Rolly polly

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Rolly polly

JJuLLiAAn
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p.1 #1 · Rolly polly

C&C wanted.

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Edit: Added two other variations of the original, I like the last the best. I agree that it was slightly soft so I gave it a little bit of sharpening.

Julian

Edited on Feb 02, 2012 at 02:56 AM · View previous versions

Feb 01, 2012 at 10:38 PM

Bob Jarman
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p.1 #2 · Rolly polly

Never knew what a Rolly Polly was and why they're called that until my wife (then fiancé) showed me.

Anyway, image looks soft to me, the large negative space to right does not bother except for an edge appears to be in focus - have not figured out how and why as yet.

Reworked, if you object I'll pull the post: added contrast via CEPro 3 Tonal Contrast filter, this also helped appearance of sharpening through defining edge contrast. Added a blur vignette centered on head of Rolly Polly, and a touch of selective USM to finish.

Regards,

Bob

2012 © Bob Jarman

Feb 02, 2012 at 02:16 AM

JJuLLiAAn
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p.1 #3 · Rolly polly

I kinda like the original better, not that your's isn't good but I always seem to prefer the unprocessed images. Thanks for the suggestions though.

Julian

Feb 02, 2012 at 02:29 AM

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p.1 #4 · Rolly polly

JJuLLiAAn wrote:
I kinda like the original better, not that your's isn't good but I always seem to prefer the unprocessed images. Thanks for the suggestions though.

Julian

No problem

Bob

Feb 02, 2012 at 03:05 AM

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p.1 #5 · Rolly polly

Folks have different preferences, but in general, macro shots like this work best with good sharpness and DOF. That often requires a flash of some sort and either a small aperture of the hassle of image stacking unless all the interesting bits fall within a plane parallel to the sensor or you use tilt/shift to adjust the image plane.

Here's an example I grabbed yesterday. The background was too busy, but a strobe and smallish aperture let the scene have a reasonable DOF and the POV matched the plane of the sensor reasonably well to the subjects:

2012 © AuntiPode

Feb 02, 2012 at 04:03 AM

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p.1 #6 · Rolly polly

Thanks, so I just need to have more DOF? I was wondering if you could tell me if you like the composition and the overall image?

Julian

Feb 02, 2012 at 04:10 AM

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p.1 #7 · Rolly polly

In terms of composition, the subject is perhaps too close to the long dimension centerline. The lighting was rather flat and doesn't add much interest to the subject. For this subject a side-on POV is generally less interesting than a 3/4 view (part side/part overhead) which would better show the three dimensional shape of the sow bug.

Feb 02, 2012 at 04:49 AM

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p.1 #8 · Rolly polly

Okay thanks next time I will try that.

Feb 02, 2012 at 05:13 AM

sbeme

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p.1 #9 · Rolly polly

Personally, I still think you need more sharpening. RAW does not mean "natural" but rather unprocessed, unfinished. It is, of course, a matter of taste and preference how contrasty, saturated, sharpened one likes.
In terms of composition, I like these a series, showing how these creatures climb up, down and alongside the vegetation. As a single image the third works best for me with the steep climb. I agree about a bit more DOF. That would partially obviate the extra sharpening.
Scott

Feb 02, 2012 at 12:23 PM

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p.1 #10 · Rolly polly

Does this look any better then the original?

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Feb 02, 2012 at 09:43 PM

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p.1 #11 · Rolly polly

Suggestions to consider:

1. Bumping the mid-tone contrast and gamma.

2. Selectively sharpening the bug.

3. Add some blue to the color balance to offset some of the yellow.

4. Consider a different position/crop.

2012 © AuntiPode

Feb 03, 2012 at 01:04 AM

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p.1 #12 · Rolly polly

How do you selectively sharpen? Thanks for the suggestions, do you think that making it go from corn or to corn or would look good?

Julian

Feb 03, 2012 at 01:33 AM

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p.1 #13 · Rolly polly

It's a question of visual balance and the flow of the eye. For selective sharpening, I just used the Sharpen Tool in Photoshop to apply sharpening at a low percentage in brush-like strokes. It allows me to sharpen without over-doing it. Other programs I presume have other ways to selectively sharpen.

Feb 03, 2012 at 02:18 AM

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p.1 #14 · Rolly polly

Okay, I don't think that you I can do that with them ViewNX software.

Julian

Feb 03, 2012 at 02:43 AM

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p.1 #15 · Rolly polly

Does this look good or is it overdone or mabye underdone?

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Feb 03, 2012 at 02:58 AM

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p.1 #16 · Rolly polly

JJuLLiAAn wrote:
Okay, I don't think that you I can do that with them ViewNX software.

Julian

For selective editing you need Capture NX. ViewNX, and it has been some time since I used it, I believe is limited to global edits.

Bob

Feb 03, 2012 at 01:04 PM