Lesser of two evils?

dougsmit · 10-16-2008

I suppose one answer when presented with a bad situation would be to give up but instead I shot two views of what seemed an interesting scene but each had problems I could not correct.

The spider here built a very disorderly web in the corner of a vinyl window on the second floor. The pictures were shot through the glass. Opening the window would destroy the web. The flatter angle on the bee required shooting at a sharp angle to the glass reducing sharpness, adding glare which had to be postprocessed and providing a background of the white plastic window frame. A better looking out of focus background put a less pleasing angle on the spider and hid the face behind a leg. Neither is great. Which is worth keeping?

LordV · 10-17-2008

Thats a difficult question Doug- I actually prefer #2 but I don't know what you were actually trying to capture when you took the shots. ie were you interested mainly in the predator or the prey ?

Predator prey shots with spiders are often very difficult it being very hard to get both in focus as well as dealing with difficulties of limited angles and moving webs. I normally concentrate on the predator but have taken a pic fairly successfully where the prey was in the foreground in focus and the spider was OOF in the background but looking very menacing.
In this case I think the glass distortion on the LHS of the spider does spoil #1 a bit, but as you say it's often a choice of some pic or no pic if you can't get a good angle. Often I will try but sometimes I just don't take a shot.

Brian v.

Gautam · 10-17-2008

Rather tricky to decide, but I shall take #1. It shows more details of the critters - the tangled legs of the bee, bee's face and the spider's face clearly. #2 has smoother lighting and less distortion due to the intervening glass pane but all the above details present in #1 is lost due to the angle.

gautam

photofox · 10-17-2008

I'm a fan of #2, it seems to have better clarity over #1. Nice work.

garyosborne · 10-17-2008

#2 for me. In #1 the noise is sharpened

Bob B · 10-17-2008

I prefer #2.

microcosmos · 10-17-2008

I'll go with Gary cause of the heavily sharpen noise.So #2.
But anyway nice shots...

Yannis microcosmos

transcape5 · 10-17-2008

I prefer #2 as well. Perhaps crop down a bit to remove the shiny object at the top?

10-16-2008	#1
dougsmit Dromedary Posts: 1,433 CamelKarma: 3857 Gallery \| Blog	Lesser of two evils? I suppose one answer when presented with a bad situation would be to give up but instead I shot two views of what seemed an interesting scene but each had problems I could not correct. The spider here built a very disorderly web in the corner of a vinyl window on the second floor. The pictures were shot through the glass. Opening the window would destroy the web. The flatter angle on the bee required shooting at a sharp angle to the glass reducing sharpness, adding glare which had to be postprocessed and providing a background of the white plastic window frame. A better looking out of focus background put a less pleasing angle on the spider and hid the face behind a leg. Neither is great. Which is worth keeping? __________________ Members don't see ads in threads. Register your free account today and become a member of PhotoCamel to open up the site's many benefits and features.
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10-17-2008	#2
LordV Camel Breath Posts: 11,808 CamelKarma: 1219496 Gallery \| Blog	Re: Lesser of two evils? Thats a difficult question Doug- I actually prefer #2 but I don't know what you were actually trying to capture when you took the shots. ie were you interested mainly in the predator or the prey ? Predator prey shots with spiders are often very difficult it being very hard to get both in focus as well as dealing with difficulties of limited angles and moving webs. I normally concentrate on the predator but have taken a pic fairly successfully where the prey was in the foreground in focus and the spider was OOF in the background but looking very menacing. In this case I think the glass distortion on the LHS of the spider does spoil #1 a bit, but as you say it's often a choice of some pic or no pic if you can't get a good angle. Often I will try but sometimes I just don't take a shot. Brian v.
	__________________ Brian V. http://www.flickr.com/photos/lordv Macro hints and tips

10-17-2008	#3
Gautam PhotoCamel Supporter Camel Breath Location: South Yorkshire, UK Posts: 17,742 CamelKarma: 1498926 Editing OK?: Yes Gallery \| Blog	Re: Lesser of two evils? Rather tricky to decide, but I shall take #1. It shows more details of the critters - the tangled legs of the bee, bee's face and the spider's face clearly. #2 has smoother lighting and less distortion due to the intervening glass pane but all the above details present in #1 is lost due to the angle. gautam

10-17-2008	#4
photofox Llama Posts: 892 CamelKarma: 1615 Editing OK?: Ask first Gallery \| Blog	Re: Lesser of two evils? I'm a fan of #2, it seems to have better clarity over #1. Nice work.
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10-17-2008	#5
garyosborne Guanaco Posts: 268 CamelKarma: 144 Gallery \| Blog	Re: Lesser of two evils? #2 for me. In #1 the noise is sharpened

10-17-2008	#6
Bob B Photocamel Master Location: The Center of the Universe Posts: 7,274 CamelKarma: 216604 Editing OK?: Yes Gallery \| Blog	Re: Lesser of two evils? I prefer #2.
	__________________ ===================================== .... Canon Rebel XSi ...Canon MP-E65..........Canon EF-S 18-55 IS ... .Canon 135 SF .....Canon A630 =========================================== TREAT OTHERS THE WAY YOU LIKE TO BE TREATED. Mt. 22: 39

10-17-2008	#7
microcosmos Dromedary Location: Greece Macedonia, Thessaloniki Posts: 1,000 CamelKarma: 9868 Gallery \| Blog	Re: Lesser of two evils? I'll go with Gary cause of the heavily sharpen noise.So #2. But anyway nice shots... Yannis microcosmos
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10-17-2008	#8
transcape5 PhotoCamel Supporter Camel Breath Location: Bottom of Lake Michigan Posts: 10,189 CamelKarma: 77753 Editing OK?: Yes Gallery \| Blog	Re: Lesser of two evils? I prefer #2 as well. Perhaps crop down a bit to remove the shiny object at the top? __________________ Members don't see ads in threads. Register your free account today and become a member of PhotoCamel to open up the site's many benefits and features.
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