M/CU - 2nd HM

The colors in this are great as is the curving sweep of the sundew. This very much has the feeling of a dancer in a fancy night club with colored strobes flashing in the background and I like it a lot. In looking at the larger version, it's not clear what's sharp, which is not surprising since with full extension tubes you've almost certainly pushed this lens beyond its optical design limits. (With a non-macro lens pushing to 1:1 may be too far and you get 1:1 when the extension length equals the lens focal length and the lens is focused to infinity.)

Hi Mark,
Thanks for your comment. The depth of field is very shallow indeed, but does lie on (part of) the eyes of the damselfy. The use of the non-macrolens was on purpose. The exact bokeh delivered by the 50mm with extension tubes at f/1,8 and the corresponding atmosphere cannot be achieved with my macro lens (Tamron 90mm). Hence this choice.
Thanks again!
Ingrid.

Beautiful and unique shot Ingrid. The bokeh to the right of the damselfly is really amazing. The only thing I might try is brightening the center of the image a bit, and the damselfly. Really well done.

Makes a huge impact on the viewer with all the color & specular highlights, I like it Ingrid.
Love your theme & title, what a way to go
Well done!

Nice colour and OOF area's...really interesting shot.

Hi Ingrid, This is one amazing composition, I love this frame. Those bokeh to the right catches the eye first than the damsel. As Thomas said, a little more brightness on the damsel would have been given a better feel. Thanks for the post..

Ingrid ...a piece of art here. This is what is called --making an image--. A out of the world palette. Unique and very original. Hats off to you..

Balan Vinod

Dazzling, Ingrid. Not quite sure I understand what "sundew" is, or how the damselfly is entombed, but I sure like the image. Expertly and artistically captured and presented.

Apologies Ingrid. A got carried away by the art. The natural history part is amazing. Guess your minimal narrative is to leave the viewer guessing on what happened next. The scene depicts that the Demsel lived on. But its otherwise. You don't find an insect in its natural position on a predator plant, or may be very rare. Hats off once again.
Balan Vinod

Exquisite!
Colours, subject, position, DOF - all work perfectly together.
Very unique and mesmerizing.


Sandy

Ingrid,

Very interesting colors with cool bokeh patterns too. .............................Jim

Ingrid, That was my favourite combination to create some shallow DOF abstracts --> I have now moved over to 60mm Macro lens.The bokeh with that combo is unbeatable. I do not know if F/1.4 might be better with OOF rendition compared to the F1/.8 version.

I love this frame. Those circles frame the damsel nicely in her final moments

Exceptionally creative image, Ingrid !! Wonderful light and colour and a powerful theme.

Hi Ingrid: Wonderful artsy image. I agree that some brightening of the damselfly head would improve the image. The globs of sticky fluid on the far left are more or less realistic. What is the origin of the beautiful circular artifacts that are concentrated on the right side? Were these derived from the fluid globs on the sundew? Scott: a sundew is a plant with leaves that have hair-like projections radiating out from them like the rays of the sun. The tips of the projections exude globs of clear sticky fluid (hence, the suffix "dew") that entrap insects. Most sundew species grow in wet peatlands, where mineral nutrients are in short supply. The plant supplements its mineral nutrition by trapping and digesting insects. Ron

Thanks all for your comments! Yes, Ron, all the circles in the photo are OOF fluid globs of the sundew. And you describe this predator plant well. Thanks again!
Ingrid.

Nice colors and details! It has an extraterrestrial feel to it.

Hi Ingrid I love these creative kind of images. You used the extention tubes perfectly to obtain the vivid bokeh you wanted.. excellent and very colorful work...... CONGRATS ON THE WELL DESERVED WP


Albert Darmo
Canada

Hey Ingrid,
Way cool on this one,
Congratulations on the WP . . .

Thanks all for your comments and for giving the damselfly a worthy 'farewell' on the WP-page

Ingrid.

How eerie and otherworldly! Masterful selection of gear for the shot. I love the look of this. Congrats on the Pick for this amazing photograph!

Ingrid: Other worldly and just superb. Terrific find and a marvelous capture. Congrats on the WP! >=))>

There are rare insect photos that I find attractive…this is one! Congrats!

As expected Ingrid ..Congrats on the cover

Balan Vinod

Congrats on the WP!
Sandy

Ingrid - Congratulations on winning the 2nd HM in 2014 EPA Selections !!

Wow, that's a nice surprise and a great honour. Thank you!

Very lovely image - sweet colours and the repeating droplets are exceptional - a very unique image well-deserving of the HM win - congrats!
Sandy