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12/12/2002 01:41:58 PM |
Critique Club for Polistes Azureus Fallacia by Anachronite
Composition - I don't know if I ever get sick of looking at insect macros. They seem far more interesting to me than flower macros. I found this an interesting shot, and as I put in my comment during voting, it does not look real. Obviously it isn't as you said. The most noticeable thing regarding the composition is the line that runs under the wasp is distracting to the picture. It is not distracting that it is there, it distracts by making the photo look like it isn't truly horizontal. Putting the line paralell to the frame or at a far more substantial angle I think would've helped this some. I don't believe it is a change that would make or break the photo. Other than that, the general composition is pretty good.
Background - The background itself is pretty good. The line is the only point of note. It isn't like you could ask the bug to land a certain way. What you see is what you get with bugs as far as I'm concerned.
Camera Work - The DOF is really shallow as it is with most macros. This one looks like it might be a little more so than normal as the background might be 1/4" further away than the subject and is quite out of focus. This I find a little troubling. The focus on the wasp is pretty good for the most part. Overall I think the camera work is a little better than fair, or maybe the post-processing of the pic has hurt what we see.
Post-Processing - The biggest issue of this picture to me. I don't like the desaturation of all the colors. It is very unnatural looking. It does make the blue stand out better, but to what end? The only end I see is: to be bluer. Perhaps desat on all the other colors was the only way to make the yellow(or whatever color) on the wasp blue. The feet of the bug being so blue makes them look like they don't belong with the picture, like this subject was just PS'ed onto this background. I am inclined to think that this was sharpened substantially by the hard lines of the insect being pretty crisp and the dull lines of the building remaining pretty dull.
Overall - As much as I've criticized the things in this pic, I really kind of like it. I think there might be a good solid photo that this image evolved from. Even blue, I think this wasp is an interesting subject. It is harder to make something real look fake, than make something fake look real. I'm not fond of the idea of using PS to make a not-blue shot, turn to blue with a couple mouse clicks to make it worthy of the Blue challenge. But on the flip side, it was done legally and in your defense, you told us that it was by the title. Unfortunately Latin is not one of my strong points or I would've been able to affirm what I already suspected. - Inspzil |
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12/10/2002 09:19:06 PM |
| ya fooled me I was going to ask for disqualification until I thought... ya know they might have one of those in Europe? How did you stay within the rules and achive this stunning photo? Let me know pr.rogers@sympatico.ca I would like to experiment! Cheers paul |
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12/09/2002 12:18:48 AM |
yes this is not the real color.. I changed it... and here is the email I sent out with the pic over the net to everyone on my mailing list..... shame on me :o)
"Recently, I sent everyone on this list a photo I took of a wasp over the holidays. I thought this wasp was a native Southwestern or Southeastern Blue wasp. However, since then I have sent the photo to the entomology departments of several state universities. After exchanging emails and the photo with a few of the professors, I have found out that the wasp is not native to North America. What I have found out is that the wasp has migrated here from South America. It seems that the Africanized Bees we have been hearing about are not the only insects that have been migrating to the USA. Several species including the wasp in the attached photo are not only migrating here, but have already arrived. The wasp in the photo is a South American Blue Wasp of the Genus Polistes, or more properly Polistes Azureus Fallacia. Apparently, these wasps have been known to be highly aggressive and can pose a severe threat to children, older adults, and any persons susceptible to allergic reactions from bee and or wasp stings. If you encounter one of these during the cold weather as I did, you are probably safe, as the cold weather makes them very docile. However, this is no cause to take unnecessary risks. Please avoid contact with any wasp like this that you encounter. And most of all, do not let your children play with or near these dangerous insects. Once again, thank you for passing on the photo and information."
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Comments Made During the Challenge  |
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12/08/2002 11:47:44 PM |
| This is one strange fella. I wouldn't want to meet him in a dark alley...or any alley for that matter. I love the color. Looks real good on the desaturated background. my only nit pick is that I wish the focus were just a bit crisper. otherwise, angle and framing/cropping are good, lighting is good, overall a nice shot. good luck in the challenge. |
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12/06/2002 09:16:12 PM |
| Wow! I've never seen a blue wasp before. Cool. |
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12/06/2002 04:08:20 PM |
| okay, I'm not so smart so I have to ask it...is it real? |
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12/06/2002 10:43:25 AM |
| I'm guessing you desaturated all the colours but the blue, but I'm wondering how it would have looked with just a |
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12/06/2002 03:32:52 AM |
| This has been colorized beyond belief. |
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| Photographer found comment helpful. |
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12/05/2002 08:14:38 PM |
| I love insect pictures. If this dude is real it is a winner and I'm giving you a 10. If he is not real, which I'm going on the net and look it up, I'm coming back and cut your score by at least half. Better fess up before I find out. PTL It ain't real but you are and it is still the only 10 I've given so far. 12/5/02 |
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12/01/2002 01:52:00 AM |
| Cool picture. I like what you did here. Took me a minute to figure it out. 9 waltoml |
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12/05/2002 09:41:41 AM |
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12/04/2002 01:00:00 AM |
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12/03/2002 12:45:00 PM |
| The first impression I get from this pic is that it is very unnatural looking. Desat of all the colors but blue was probably not the best idea. The blue is way too bright. It looks like the subject was taken from something else and put here with PS. Oversaturation of blue makes the DOF look bad. The shot is pretty blurry for a macro or overprocessed. This is an excellent subject and I think there is a lot of room for improvement on this shot, but the potential is definitely there. - Inspzil |
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12/02/2002 08:21:00 PM |
| How dare you paint a live bug! Ha ha! just teasin'. Good job. Jacko 7 |
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12/02/2002 07:39:00 PM |
| Yikes! It looks slightly grainy, but I'm guessing you had to crop quite a bit. What an amazing bug! I'm giving you a higher grade because it took guts to get this picture... good luck. |
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12/02/2002 02:06:00 PM |
| Reminds me of the "Invisible Japanese Medaka" fish my high school biology teacher allegedly had in an aquarium in class. Many of our classmates swore they were real! |
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12/02/2002 01:30:00 PM |
| Incredible macro shot. Great pic! |
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12/02/2002 12:38:00 PM |
| This is sooo cool! Great shot!!! (how did you manip the color?) Great job with the name, very official sounding. Total 10! |
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12/02/2002 11:23:00 AM |
| don't really care for color in b&w--there are some images that use this concept to the good this is not one of them--10bobgaither for convincing that I was wrong--good luck to you |
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12/02/2002 09:29:00 AM |
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| Photographer found comment helpful. |
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