Color changes everything
by primabarbara

Comment:
the more i look at this the better it becomes ..
love how everyone is a blur of movement except for the umbrella person ..

so after i wrote that i read a couple of the comments that thought you had set this up ..
i did wonder .. because to catch that one person with the bright umbrella standing still at just the right moment would be a miracle .. but Barbara .. i do know miracles happen .
so i'm just going to assume that this is one .
its a brilliant pic .. especially for the challenge .. .. many congrats on the ribbon .. :)

Eyes on the Sky
by roz

Comment:

Originally posted by primabarbara: This is so wonderful - Congrats on the deserved Blue! I love the expressive eyes and that there are waterdrops on the umbrella - that enhances the feeling of hope as Anita already mentioned. You can't guess though if the hope is for more rain or for the rain to stop. Nitpicking on a very very high level: I'd prefer it if the umbrella was rotaed a tiny bit so that the little knob ot the opening mechanism wasn't pointing at her throat.

thanks so much for your lovely comment Barbara .. xx
and i never noticed the little knob at her throat till you mentioned it .. bummer .. lol .. :(

Tending the Nest
by Martus

Comment:

Originally posted by Martus: Originally posted by roz: this is amazing as i can imagine the wasp wasnt standing still just so you could get its photo . !! .. were you able to focus stack even so .. ?? this is the sort of image i would be over the moon to have taken .. in fact way above my pay grade .. many many congrats on the blue and first place on your profile page .. 🙂 Thanks Roz! This is very high praise, coming from you! Your macros are always amazing! Yes, this is a stack of 8. I would have liked to get a couple more photos in the stack, but the wasps didn’t like the flash and it was in an awkward spot, so I couldn’t use a tripod. As a result, I would fire a couple of shots, then move away and wait for them to settle down, then try again.

thankyou so much Martus ..
i was so impressed with this shot that i have come back a few times to look at it ..
lucky for me that i did because thats how i saw your comment addressed to me ..

and btw thankyou for putting in your camera settings .. i wish more ppl would do that .. i learn so much from that info ..

anyway .. i use an olympus mirrorless camera and a godox flash these days ..
and i have started using the bracketing feature of the camera .. its amazing .. you set it up on how many shots to take in very quick succession .. for me its 9 .. and it takes one pic after another focusing a bit further away from your starting point with each shot ..
of course if the insect moves or you move at all the stacking can be very difficult .. if the shots are similar enough i use Luminar Neo to stack .. if the shots are a bit off it usually doesnt get it right ..

does your camera have a bracketing feature .. ?? .. i found it a game changer ..

also i cant use a flash when using the bracketing .. as far as i know .. because the flash wont support the quick firing .. i could be wrong on that point though .. but was interested to read that your wasp didnt like the flash .. in all of the time i've shot insects i've found that a rare occurrence that they are bothered by the flash .. maybe it was because you were too close and it didnt like that .. shame we cant ask her .. ;)

also re the tripod .. i've never used one because it doesnt work for me .. setting up etc would take too much time and the movement would scare them away .. but i know of other insect photogs who do use them successfully ..
check out Aaron Molenkamp in instagram .. i'm pretty sure he uses a tripod .. he's amazing .. nightfall_photography .. he uses nikon but does work with other brands i think .. he's australian ..

what i was so impressed by in this pic was your focus .. just wonderful .. as well as the fact that you got it doing what wasps do and not just sitting around being uninteresting .. lol .. ;)

i found this feature so interesting that i googled it ..
"A wasp carrying a droplet of water back to the nest—often seen as a small bubble or droplet held in its mouthparts—is typically engaged in one of three critical colonial tasks: evaporative cooling, nest construction, or feeding the larva."

its a shame that dpc hasnt got up-to-date with replies and such .. as i'm sure we often miss a reply to a comment in our photos ..
anyway .. thanks again .. and have a great weekend .. :)

Orange Caterpillar Parasite Wasp
by roz

Comment:

Originally posted by kanaj: Color alchemy so sublime it almost makes you forget how creepy the natural habit of the subject is. :-P Seriously, how can I sign up for a live edit session with you sometime? I'm dying to see how you achieve these pristine color grades.

thanks so much Jonathan .. if you were serious i would gladly share my original photos and workflow with you ..
its in giving we receive .. so you would be doing me a favour to accept .. !! .. :)

Aerial Assassin on the Electric Fence
by roz

Comment:

Originally posted by lovemelvin: Master! please teach us your ways. Ahaha. Very National Geographic. Congratulations! 👏🏻

thanks so much Melvin .. but ask Martus .. he's the master by far .. 🙂

Ghost Stalker of the Mossy Underworld
by glad2badad

Comment:
this is gorgeous Barry ..
i'm wondering if this spider is so young that its colouring hadnt come in yet ..
i've seen that on bed bugs for instance .. that they are almost transparent until they start sucking blood .. i wont go into how i know about that .. it might gross ppl out .. but to be fair it was many years ago that i did the experiment .. !! ..

i loved reading your story about how you got this shot .. i've got muddy knees before but i've never go above and beyond .. and submerged my feet/shoes in water .. actually that's not above and beyond .. but below and beyond .. lol .. 😂

anyhoooo .. many many congrats on your ribbon ...
and coming second place on your profile page .. that's quite an achievement these days .. 🙂

Message edited by author 2026-04-22 21:01:48.

Tending the Nest
by Martus

Comment:
this is amazing as i can imagine the wasp wasnt standing still just so you could get its photo . !! ..
were you able to focus stack even so .. ??
this is the sort of image i would be over the moon to have taken .. in fact way above my pay grade ..
many many congrats on the blue and first place on your profile page .. 🙂

Rainbow Lorikeet
by roz

Comment:

Originally posted by Barroness: Do these birds actually fly around where you live? This is not only stunning photography but a beautiful and stunning bird.

thanks so much Debbi ..
i have a jacaranda tree in my yard and these birds sometimes visit and hang out in it for a while .. 🙂

Opening Scene
by kanaj

Comment:
this is beautiful .. 🙂
edited .. i put in a laughing face by mistake .. 😲

Message edited by author 2026-04-21 07:32:41.

This is Love
by roz

Comment:
another test comment for icon .. 😍