info on paper wasps the wasp is on her nest and very aware of me standing there taking photographs .. sometimes they get a bit more threatening and start to shake all over raising their wings .. this nest had about 15 to 20 wasps and now that winter is coming there are only maybe three/four left .. most of them die off during late autumn .. the queens that survive hibernate over winter to start a new colony in the spring of the next year ..
this is the original ..
used camera flash ..
processing steps were ..
open jpeg in photoshop cs3 ..
rotated and scaled ..
did lucisart/exposure ..
did a kodak airbrush which can reduce the noise and sharpen as well, depending on your settings ..
did a smart sharpen ..
then did some selective sharpening on her face ..
did a levels adjustment layer to boost the contrast and change the colouring a bit ..
for ppl who are totally into the rule of thirds .. its not always the best crop .. :)
The PP really helped bring us closer to your main subject such that we can now enjoy (except for those who are queasy around bugs:-) ) all the details/texture & colors of this paper wasp. The uncropped original had the insect surrounded by too much of it's environment. So much so that it lost some of it's status as THE main focus. Here you bring us closer and thus your subject fills the frame and captures our attention more readily. Love the contrasts and richer tones in this one for they are more dynamic than the original
I just love the shallow DOF one gets when shooting macros. Your processing is spot on warming and sharpening and cropping. I think this would have done better than a 5.7 too :) hehehhee
I think it would have done considerably better than 5.7, although there's always the contingent that votes bugs down. I'd have given it at least a 7. I absolutely love the sharpening job you've done. It's just the right sharpness in the right places.
Hi Roz!
It looks like you have been on the fire trail with your macro lens again. I don't think it would have done so well in the free study either, mostly because even though it is very clear and sharp, a little more DOF to get that left antenae and right front leg in focus would have made it a little better. Emotions seem to get involved with the voting if you post something that makes most people a little uncomfortable to see due to conditioning, and that results in lower scores sometimes too. I feel that you made a good decision.
You did a nice job with your magic bag of processing tricky stuff to get it from the original to the finished shot. The tiny details like the toothy edge of the mandible make it interesting to see. Thanks for putting the processing details in with the image.
Life gets exciting for a while when you stir up a big nest of these little critters.
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