Infiltrators
by GeneralE

Comment:
The images that always suffer from a lack of comments are the ones that are right in the middle ground. Everyone comments on the awesome shots. Some comment on the bad shots. But the middle ones, very few people say anything. So here I am to explain why I voted a 5:

This image qualifies as a close-up (not a macro), and has pretty good sharpness and depth of field. I really like the reds in the surrounding strawberries. Where I think it lacks is in the main subject. Something different, even little whisps of whipping cream or some other "stark contrast" to the red of the strawberries, would have added interest to the image. You might also play with lighting to add a little difference in highlights and shadows.

Hope the comments help.

Feather
by VinceDoss

Comment:
The images that always suffer from a lack of comments are the ones that are right in the middle ground. Everyone comments on the awesome shots. Some comment on the bad shots. But the middle ones, very few people say anything. So here I am to explain why I voted a 5:

Macro and extreme close-ups typically have very shallow depth of field (DOF) and this image exhibits that aspect very well. What it lacks is a central "subject" to focus on. The part that is in focus is really not much different from any other part of the image which is out of focus. So it ends up confusing the eye... what to look at and why... So my recommendation would be to find a stronger central subject for the image.

Cat's Eye
by HighwayFlower

Comment:
Certainly not a "macro"... but this is a decent close-up and all the necessary parts are in sharp focus. Originally scored a 5, but bumping up to 6.

Another Dragonfly
by Pug-H

Comment:
The images that always suffer from a lack of comments are the ones that are right in the middle ground. Everyone comments on the awesome shots. Some comment on the bad shots. But the middle ones, very few people say anything. So here I am to explain why I voted a 5:

Looking at the wing and the lower legs you can see that perfect focus on part of the dragonfly was achieved. This is very hard to do and your accomplishment in this regard should be acknowledged!

For me, the critical part of a macro *is* the sharpness in the details. But in this case, I think you missed my only a fraction of an inch. The eyes and the head do not appear to be in focus. And yet the branch in front of the head looks fine. This makes me think the problem wasn't so much the focus (well, it *does* have to do with "where" you focused), but that a smaller aperture, resulting in greater depth of field, would have helped bring all of the essential parts into sharp focus.

I also happen to like the composition on this one. The angled view of the dragonfly as well as the matching angle of its background which opposes the angle of the stick it is holding onto.

So while this is not a bad shot, the lack of focus on the head and eye is what hurts the shot, and that's why I ended up giving it a 5. Hope this helps.

curios horse
by JohannesFrank

Comment:
The images that always suffer from a lack of comments are the ones that are right in the middle ground. Everyone comments on the awesome shots. Some comment on the bad shots. But the middle ones, very few people say anything. So here I am to explain why I voted a 5:

Actually, you pretty much have me stumped on this one! This image has several of the classic examples of what makes a macro or close-up: larger-than-life image, shallow depth of field, sharpness where it needs to be, etc.

So what's wrong? Again, I'm having a hard time figuring that out. I think it has something to d with the eye. I like how the eyelashes are sharp. I like how the hair under the eye is sharp. But the eye keeps bugging me and I don't know why. It makes it hard to look at the image for some reason.

So while I can't fully justify giving a 5 ... I'm having a hard time justifying giving a 6 in spite of the "macro aspects" that I do like about the image. Perhaps this is my least helpful comment of the bunch... I hope maybe it helps a little. (and in the end, my 5 will probably only matter for about 1/300th of the score anyway, but now you have some comments that might be worth more than just the score)

Water on Flower
by netdude

Comment:
The images that always suffer from a lack of comments are the ones that are right in the middle ground. Everyone comments on the awesome shots. Some comment on the bad shots. But the middle ones, very few people say anything. So here I am to explain why I voted a 5:

This flower shot qualifies for the challenge as a "close-up" rather than macro shot. However, essential to both is good excellent sharpness in the details.

It appears that the very center of the main flower is in focus. And even the purple flower behind it. But the surrounding petals (of the main flower) with the water droplets appear to be out of focus.

This makes me suspect that you might have gotten too close. Each lens has a limit as to how close you can focus and while the center of the flower may have been far enough away, the petals (which are closer to the lens) were not.

I would also experiment a bit with composition. The red flower on the bottom left seems okay, but the purple flower on the right is distracting. It keeps leading me to look away from the main flower (in part because it is more in focus). The other red flower appears to just be a distraction. It doesn't add to the photo.

So move up, down, side to side... try different angles, but don't get too close. :-)

Hope these comments help.

Come Into My Parlour
by TooCool

Comment:
The images that always suffer from a lack of comments are the ones that are right in the middle ground. Everyone comments on the awesome shots. Some comment on the bad shots. But the middle ones, very few people say anything. So here I am to explain why I voted a 5:

For me, what sets apart a macro shot from others is the sharpness in its detail. I like that you go really close in to the spider. This is a much better shot than a lot of images in this challenge which barely qualify as close-ups. The tricky part in such a closeup is that your depth-of-field gets reduced drastically. You may end up with only a millimeter's worth of focus and that focus needs to be spent wisely.

In this image, you can see that the top of the spider (its abdomen) is clearly in focus. Parts of the legs are in and out of focus. (that's okay, you expect this in a macro, it adds depth to the image)

But what's missing for me is that the subject (what is being eaten) appears not to be in focus, making it heard for me to know what to look at. In other words, I keep finding myself looking at the spiders butt... :-)

Perhaps a suggestion for the future, get in front of the spider. If he was really hanging down as this image suggests, then get below and shot up. Keep the spider's head in focus and, in this case, get more of his "subject matter" (the prey) into focus. Feel free to gross us out. We want to see the details!

Young Grasshoppa
by mahobbes

Comment:
The images that always suffer from a lack of comments are the ones that are right in the middle ground. Everyone comments on the awesome shots. Some comment on the bad shots. But the middle ones, very few people say anything. So here I am to explain why I voted a 5:

I know... the challenge said close-ups as well as macros. And maybe this critter truly is tiny. But he is so far away that he doesn't come close to filling the frame and that's what is making it non-interesting in the middle of a macro challenge.

My suggestion, if your camera won't let you get any closer, would be to crop the photo tighter. Remove the top and bottom 3rds and the left and right 4ths and you'll be about right. However, in doing so, you'll need to watch the resolution of the image because sharpness in the subject will become paramount.

One more thing you could try, even without getting closer or making the grasshopper any larger... put him in the bottom right quadrant of the image. Doing so would give him space (to the left and to the top) to jump into. He looks ready to jump, so give him room to go. Dead center is the least interesting place to put him. (and putting him on the far left would just be wrong) :-)

I hope you've had fun with the challenge and hopefully the comments help.

The Fly
by Wobble

Comment:
The images that always suffer from a lack of comments are the ones that are right in the middle ground. Everyone comments on the awesome shots. Some comment on the bad shots. But the middle ones, very few people say anything. So here I am to explain why I voted a 5:

The most important subject in this image is named in the title itself... the fly. However, the fly is also the least sharp of the picture. Two possibilities here: 1) You were just a tad too close and your lens couldn't quite focus on the fly, or 2) the camera caught the leaf and focused on it instead of the fly. For macros, sharpness in the subject is imperative, so really this is the only thing that, in my opinion, is keeping this image from being a better shot.

Things I do like: the fly is facing the camera. Kudos! I don't know how many images I've seen where you're looking straight down at the bug, or looking at it's rear-end. It ends up looking like its getting away. Yours has a nice angle to it as well. Again, kudos.

One other thing that could improve your score would be to get in even closer... but you may have to save that idea for some new equipment. Anyway, hopefully you had fun and I hope the comments help.

Holly
by RolandB

Comment:
The images that always suffer from a lack of comments are the ones that are right in the middle ground. Everyone comments on the awesome shots. Some comment on the bad shots. But the middle ones, very few people say anything. So here I am to explain why I voted a 5:

I actually think this is a decent shot. It's nice and sharp (fyi: blurriness in the subject itself is the #1 reason that I've dropped an image below a 5). It's not a macro shot. But it is "fairly close". I think that closer still would have helped. Get right down to one leaf. Isolate the subject and make it important. In this case, there are 3 somethings to look at so it sort of splits the attention. The color is kinda cool... I've never seen a leaf that color before and so, as images go, it's fairly interesting. But as for the "macro challenge" I could only call it average. Get in a little closer next time and I'm sure you'll score higher. Hope this helps.