Cicada...Seventeen-Year Locust
by Marjo

Comment by Marjo:
Thanks for the votes and critiques.
I have an even greater admiration for macro photographers after this attempt. Yes, I did bring him inside and set him on the kitchen counter with a brightly colored flower to match his coloring. I agree, the eye should be in focus. I tried. He kept jumping off the counter! Shot about 10 shots and turned him loose.

Cicada...Seventeen-Year Locust
by Marjo

Comment by quadangle:
The most important part of any subject is what? The EYES. Here they are out of focus. It doesn't look like a cicada in its natural habitat.

Oops, overfilled it, again!
by Marjo

Comment by arigirardijr:
Good macro picture! Excellent depth.

The Grumpy Toad
by Marjo

Comment by Marjo:
Thanks for commenting. I am going to try some different crops as suggested and see how that works.

Calibration Nightmare
by Marjo

Comment by Marjo:
The store was closing or I would have taken more shots. I wasn't quite happy with the clarity(the lighting was awful)but I thought it met the challenge well. Each one of the TV monitors had different colors and it reminded me of our forum discussions pertaining to calibration.
Thanks ellamay, EL-ROI, and xhoss for commenting.

Oops, overfilled it, again!
by Marjo

Comment by Marjo:
The comments are appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to respond.

Constitutional Democracy
by Marjo

Comment by vonautsch:
This is more of a patriotic photo. Good composition. The colors could be brought out a little more.

Constitutional Democracy
by Marjo

Comment by jonpink:
good colourful image

Constitutional Democracy
by Marjo

Comment by faidoi:
Really nice composition. Love the colors. It really gives interest to the piece. All of the colors combine really gives the picture some depth of field. Flowers are front. Green is the mid. The gray of the building is mid/back. The sky is the background. All of this combine to bring the flag out of the picture. Same for the flowers.

Cicada...Seventeen-Year Locust
by Marjo

Comment by vonautsch:
The shadows on the white background are a little distracting, as is the green blade comign straight at the camera.