Nice shot Christian! Can't complain about anything! REply to comment from frank below:
I wonder what the purpose/function is of the dark pupil-looking thing is in the centre?
It doesn't actually exist. The number of times I've had to answer this question since taking insect photos... (-:
Yep, it's a compound eye, and as such, is made up of hundreds of tubular ommatidia (the name for the simple photocell). Each ommatidium points in a slighly different direction (imagine a ball covered with spikes), and the black 'pupil-looking thing' is where you're seeing right down to the bottom of a few ommatidium (here it's black, of course, because the pigments here are *made* to absorb light!), the red/[insert particular insect eye colour here] is the sides of the ommatidia - these aren't facing you/the camera.
The result is a set of eyes (far-cleverer-than-Mona's) that follow you around the room.
Just don't ask me why butterflies and some other insects have several accompanying paler black spots as well as the main one...
Ah... the things that get a bug-man excited q-: David
Anyway, framing, exposure, vibrant colours (love those emerald-greens!) are all right there and spot-on. Wonderful photo.
thanks, frank
"The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds. The pessimist fears it is true." -J. Robert Oppenheimer
From: "Christian Skofteland" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: PAW - "There heeere.." Date: Sun, 16 May 2004 22:20:34 -0400
http://home.mindspring.com/~c_skofteland/id16.html
17-year periodical cicadas of "Brood X" have begun emerging and molting
around the Washington, DC area. This one was shot in the woods around the
National Zoo, where I was with my two daughters today.
For those who crave details: *ist D, Sigma AF 300mm F4 APO Macro, Sigma EX
1.4x TC, AF360FGZ on macro flash bracket in P-TTL mode. ISO 200, F8 @
1/150. Shot RAW and converted to tif with PhotoLab. Resized and converted
to jpeg with PS 7.0. Full-frame.
I'm looking forward to shooting this guys when they begin emerging around my
home.
Christian Skofteland [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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