Etched
by scalvert

Comment:
Just too cool Shannon! Your ideas make me smile : )

#1
by ErikV

Comment:
Shallow DOF is the right thing for this little scene. It brings my eye right to the junction where all the colors meet.

4wt
by sceneit

Comment:
Cool, I see you reflected in the flies thorax.

_DSC9556-copy-macro-01-sfw
by The Eskimo

Comment:
This is very nice. Did you lighten up the center area some in processing? I like the composition in this. It looks pretty sharp to me at this size, and I definitely understand about the wind thing. It's good to have iso 3200 available for those conditions.

jalenpeno flower
by JustCaree

Comment:
At close range like this, depth of field makes focusing very critical. To me, it looks like focus is good, but either the flower or the camera moved a little. I can see what you were after though.
At this range, I find it useful to focus the lens manually, and then use both hands in the most solid grip position and move in and out slowly with the camera to get the final focus.
You may be able to get sharper shots by using the self timer at 2 seconds or maybe 5 seconds. That will eliminate the big shake that occurs when you squeeze the shutter button. Try looking through the camera at a subject like this with the camera turned off, then simulate a normal shutter button press, and watch carefully how much the camera shakes.

Buzz
by Paul

Comment:
Great timing, and also good use of the long focal length to be able to get this without spooking the bee. It takes a lot of shots to get one this nice of a bee. The focus on the eyes is perfect, not an easy thing at 180 and 3.5.

Missouri Pinecone
by Elaine

Comment:
The dark BG is good for this subject, and the side flash shows the texture in the lower area. Am I reading the data right, 8 second exposure?

IMG_5936
by MikeO

Comment:
Excellent shallow DOF in this, and having the focus on the reflection in the water adds a lot in the way of interesting details.

Pretty in Pink
by Kelli

Comment:
This is a very pretty little flower. I like the edges of the petals and the color of the flower against the very natural looking BG. I also like that you focused on the broadest part of the flower instead of the nearest. In this case that's a good move because it shows off the interior of the flower.

waterdrop 2
by JustCaree

Comment:
I think that it's neat that you got the reflection of the top droplet in the hump at the base of the column. The other light reflections in the water look a lot like clouds, which would be a very cool effect. I think there is a water drops tutorial in that section of DPC. I like this one better than the first because it's sharper.