There are some awesome grasshoppers in that area... My original entry for this challenge was of a similar grasshopper in the same area, but I keep going back every day to check and see if it is there...well today there were 5...2 large, 2 small, and 1 medium. ^_^ So I snapped shots and got this. Love it!
Editing: Slight crop, Curves, Saturation, More curves, Despeckle, More saturation, Some burning of the body to remove a hot spot, then dodged area to keep it from getting too dark, Resize, USM.
The original crop, it was hard to decide between this one and the original: //www.dpchallenge.com/image.php?IMAGE_ID=117081
Statistics
Place: 120 out of 487 Avg (all users): 5.9300 Avg (commenters): 7.3636 Avg (participants): 5.8524 Avg (non-participants): 6.4242 Views since voting: 1599 Views during voting: 323 Votes: 243 Comments: 15 Favorites: 3 (view)
I prefer the original crop, although needs some USM - IMO it would have done better (but what do I know :-)
Great capture, stunning colours too - seems like your subject liked their photo being taken :-)
The only thing I could downscore this for is that the focal point seems to be just off the head, and the fangs look a little out of focus (maybe they were moving?) but if this general area had been in focus i think this would have been an easy 9 for me, and perhaps a 10 for the original crop ;-)
Just under a 6 is a nice rating, but I'm surprised this photo didn't end up even higher. I really had it picked for top 20 at least. The colors are outstanding and you did a great job with the macro.
It's a great macro shot, but I had to look twice before I knew what I was looking at.
Maybe a bit bigger crop would have worked better for my understanding
This is so incredibly well done. The amazing range of vibrant colors is very visually appealing. The fact that you were able to get him looking right at you and focused speaks volumes about your skill, but that you also had time and attention to adjust the aperature for such a close DOF is just astounding to me. Meanwhile your subject holds on tightly to the petal, the proof of his plundering present in the pollen on his antennae. Terrific work. 10, just-married
Add photograph to your favorites
Add photographer to your favorites
Photographer found comment helpful.
