected. My wife had planted fennel and it attracted a large number of swallowtail caterpillars. I placed black foam core behind the fennel and used a 100mm macro lens at ISO 100, F5, 1/100sec to capture my original image which is a focus stacked composite of 7 images. Who knew these caterpillars had claws? Can a macro caterpillar image that would sit comfortably in an entomology textbook be repurposed as a fine art image? I’m not sure but I was sure I wanted to try.
My idea was to transform my capture into a “sketch/watercolor” type image which I decided needed to be high key. I used Topaz Studio and selected the AI Remix filter with beige sketch. This filter really gave me the artistic quality I was going for but also introduced lots of artifacts in the background and created an unattractive halo all of which I removed in PS.
This round’s discussion is now closed!
8 comments posted
Wow, focus stacking on a catatonic caterpillar is a great idea! I didn't realize they would maintain an unmoving pose long enough to do focus stacking on them. Koodos for your work!   Posted: 09/03/2021 05:06:28
On the other hand as a card, there are some options you could consider if you wanted to make the image more fun. These include a light texture behind the caterpillar (since there is so much "white-space"), and a fanciful frame around the image. This frame was created by expanding the canvas, applying a gradient adjustment layer to the selected expansion and adding a stroke. Then the canvas was expanded a second time and filled with color to make the outer frame.
  Posted: 09/04/2021 08:54:48
I also really enjoy the card Witta made from this, which frames your photo perfectly!
Great job on this image!   Posted: 09/06/2021 09:16:11