Macro Photo Competition 2013 No 1 : Results

Judges Comment
Congratulations for this beautiful shot, it takes a very good technique to achieve this, the dew brings a lot to the composition, the focus is perfect, great job!
Photographers Comment
First I have to say that I'm humble and proud that you liked my picture. It's really inspiring. Thank you so much for this honor :-) I also have to say that you have a magnificent web-site, a great source of inspiration. My name is Audun Wigen, and I live in Norway. I shot this photo just outside my bedroom window. I spotted this fly when I was out for the morning newspaper. It was sitting on this small white flower, covered with moist, not able to fly. Two hours after I shot this picture I went outside to look for the fly again. It was sitting on the same flower, still not able to fly. I used Canon 5d MK-II with MP-E 65mm. I used a ring-flash on the lens, and a 580ex flash mounted on a home-made bracket to give light from above. A home made difusser (made from an ice-box) was mounted on the 580 flash. My native language is norwegian, so my home page is not in english - sorry. But I'm working on a english version, so check back in a couple of days :-)
wigen.biz/foto

Judges Comment
A beautiful photo, really not easy to do, the focus is very good, the colors are beautiful, I love.
Photographers Comment
Thank you for the Mark of Excellence honor. I took this photo in my backyard in Petaluma, CA, after many days of careful and patient observation of several resident Anna's Hummingbirds that were actively feeding on several of the flowers. I set up feeders among the plants and covered the tubes with flowers, and gradually got closer to them with the goal of capturing a full frame portrait with my Sigma 70mm macro lens and Nikon D7000. I got close, but not close enough so I set up the camera on a tripod about a foot away from the feeding area and used a remote trigger to snag this shot, using a fully manual exposure based on much experimentation. I hope you enjoy the image as much as I did taking it.
dabspk.smugmug.com/Nature

Judges Comment
This beautiful butterfly on a black background, the colors stand out really well, there are many details and the development is very good.
Photographers Comment
Hi, it's Melody Hendrix. I live on the Space Coast of Florida. Sometimes I will collect caterpillars from my garden and put them into my butterfly house. I love to watch in amazement the miracle of transformation into a beautiful winged creature. This Orange-barred Sulfur has just emerged from it's Chrysalis. Wings still wet, it is putting together the two pieces of it's proboscis to form a sucking tube to feed on nectar. There is little editing done. Shot with my Nikon D7000, it was photographed from inside, with two flashlights positioned just right, and a black cloth added for the background.
www.digitalcanvas.moonfruit.com

Judges Comment
Superb portrait of this snake, there are many details that her mouth is open plays heavily on the strength of this photo, you trigger at the right time!
Photographers Comment
Hi. My name is Lars. I am a biologist and my passion is the photography of animals. I shot this one with my canon 5dMK2. This snake is a Atheris squamigera(green bush viper). I shot it at work.It is a captive one I am working for zoo which is keeping reptiles.
animalshooter.eu

Judges Comment
Beautiful photos with these ants at work, a picture not easy to do, very nice work.

Judges Comment
A superb shot, the focus is perfect, the colors stand out really well, a photo really not easy to do so bravo!
Photographers Comment
Light set up: 2 strobes on the both side at 1/64 with snoot to light up the match only. For the shooting process: Right hand: a burning match that I brought to the subject from the back side Left hand: the dslr trigger to shoot as soon as the "pschsss" of the subject came. After approx 15 trials, I got this shot which I was almost perfect (even on the position on the 1/3 that I just corrected lightly) Some more Hight speed picture to be seen under the Flickr gallery
www.flickr.com/photos/59433078@N04/

Judges Comment
Superb capture of the frog, the focus is perfect, the color goes well with the background, very good for me.
Photographers Comment
Thanks a lot for the Mark of Excellence! i liked the frog sitting in the shallow water with his golden eyes, he was pretty relaxed while we had our little shooting.. hehe! This shot was taken at the botanic garden in munich, last spring. I used a Sony alpha 65 and a tamron 90mm, no post processing at all! :) My Homepage is actually under construction, but im working on it, so stay tuned =)
www.flashberger.de

Judges Comment
very nice capture of this dragonfly, a very good focus on the eyes with beautiful colors, beautiful work.
Photographers Comment
Warm regards from Indonesia. Hi...My name is Rudy from Jakarta, Indonesia.... I am a newcomer in photography. I have just learned it and I fall in love with makro world. Thanks to the judge for the lovely comment :) I thank I SHOT IT team for giving all the photographers this wonderful opportunity to showcase their work in front of a huge audience. I used OLYMPUS OMDE 5 + makro lens for the photo. On the software process I only used lightroom to adjust the contrast. Best Regards, R