Hiking through the Asters...

Posted by Dornbrau (Colorado Springs, United States) on 18 April 2007 in Plant & Nature and Portfolio.

A cucumber beetle takes a stroll across a field of tansy asters. I had no idea how little I knew about the world right outside my door until I got my digital slr camera. I started taking pictures of every thing I encountered and was shocked by how little I could identify with certainty. My computer search engine has been running on overdrive ever since as I strive to learn the names of my photo subjects. Nothing is more humiliating to me than to be asked about a picture and to not even be able to answer the simple question "What is it?"

* Cattail Marsh, Fountain Colorado

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Comments (17)

Laurie from New Jersey, United States

It really opens your eyes when you get a camera in hand doesn't it?

This is amazing. Really great job on this one.

18 Apr 2007 2:30pm

@Laurie: Oh, that is soooo true! I can't believe how much I've missed before I got my camera. There are so many wonderful parks around here, so much wildlife, so much to see that I hadn't noticed before.

Jen from Jessup, United States

Fantastic shot!! The colors are incredbile and the little beetle is great!
I know what you mean about the search engines! I do that all the time too!!

18 Apr 2007 3:42pm

@Jen: I almost always have a search engine pulled up when I'm working on my pictures for that reason. I'd like to think that I'm getting smarter... but I'm probably not...hehehehe.

Suby and Sinem from Milton Keynes, United Kingdom

Lovely lovely capture

Suby

18 Apr 2007 3:45pm

@Suby and Sinem: Thanks Suby. I really don't like bugs, but this little guy really caught my attention.

Kheoh Yee Wei from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

oh ,seems that there are some noises in that image =( otherwise this is a great picture!

18 Apr 2007 3:50pm

@Kheoh Yee Wei: Yeah, thats probably because I cropped and enlarged the image. I tried to remove the noise, but in one instance I lost the tiny hairs on the stem of the flowers, and another method gave me a dappled background which actually looked worse than the noise. Grrrrrr! I'm only just learning the different methods of fixing up my images. I think I've got the basics, but now I have to figure out all the technical stuff, which is where I'm hitting a brick wall.
Thanks for the critique. I really appreciate it.

Astaryth from United States

Phhhht! I just call 'em bugs <LOL> Nice shot!

18 Apr 2007 6:00pm

Reza from Montreal, Canada

fantastic colors and DOF. Like it.

18 Apr 2007 6:18pm

Brittney from Utah, United States

Very pretty. I LOVE that the beetle is in there.

18 Apr 2007 6:30pm

Craiger from Vacaville, California, United States

Sweet shot. Just excellent!

18 Apr 2007 9:50pm

Lydia from Ottawa, Canada

A cucumber beetle?! Amazing what we all learn from photography! Great capture, I love how there is a little bit of light reflecting off the beetle- quite detailed!

19 Apr 2007 3:05am

Anup P from Bangalore, India

Nice capture. And I liked the lighting as well. You can try NeatImage or Noise Ninja for noise reduction. Those are wonderful tools.

19 Apr 2007 4:31am

Zing from Hamilton, New Zealand

Nice macro! Well done.

19 Apr 2007 5:24am

Inès from Belgium

So nice ! The colors are so bright and complementary !

19 Apr 2007 6:45am

Srikaanth from Bengalooru, India

I have this plant in my garden, but never it looked soooooooo beautiful. Eyes of a camera are better than humans...may be!!

19 Apr 2007 9:19am

Sergio from Málaga, Spain

hey good pic

im spanish but i have been trying to understand the text

19 Apr 2007 12:56pm

Amarjit from hoshiarpur, India

yes dear .. it is a really worth capture ... great work with ur camera ..

19 Apr 2007 12:57pm

Balpa from Ravenna, Italy

Great capture. Nice macro.

19 Apr 2007 2:58pm

Alain from Paris, France

Superb macro! Bravo!

22 Apr 2007 1:41am

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Nikon D70
1/2500 second
F/8.0
450 mm (35mm equiv.)