"Flying" bee challenge

Images taken in a controlled environment or with a posed subject. All subject types.

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pawelfoto
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"Flying" bee challenge

Post by pawelfoto »

I know that the masters photograph insects in flight. I also succeeded several times in nature. This little bee is posed and stacked as you can see. For PS enthusiasts, I suggest a challenge - if you want please download the original photo, try to add realistic blur and post a result. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zqBeCg ... sp=sharing
Below is my miserable attempt.
==best, Pawel
Attachments
5DMkIV + mp-e65mm x2 f/5,6 1/125s ISO-200, 104*100µ WeMacro, 8xLED, Zerene, PS, retouched mounting pin
5DMkIV + mp-e65mm x2 f/5,6 1/125s ISO-200, 104*100µ WeMacro, 8xLED, Zerene, PS, retouched mounting pin
bee-blur-challenge.jpg

MarkSturtevant
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Re: "Flying" bee challenge

Post by MarkSturtevant »

I've been trying to do it, relying on the arc blur tool in Gimp. I don't think I am succeeding to a degree that is wished, but failure is also fun.
Mark Sturtevant
Dept. of Still Waters

pawelfoto
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Re: "Flying" bee challenge

Post by pawelfoto »

Thank you Mark, Only the great ones can admit that they can't do something. I think manipulating nature photography is not a good direction. The bee looks quite natural with all the details on the wings. But any excuse is good to practice your skills.
== best, Pawel

MarkSturtevant
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Re: "Flying" bee challenge

Post by MarkSturtevant »

Manipulating photos (or not) is all about ones' philosophy. No one questions adjusting sharpness and color balance. But I will do a range of both global and local adjustments to bring out details in a picture. The super strong sharpening that you and gardnerassistant are getting into has me pretty intrigued. I wonder how to do that in PS.

Now the challenge here for the bee wings I lately realized is that there likely should be multiple images of the wings, blended together. Those include an arc-shaped blurred image, pivoting on the base of the wings. And then other slightly blurred images of the wings could be placed at both the top and bottom of the arcs, since at the top and bottom of a wing stroke the wings actually pause for a moment. But at the bottom of the arc the wings should be inverted since they do flip them upside down at that point. Then add a linear blur to the whole bee, maybe.
Mark Sturtevant
Dept. of Still Waters

Beatsy
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Re: "Flying" bee challenge

Post by Beatsy »

I think that's a pretty good job Pawel. The only thing that seriously affects the "believability" of it is lack of environment (background) really. Take a close-up of some undergrowth and see if you can blend it in where the blue is. That looks very monochrome so it should be easy to select by colour to make an accurate mask. A bit of lower opacity so it shows through the blurred wings and I bet it would look pretty close to real - except for being all sharp, of course :D

Beatsy
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Re: "Flying" bee challenge

Post by Beatsy »

MarkSturtevant wrote:
Sat Jun 19, 2021 3:59 pm
Manipulating photos (or not) is all about ones' philosophy....
Indeed. Though I'd say photos are captured. Images are manipulated (according to ones philosophy, etc). Pedantic, I know, but it is a useful distinction to make for clarity in certain discussions.

Lou Jost
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Re: "Flying" bee challenge

Post by Lou Jost »

Interesting challenge. To me, the blurred wings look too uniform during the stroke. I wonder if the wing shape could be varied a bit before blurring, by using the rocking stereo feature of Zerene. With perseverance, you might be able to get real images of the wings at different angles.

Pau
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Re: "Flying" bee challenge

Post by Pau »

Not being an insect expert at all I see some aspects of the images looking wrong
- First, as previously noted, the tips of the wings must be more blurred than their bases (higher linear speed for a given rotating speed)
- Second, AFAIK in bees the wings of the same side are connected by small hooks and actually do work together almost like a single wing (very different in other insect orders)
Pau

Lou Jost
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Re: "Flying" bee challenge

Post by Lou Jost »

Second, AFAIK in bees the wings of the same side are connected by small hooks and actually do work together almost like a single wing (very different in other insect orders)
Pau, moths also have hooks. However, butterflies don't.

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