The eye was problematic.

[JBW]

ISO 100 ~ Shutter Speed 0.1s. ~ F/16 On Camera Flash ~ Sony Alpha a58 ~ Tamron 90mm 272E

[xpatUSA]

Looking at the shadows as an indication of the direction of the light source, I would think that the bright stuff is specular reflection from it's compound eye facets.

A diffuser might have helped . .

[Manfred M]

Ted makes a good point. If one looks at the shadow, the lines are hard and well defined, so the issue with the image is indeed what Ted has pointed out. We see more of the specular highlights along the leading edge of the wing and on most of the legs. Diffusing the light will reduce / eliminate this issue.

As I know nothing about the behaviour of these insects, I'm not sure how easily that can be done is it would require you to get a a piece of translucent, white material between the light source and your subject.

[Dave Humphries]

I agree with Ted and Manfred, however I'd also perhaps (tentatively*) suggest that for this image (as shot); somewhat less "Amount" on the sharpening might also help.

* because I know you have been working on a new sharpening process and while those settings might be appropriate for natural (aka 'soft' light) subjects, they are (IMHO), too much when the light source is hard and when the subject is reflecting specular highlights back to the lens.

HTH,
Dave

[JBW]

Ted makes a good point. If one looks at the shadow, the lines are hard and well defined, so the issue with the image is indeed what Ted has pointed out. We see more of the specular highlights along the leading edge of the wing and on most of the legs. Diffusing the light will reduce / eliminate this issue.

As I know nothing about the behaviour of these insects, I'm not sure how easily that can be done is it would require you to get a a piece of translucent, white material between the light source and your subject.

there's the rub more equipment may make for a betterr shot but it also makes it harder to get the shot

[JBW]

I agree with Ted and Manfred, however I'd also perhaps (tentatively*) suggest that for this image (as shot); somewhat less "Amount" on the sharpening might also help.

* because I know you have been working on a new sharpening process and while those settings might be appropriate for natural (aka 'soft' light) subjects, they are (IMHO), too much when the light source is hard and when the subject is reflecting specular highlights back to the lens.

HTH,
Dave

I'm going back today to try for a better p-p with less sharpening.

[Shadowman]

Nice effort.

[DanK]

Different sharpening might help, but I think the main problem is that the light isn't diffused. Even with diffused light, the shiny surfaces on some bugs are very difficult to capture without some specular reflection. Without diffusion, it is a serious problem.

you can get some diffusion without making the image harder to capture. If you are shooting with the on-camera flash, there isn't a great deal you can do, but there are lots of cheap plastic diffusers that fit in front of on-camera flashes, and you can add more diffusion to the front of them, although the flash may be too weak for additional diffusion. You can see some of these here.

If you are using a shoe-mounted flash, you can mount many diffusers directly to that. You don't need the bulky gear I have. It won't work as well, but it helps a lot. For a while, I used a $10 sto-fen diffuser cap. I wrapped the sides in tin foil and put a couple of layers of paper towel in front. that helped a good bit.

[JBW]

Different sharpening might help, but I think the main problem is that the light isn't diffused. Even with diffused light, the shiny surfaces on some bugs are very difficult to capture without some specular reflection. Without diffusion, it is a serious problem.

you can get some diffusion without making the image harder to capture. If you are shooting with the on-camera flash, there isn't a great deal you can do, but there are lots of cheap plastic diffusers that fit in front of on-camera flashes, and you can add more diffusion to the front of them, although the flash may be too weak for additional diffusion. You can see some of these here.

If you are using a shoe-mounted flash, you can mount many diffusers directly to that. You don't need the bulky gear I have. It won't work as well, but it helps a lot. For a while, I used a $10 sto-fen diffuser cap. I wrapped the sides in tin foil and put a couple of layers of paper towel in front. that helped a good bit.

I went out today with a well diffused flashlight. Took some spider shots. Got a nice Robber fly with natural olight.

What I'm beginning to feel the need of is a focus rail and an adjustable well diffused ring light.

[JBW]

Nice effort.

with enough effort and time I just might get good at this