It's finally summer here and things are green and growing!

First one is a tiny fly (maybe a hover fly?) on a rose.

The second is a butterfly on a chive flower. I waited for him/her to land for over an hour and the son-of-a-gun would not open its wings when it alighted on a plant.

Both are manual focus & hand held with the Voigtlander SL125.

[vizjerei]

I love the #2, #1 is cool too but to me it is abit soft. I always wonder how you guys do it, do you really sit there and wait?

[sajmmiller]

Nice shots...I especially like the color in the 2nd one.

[LaRee]

Even though the first is kind of soft, it looks intentionly done to me and I like it a lot. I might try brightening it up a bit in post processing though. The second has beautiful colors and bokeh.

[J.Scott]

Thanks for the comments folks! I agree that the 1st one is a bit soft, but I'm trying hand-held as opposed to tripod held as my tripod is junky and frustrates the hell out of me! Below is a re-sharpened and brightened version; but I am not sure if it is any better than the original.

I also love the bokeh in the second shot! The heads and stalks of the chives make for a nice background. And if the truth be known I didn't just sit there and wait for him to land - I chased him around the yard for a while. Stupid bug!

[LaRee]

Thanks for the comments folks! I agree that the 1st one is a bit soft, but I'm trying hand-held as opposed to tripod held as my tripod is junky and frustrates the hell out of me! Below is a re-sharpened and brightened version; but I am not sure if it is any better than the original.

I also love the bokeh in the second shot! The heads and stalks of the chives make for a nice background. And if the truth be known I didn't just sit there and wait for him to land - I chased him around the yard for a while. Stupid bug!

I think your brightened one works better for me Scott. Nice! I've yet to have a tripod that I am completely satisfied with. I have two good tripods but they both get on my nerves after a while for one reason or another.

I can relate to chasing a dang bug around the yard. But at least you were chasing a butterfly and got a good shot!

[Heinrich Lohmann]

The second one is a real nice shot, love the colors. Thanks for posting them.

[J.Scott]

LaRee - thanks for the vote of confidence on the remake of the first shot. I aim for a more artsie look than a sterile, text book approach to my bug photographs. I'm not sure if I achieved either on that one.

Heinrich - thank you for your kind remarks. I swear I will get a shot with its wings open - today maybe! But in the meantime, I made that shot my new desktop picture. I like it too.

[thomasjmpark]

Hi Jeff. The 1st original shot looks better too me, the DOF is fantastic and has that creative look i think you were after. a tiny adjustment in the levels would do it for me. I think the adjusted version of no.1 is a bit too bold for the type of shot

The 2nd shot is great as is

[DuckysDoll]

I really like the 2nd one! The colors are beautiful =)

[J.Scott]

Thanks Tom and Carie!

I just don't seem satisfied with the first shot. The first version looks a bit flat and the second looks too bright, almost forced; if you know what I mean. Meh...

The second shot is my favourite too - it just looks cool - the creamy green bokeh, the purple Chive flower and the butterfly. That damn bug was so hyper - it would only sit calmly for a few seconds and then it would flutter off for another few minutes.

While were on to butterflies - my daughter was sitting on our front veranda and knowing that I am ga-ga for taking pictures of bugs and such, called out for me to see this cool butterfly. It did a few lazy loops in the air and was settling in for some straight and level flight when a small bird came swooping in at break-neck, dive-bomber speed and scooped it up! In a flash he went from being a potential photographic subject to lunch! Can't blame the bird, he has to eat too.