Straight in the eye

“Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye.”
~ Helen Keller

Straight in the eye
Camera: Canon PowerShot A710 IS
Date & Time: July 27, 2008 at 11.23am EEST
Location: Joensuu, Finland
Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/3.5
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
Modifications: cropping, adjusted brightness, contrast & color levels, noise reduction

Among the rules of animal and people photography is to focus on the eyes. It's a rule that I never questioned. I don't know about you, but I would definitely hate it if someone would take a photo of me and the camera is focused on the strands of gray hair on the crown of my head. Other than the fact that it would expose the ugly side of me, I am quite sure that no one would find it interesting.

According to Frank H. Philips: "On many bugs the eyes (and even bug “pupils”) lend a dramatic connection between them".. Hence photos focused on the bugs' eyes look very interesting. Since the day I read Frank Philips' tip, I have always aimed for the insects' or spiders' eyes. It is not easy, but eventually, you will get the hang of it. You just have to keep on practicing.

The major challenge in insect macrophotography is of course the size of the insects. To avoid immediate disappointment, look for bigger insects to practice on. Rhinoceros Beetles have big eyes and they are rather calm which means that you can take a hundred of photos of it if you want to. But those huge beetles are quite rare. Lady bugs and shield bugs are tiny but quite easy to photograph. Once you have spotted those critters, take as many photos as you can from different angles. Head-on perspective is my favorite. It is very challenging but I find it really cool, a hundred times more intersecting than a boring aerial view like this pic. Insects are beautiful and when photographed the right way, I think a lot of people would appreciate them more. I am quite pleased with the comments I got when I uploaded these pics:

1. in your face!
2. Fly
3. I dare you to move
4. face to face

To be fair with the bugs, I took a photo of my eye:

Vision of a sunset
Camera: Canon PowerShot A710 IS
Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
To view the large size click here

If you have the right equipment for macrophography then good for you. Your photos shouldn't suck, if they do, hmm shame on your gears :-) But if you are a P&S user like me, never ever focus on the limitations of your camera. The key is to get very close to the subject. Concentrate your efforts on following the basic principles of photography and you will never go wrong.

A reason to smile

A smile is a curve that sets everything straight.
~Phyllis Diller

"
Camera: Canon PowerShot A710 IS
Location: Vantaa, Finland
Date & time: September 25, 2007 at 3.23pm EEST
Exposure: 0.002 sec
Focal length: 5.8 mm
Modification: cropping

It's another gloomy day here in the country. It's been raining and the temperature is 10 degrees centigrade. Not a good day to go out & take photos. The weather really affects my mood. I don't like autumn because it's the prelude to the dark winter and it's sad to see less of my favorite subjects.

A few hours ago, I was looking at the photos that I took at this time of the year because I wanted to know which insects will still be around 'til late autumn. I couldn't help but smile when I saw the above-posted pic. I took that photo after a long day at work. It was not that cold then, so I decided to walk around the nearest pond hoping to see lady bugs or any insect. I was so happy when I saw that dragonfly. I slowly walked close to where it was. It made a stop on a blade of grass and when I was about to press the shutter it flew to a tree, bummer! I had no choice but to get on my feet again and walk to the tree where my subject was resting. I took 5 photos of it. I was a bit surprised because it didn't seem to mind the camera even if it was very close to its face. It flew after the 5th shot and I headed home with dirty jeans. I didn't notice that I was kneeling on wet grass when I was taking photos. When I got home, my husband knew what I had been doing outside, based on how disheveled I was.

I laughed when I first saw this dragonfly pic from my laptop. It was smiling at me! Cool isn't it? Thanks to the nice natural light, because I didn't have to do much to the photo. I just cropped it.
Migrant hawkers should be around 'til late September, I just hope that I could spot some of them here. I wouldn't mind getting my jeans dirty again especially if they will smile for me.