Cicada

[luenny]

Went to BBNP with Richard and my other shooting friends the other day and manage to get something I've always wanted to shoot. I experimented with a few different shots. Tell me which one you prefer.

Conventional shoot for details:


Backlight:


Backlight with yellowish cast to simulate sunrise:


And lastly a more contrasty look for a more mystical feel:

[trident]

Luenny,
Finally you got your cicada!!!
Liked the 1st one best.
The third one with the back lite and yellow cast is nice, but the front is a bit dark.
Last one is very dark on my monitor.
Small nit. Could the blue patch be PP off? A bit distracting leh

[nasty12]

Haha this remind me back in my army days where i used to catch them almost everynight in brunei! i caught a couple of Queen Cicada as well! very fun!
anyways Great pics!!

[luenny]

Richard,
Yup, the last one was created to be dark and mysterious. Anyway, which blue patch are you talking about? Which picture?

Nasty21,
Thanks. Queen cicada?? Wow, that's great. If I can get one of those to attract the other cicadas, I'll have lots of subjects to shoot.

[nasty12]

Richard,
Yup, the last one was created to be dark and mysterious. Anyway, which blue patch are you talking about? Which picture?

Nasty21,
Thanks. Queen cicada?? Wow, that's great. If I can get one of those to attract the other cicadas, I'll have lots of subjects to shoot.

haha yes! the wings were of different colour! white if im correct and there's a small crown on the tip of its head! there also a smell (quite sweet scent) from the queen which i believe to attract the males! it was pretty fun catching them as the ENTIRE Basket ball court was filled with them! at least 100-200 + everynight with all sorts of beetles as well! haha

[qool]

Lolx those cicadas in Brunei were suicide bombers always finding things to ram be it human or even walls, some even dive into toilet cubical and you get to listen to people inside cursing an swearing .

[luenny]

Wow bug shooter's paradise!

[sfk7]

Richard,
Yup, the last one was created to be dark and mysterious. Anyway, which blue patch are you talking about? Which picture?

Think he's referring to the patch on the tree bark bro.

Nice shots!! Love the first one too

[AQUASAUR]

Nice macro shots, mate!

[trident]

Luenny,
Yes the blue patch on the tree trunk.

[luenny]

Hi all,
Thanks for the comments. Blue patch on the tree trunk ... hmmm ... don't think I know how to PP it away. That's the algae on the tree if I'm not wrong. Yeah, now that you mention it, it's kinda distracting. Well, we can always go search for cicadas and shoot again.

[luenny]

Here's another shot of the same cicada but closer.

[benetay]

Great details, love the reflection of the wings. The picture may benefit with a little more USM, mind you that doesn't affect anything about the subject. It's a great shot!

Cheers!

[luenny]

Hi Benetay,
I think you're right. I was just telling Richard that I forgot to apply USM to some of the pictures. Guess that happens when you're processing your photos half asleep. Anyway, thanks for spotting it.

[trident]

Luenny,
The last picture is really awesome, sharp and good details.
Is there 2 catchlight in the eye?

[luenny]

Is it?? Oh yeah, 2 catchlight. Hahaha ... didn't see properly. Should be able to PP one out. Anyway, that's for using 2 flashes. Thanks.

[benny]

Number 1 works for me. If you want to make Number 3 better, add a gold reflector. You'll be amazed by the effect of a backlit subject with rim lighting and fill lighting.

Cheers,

[luenny]

Are you saying to get the front brighter? I can do that by adjusting my front flash - this was shot with 2 flashes. How about something like this then? Just a quick tweak of the original photo. Kinda produce a different mood, not really what I was looking for.