Something about this one is a little creepy. Maybe it seems a little bizarre due to the mouthparts kind of resembling a smile.
I found this little male was hanging out on a car antennae. As an experiment I reversed an old 1960's Pentax Takumar M42 screw mount 50mm f/1.4 prime to the bellows. I stopped it down to f/16 and took a few photos of this guy expecting the lens not to be that sharp at such an extreme aperture. But when I checked the lcd screen, I was surprised by the clarity. No other lens I own is nearly this sharp at f/16, I may have to use it more often.
This image was focus stacked from 3 photos to get the whole head in focus.
A few more things worth pointing out that I am pleased with:
1. I somehow avoided blowing the highlights, especially on the face. It took a few photos to find the right flash angle as to not blow out the face of this guy, which was a little difficult considering it was white and shiny. So I ended up just underexposing a little bit. (It's always better to underexpose, because you can always brighten, but you can't always darken overexposed exposures.) In addition, I used the "Shadow/Highlight" adjustment in Photoshop do balance things out a little bit, which proved pretty useful. Some credit may be due to my flash diffuser design which is approximately 7-8 inches wide and seems to really spread out the light over a large area, thereby avoiding any harsh, concentrated light.
2. I'm starting to feel a little more comfortable with using the sky as a backdrop when there is no nearby foliage to provide a background. Sometimes it takes some fooling around to get the exposure right, but it's worth trying so you don't get a black background. It obviously isn't necessary or a monumental benefit to the photo, but since this guy was willing to stick around for several photos, it was worth trying to get some attractive photos of him.
jciv, Nori Almeida, Brian-D, Juan Emilio -, and 124 other people added this photo to their favorites.
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jcrowley001 [deleted] 59 months ago | reply
This is great. I just shot a dragonfly today . . . I don't think I'll post it now. Anyway, I don't understand your reversing the 50mm 1.4. I have a 25 year old k-mount 1.4. Is it possible I could use it for macros?
HanaHoudkova 59 months ago | reply
Excellent macro!!!
Please add On Macro
and Super Macro Mania!!
You Deserve SMM Award!!
saturn ♄ 59 months ago | reply
my favourite macro shot.. amazing
loic2co 58 months ago | reply
fantastic , i ve never see that
Shutter Moments 58 months ago | reply
Such a wonderful "expression" :-) Superb macro!
Wonderful colors.
{SweetFields} Krysten 58 months ago | reply
It DOES look like he's smiling!! I like it!
h_aids 56 months ago | reply
Hi Opo and everyone,
Please let me know which reverse adapter I should by to take the macro photograhy like those of Opo.
I am having
- a SMC Takumar 1:1.4/50
- an M42 EOS adapter
- Canon Kiss X (400D/XTi)
Which reverse ring/adapter I should by?
Can I use a 58mm Macro Reverse Adapter Ring?
Even I still don't know how to use the reverse ring.
I just imagin that I screw the reversed Takomar lens to the reverse adapter ring, and then screw the ring to the M42 EOS adapter. Finally I just screw the M42 to the camera body (400D). Is that correct?
Thanks,
Hai
e_monk 56 months ago | reply
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Stuff With Six Legs, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
--
Seen on your photo stream. (?)
lreyns on/off 54 months ago | reply
I'm impressed.............
f250clocker 53 months ago | reply
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Anthropomorphic, Eerie, & Creepy Cool, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
f250clocker 53 months ago | reply
Thank you very much for your addition to the group.
Addicted2Hymenoptera :) 51 months ago | reply
He looks happy!
muscapix 51 months ago | reply
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called www.flickr.com/groups/1048731@N23/, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
Romero Juan Manuel 51 months ago | reply
felicitaciones!!!!
increible foto!!!!
juan manuel, desde Argentina!
Caramosca 46 months ago | reply
impressive.
Robert Bruce Murray III // Sort Of Natural 40 months ago | reply
fine work!
Shoeven 40 months ago | reply
amazing!
Milusa 39 months ago | reply
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Spectacular Insects-invited images only//Insectos Espectaculares, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
Hi, The Spectacular Insects Group's contest of the month is SPECTACULAR INSECTS FACES .This photo would be great for the contest. Please consider posting it at:
www.flickr.com/groups/spectacular_insects/discuss/7215762...
Naomi | Warren 31 months ago | reply
Nice Macro :)
vytko1.618 14 months ago | reply
eye ya jei :]
cool photo!