Critique A few from the weekend... Now with added Magic Trick!

TimmyG · 18 Jan 2015

I managed to get out for a while this weekend and see what I could find among the frosty leaf litter. Lots of collembola around and plenty of this first species.

I think the colder weather is slowing them down as I managed a 39 image stack of the first one:

Dicyrtomina ornata by Tim.Garlick, on Flickr

I'm failry happy with it, but it seems to have a "glow" around some of the fine detail. I'm not sure if this is due to diffraction and I need to switch to a wider aperture

.. Alternatively I could be because I was using an extender and the additional glass is causing refraction issues. Not sure, but at least it will give me a nice little project to try and figure it out!

This one came out better I feel, although it's at a lower magnification and smaller aperture, so a lot less detail, but looks fine when viewed small on the web:

Isotoma viridis by Tim.Garlick, on Flickr

I was pleased it was on a dark, but alien looking background (some decaying pond weed) which contrasts nicely with the green of the subject:

This was more of an "arty" one; single shot.

The Climb by Tim.Garlick, on Flickr

Couldn't get this video out of my head when I was processing it though...

I managed to get some more stacks, but they take a while to process and I have run out of time this weekend. Hopefully I get chance to visit them this week.

Paul Iddon · 18 Jan 2015

Cracking stack Timmy - and maybe some of that glow might reduce if you reduce the blue channel.

Paul.

Tintin124 · 18 Jan 2015

Don't lie Timmy that song is constantly running around your head.

#1 really high detailed shot shame on antenna position though but that can't be helped.

#2 another low key not as low as Marks effort but I like the eery nature of it

#3 brilliant, great composition smooth bokeh

G.K.Jnr. · 18 Jan 2015

That's a nice set of images Tim.

#1, For me is excellent.

#2, I also like very much and it has some really nice detail, but I'm not too keen on the very light area in the top right of the frame but I guess there's not really much you could do about that.

#3, Some great detail and the angle works but for me there's too much non contributing space above the main subject.

George.

T0p cat · 18 Jan 2015

All excellent shots. 3 is my style of photograph but two is my fav. It looks like a sweet i would pinch off my Son, the colours are scrumptious.

ChrisA · 19 Jan 2015

How on earth did you manage 39 stacks of a live springtail.

Great stuff.

LCPete · 19 Jan 2015

ChrisA said:
How on earth did you manage 39 stacks of a live springtail. Great stuff.

Thats what I thought
looks great to me but I am viewing on a small screen
is a shame his eye is covered by the antenna but still a wonderful shot

GardenersHelper · 21 Jan 2015

Absolutely superb.

I keep wondering if you can possibly get any better. And it keeps turning out that you can!

coopers · 21 Jan 2015

After recently accidently photographing one of these and not realising, I now know how small these things actually are

so hats of to you sir :beer:

Stunning shots in glorious detail and colour #2 for the environment and #1 for the sheer quality.
Cracking set.
Clive.

TimmyG · 21 Jan 2015

Paul Iddon said:
Cracking stack Timmy - and maybe some of that glow might reduce if you reduce the blue channel.

Good point. I quite like the blue colour creeping in in the background, but some of the setae have a definite blue glow about them, so will give it try! Thanks

Tintin124 said:
Don't lie Timmy that song is constantly running around your head.

It's true I can't deny it...

Tintin124 said:
#1 really high detailed shot shame on antenna position though but that can't be helped.

Yeah bit of a shame, I tried adjusting the angle after completing this stack, but it wasn't successful.

Tintin124 said:
#2 another low key not as low as Marks effort but I like the eery nature of it

#3 brilliant, great composition smooth bokeh

Thanks!

G.K.Jnr. said:
#2, I also like very much and it has some really nice detail, but I'm not too keen on the very light area in the top right of the frame but I guess there's not really much you could do about that.

Thanks, yeah it's not ideal, but i think it needs at least some variation in the background, it's just a bit bright and not positioned perfectly. As you say though, not much I could do... my model chose the location for this photoshoot, but if I had spotted this on the LCD, I might possibly have been able to recompose.

G.K.Jnr. said:
#3, Some great detail and the angle works but for me there's too much non contributing space above the main subject.

Yeah, I would agree, but I'm a sucker for "negative" space

In this instance I think that it does contribute something. To me it adds to the idea of a large, desolate landscape which I think you might lose by cropping. As we all know though, there is no right or wrong answer with the arty shots

Thanks for the feedback!

T0p cat said:
All excellent shots. 3 is my style of photograph but two is my fav. It looks like a sweet i would pinch off my Son, the colours are scrumptious.

Yeah they are a lovely colour so I was pleased to get it against a background to show it off.

ChrisA said:
How on earth did you manage 39 stacks of a live springtail. Great stuff.

LCPete said:
Thats what I thought
looks great to me but I am viewing on a small screen
is a shame his eye is covered by the antenna but still a wonderful shot

Thanks both! I think the cold weather is helping! After chasing this one round a leaf for a while it finally stood still and stayed there for quite some time!

GardenersHelper said:
Absolutely superb.

I keep wondering if you can possibly get any better. And it keeps turning out that you can!

Thanks Nick, that's a great compliment!

coopers said:
After recently accidently photographing one of these and not realising, I now know how small these things actually are so hats of to you sir
Stunning shots in glorious detail and colour #2 for the environment and #1 for the sheer quality.
Cracking set.
Clive.

Glad you managed to get one accidently, it took me ages to find my first one and I was actively looking for them! Thanks

Here's another arty one from the weekend sessions:

Parisotoma notabilis by Tim.Garlick, on Flickr

And here's a very short video of one (best with sound):

It was sliding all over the place on the slick, wet leaf surface, and looked quite comical. I hoped to capture it stumbling around, but typically it chose instead to just teleport itself out of it's predicament as soon as I hit the record button...

T0p cat · 22 Jan 2015

TimmyG said:
Parisotoma notabilis by Tim.Garlick, on Flickr

And here's a very short video of one (best with sound):

.

Lol at the video.

I love this picture above. It is desperately difficult to catch the eye in focus with these guys. I normally only find they stay still for a few seconds after you move a leaf or pull two apart that are stuck together. Once they are moving i never get close to photographing them.

TimmyG · 22 Jan 2015

@T0p cat thanks Tom, I never seem to have my extender on when I see these guys and they are very small. As you say they move fast so no time to be messing with lenses to try and get a closer look

mattd85 · 24 Jan 2015

Love that second one mate!

orionmystery · 26 Jan 2015

Great shots Tim. 39 stack shots taken handheld?

Critique A few from the weekend... Now with added Magic Trick!

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