Flora & Macro Gallery - Honorable Mention

This caterpillar image was taken at Lukas Nursery in Oveido Florida. For about four years I have had full access to the butterfly facility there, where I am allowed to pose the caterpillars (as was done here) and use a tripod for photography, as long as I do not harm the creatures.

This image was taken with a Canon 1D Mark II camera and Sigma 180mm macro lens. I took three images, each with a relatively narrow DOF and merged them together: one focused on the closest part of the head which is hidden, one partly in front of the false eyes and then one on the false eyes themselves so the rest of the structures would be soft. I believe I used quick masks to allow the areas of sharpness to show through, while keeping the rest of the leaf and caterpillar out of focus.

This year’s awards were sponsored by: