The Belly of the Beast
by strangeghost

Comment by macrothing:
Fairly good macro, especially given the (estimated) size of these. 70% sure this is a type of Crane Fly (Tipulidae), possibly a Tiger Crane Fly:

Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Pterygota » Flies (Diptera) » Nematocera » Crane Flies (Tipulidae) » Tiger Crane Flies (Nephrotoma)

More info & some good photographs at BugGuide.Net. It may also be a Limoniid Crane Flies (Limoniidae) or a Tipula Yamatotipula , you can 'decide'. edit:wording

Message edited by author 2005-12-10 16:33:13.

IMG_9617cropped.jpg
by strangeghost

Comment by tonyv:
Much better without the pink mass. The out of focus neck wasn't really an issue. It just ensured that the eye went to the eye and beak.

IMG_9617cropped.jpg
by strangeghost

Comment by macrothing:
Wow. Beautiful shot, even with the 'mud'(?). Tempted to say I'd like to see that beak (especially those lamellae) sharper, but difficult to retain such fine focus as you have on the head/eye I imagine. The eye is very nice, especially with the very complementary background. Very nice capture. I like the tight crop too, no other way to show this detail in the head/beak without it, maybe just a fraction more off the right/neck, who knows. edit: 'teeth' to lamellae, the correct name for the combed section of the 'Roman nose' (beak). Due to the darker coloring, I assume this is an American Flamingo - Phoeniconais ruber ruber.

edit #2: didn't realize this had been edited from the 'out of camera' version, nevertheless still excellent and you have done well with the pp and, the tighter crop gives much better detail than in the 'original'.

Message edited by author 2005-12-10 15:41:49.

Ain't never gonna change my tune
by strangeghost

Comment by Neil:
Congratulations on 5000 views. I can't believe you only got one comment here despite the relatively low score. Shame on us. (We'll I didn't vote, so I am double guilty.)

I think some interesting lighting and thinking about the positioning of the materials would have improved this. Perhaps, showing the various media entirely, against a black background might have made it clear that music collections have changed in format over the years. It might have also been cool to show the same album in multiple formats, from LP to CD to iPod. Perhaps for lighting, you could have done an iPod like blue, but really not from the iPod because you'd need more light, and you'd still want some color to show. Worth thinking about for the next time!

Ain't never gonna change my tune
by strangeghost

Comment by tpoc:
like the composition! also like the inclusion of the i-pod.

IMG_9516.jpg
by strangeghost

Comment by Marc923:
I like it, nice and sharp. Maybe a bit brighter. And the landscape works for me.

IMG_9516.jpg
by strangeghost

Comment by Neil:
Very nice! It works for me as is, but I think what pidge is saying is interesting. I tried a visual crop using my hands of the two sides, more on the right of course, and it's interesting too. I cropped just to the right of his head, and then just a little of the space out on the left. Anyway, worth a look, but I do like it as is.

IMG_9516.jpg
by strangeghost

Comment by tsheets:
Great detail on the feathers!

IMG_9516.jpg
by strangeghost

Comment by pidge:
Excellent colors. One thing that may imrpove the picture is doing a portrait crop instead of a horizontal crop. Granted, I don't know if this is possible, and I may be wrong, but JMHO

Love the blue!

IMG_0036.jpg
by strangeghost

Comment by dahkota:
You must have the most cleanest air where you are. This is really cool! I could never capture a sunset such as this here. Way too much pollution...