Ladybirds

Excellent contrasting colors and details. The beetles look close to the tortoise beetles of my area than the ladybird beetles - same spot pattern and color, though.

Hi Ant! 

Love makes the world go round, even for bugs.  Excellent, crisp detail of this happy pair and nice colour palette with the green and red.  Perfect light control.  Well done!

Hi

I think you have the image you were after and it looks good!

Regarding suggestions - for my tastes I would have avoided the black surround, probably opting for a closer composition that eliminated these areas completely

All the best
Matthew

Great, very excellent, compliment.

Regards

Hi Anthony!

It's a beauty of an image.  No doubt about it!  I'm wondering....how can these little buggers have sex?  No kidding.  It is a wonderful thing....because it all keeps the ecosystem going .  Nature is so fascinating and limitless.  I just love it so much.

You asked for CC.  I have been out of macro for so long.  But in those olden days (80's) I always had a black background and after a very long time I realized that I was getting tired of it.  But I could not get rid of it.  In other words Anthony, I did not have a choice.  All my macro backgrounds were black, making the image look unnatural....like it was taken in a cellar.  The reason I could not get rid of it was because in those days it was Kodachrome 25, 64 or another slow transparency and a flash.  In fact, the late and great Larry Hoyt told me how to do it one night in a phone conversation.

Anyway, I think it would be good if (in digital macro) one could find the right ISO to render a background that was at least somewhat less than pitch black .....and still have little noise or "grain".  You can do it with digital, whereas you could not do it with film.   As I write this I can only try to remember what your ISO was.....400?  What if you raised it to say.....1000?  What ISO would it take to render a background that make the final image NOT look like it was taken in a cellar.  

I love the subject matter of you image Anthony ..... and the dew.  These animals (yes, all insects are animals) are so cute. 

Thanks for this little piece of nature.  :)

Robert King

Very nice specimens,Anthony,and great diffusion.
I would of went with a tighter crop,if possible,to avoid the black!