Slurping Stamens by Mark Plonsky

yet another stunner Mark (but you knew that) When is the book coming out?

Is there a picture of your rig on the site? if not would you be interested in putting one up.. I think a lot of people would be interested.

This is incredibly good, but so many of your photos are also incredibly good. I don't know which I like best. I, too, would like to know more about you proceed.

I am stunned! This one deserves POW status. Wonderful details and interesting colors. You are really an expert in photographing insects. Thanks for the tutorial as well!

But do you have a model release...? :-) <p> More seriously now, I am totally incompetent in your field, so I'll just shut up and read, this week, but one thing strikes me in this particular image: it's just very alive, with lovely colors and great action going on... I'd have titled it "Lunch Break", I guess... <p> I have to agree with the Elves that it isn't easy to single out one picture from your portfolio as "The Best". I think this is indeed at least one of your very best shots... My personal favorite of yours is this ant that stands like a human being, but probably that would be a very subjective opinion... I just find that one particularly original. I also like many of your close-up portraits of various insects uploaded to the site... Anyway, congratulations on this POW. It was long overdue... Regards.

By the way, I hope to learn something from you and others, this week, about the DOF limitations for this image... Is that the maximal DOF possible in such circumstances, etc. Thanks. Cheers.

To people wondering how Mark captures his images, he's rather sensibly (and kindly - thanks for the contribution!) made a tutorial on insect macro photography. Take a look: http://www.photo.net/photodb/presentation?presentation_id=188714

I am very happy to see you on the front page Mark! May that is not my favorite of your 6 legs catch but it will receive the awards for the many other exceptionnal shots you made. Indeed some of your animals seems to have feelings, human expression, anger, surprise ... I found your picture first on PhotoSig as I was looking for insect pictures with and for my young daughter's school's request. She could make a wonderful one and start a strong interest in those little things! Thanks Mark and thanks ELves for that selection!

Marc,

Well done - I've been looking at your pics for a long time and I am very happy to see you made it POW. My favorite are the mantis pics.

Congrats!

Blaise

FA-18? Stealth F-117? F-16? Apache? I like the political impact of this picture in troubled times like these. Very subtle, elves, the way you guys let politics speak on this site. Sharp insect eyes from an insectmaniac. Congratulations, Mark.

Mark is one of the most generous photographers at Photo.net, so willing to help and share his secrets for a great macro :-) He has even written out on his web pages the recipe to shooting this type of macro.

Great shot, great presentation, great portfolio... Congratulation for POW. It is well deserved for such great work.

It is just as great that the Elves departed from their usual selection criteria. I can't remember the last time that a picture of an insect won POW.

Mark, thanks to you, I will walk about Nature with a new outlook...

Woo-hoo! Congratulations, Mr. Plonsky. As others have stated, not only have you produced an excellent body of work, you've shared your techniques in some detail with the rest of us. Thank you for doing both. It is truly hard to pick one of your images as "the best," but this one is perhaps my favorite.

I am not sure what I could add-on .. everything is said. I see this one Image standing for a lot of other excellent Images out of Mark Plonskys Insect-Factory .... outstanding work in perfect technique make this Images very unique, I have never seen a quality like that nowhere else ... The only open wish to me: Mark, would you change from insects to reptiles, I would like to see the fangs of a king cobra (or similar) in a quality like that you are delivering here almost on a daily base. Very very good and I take my hat off and salute a great artist, thanks for sharing your Images!

Looks to me as though this fella has whipped his audience and himself into a frenzy on the soprano sax. Sensational picture, Mark.

Great pic! Not to be nit-picky, but he's actually feeding on the anther, which is the pollen bearing bit at the end of the stamen. Interesting to see an insect do that; more often they are after nectar deeper in the female parts of the flower, and get the male pollen on them by (their) accident and (the plant's) design.

Well caught, and good to see that it is more than a static portrait, but actually shows an animal engaging in life; it adds dimensions more significance to the image.

What a glutton -- it's got pollen all over its eyes. Congrats Mark.

How close were you to this tiny 'model' with the 50mm lens? Or is this a crop from a larger image?

I was absolutely blown away! Compositionally stunning; you have definitely captured the moment, and without a tripod either! Awesome work

Congrat's Mark this image is great, I don't do much macro work but I do know how hard lighting is when your lens is about 1" inch away from the subject and this holds true for depth of field and focusing too. Getting all the technical stuff right and such a great pose from the model which I might point out is is sharp focus from his head to his ass makes this one a winner.

I have not looked at Mark's stuff in a while but if his folder lookes any thing like it used to it's all top notch stuff. I think I'll check it out right now.

This is by far the best of all your good shots. Outstanding in a technical and aesthetical way. Really touching. One thing I miss in some cases is the biological name of the objects.

Mark, Congratulations. I am new (sort of) to photography and I am finding out that amongst all types of photography I am leaning towards macro. Your work is certainly a pleasure to view. Thanks for your contributions towards instruction as well. Best Regards, AJ Murphy

This is just perfect!<BR> Perfect dof, action, colours and composition.<BR> I can only admire your entire work.

Congratulations on your choice of POW. Thank you for all the information in your presentation and otherwise. Your photography takes us into another world that parallels ours. One we never even take notice of. This world contains colors, and forms so very nicely illustrated by you, and that we would never see otherwise. Once I get past the idea that it is "bugs" I am looking at, viewing your portfolio becomes a treat for the eyes and senses.

stuning shot.. trouble w/ one thing... what did you shoot this with???G1 canon but errr reversed pentax had me confused.. thank you for the inspiration..

Mark, Wow! I check out POW for this week and boom!... one of your excellent insect images. One of the first series of photos which jumped out at me when I 'discovered' photonet was your butterflies. This subject and composition are especially great. A well deserved congrats and we're all looking forward to more!

Your work is truly beautiful and the tutrial is great. It has inspired me. Thank You. Terry Philhower

conrgats on a very well deserved honor. it's so great to see these beautiful creatures up close, considering they are so awesome to study, yet so hard to come across in this magnitude. your work is educational and unique. thanks so much for sharing it.

finally! a photo of the week that i can actually agree with. i've followed mark's portfolio for a long time now, the pictures are amazing. beautiful work. really. there's nothing wrong with this shot. it's gorgeous.

Absolutely wonderful. I was not aware of your work, and I am very impressed with your portpholio. Your tutorial is most interesting, especially since I own a Canon G2, and had no idea that it could be used to make such images. Your "outside of the box" thinking is truly inspirational.

A beautiful shot and well deserved POW. You truly show their personality. The fly almost looks as if he's talking into a microphone! I also found your macro tutorial to be very informative.

Sharp as a tack, yellow and black. Taking photos of insects, you have a knack!

My favorite photographer on photo.net shows discipline in a very special subculture of photography. His body of work is outstanding and this recognition well earned. Not a flash in the pan with one lucky image Mark turns out eye-turning photos week after week. Thanks for sharing Mark.

I can understand the ratings on aest. but not the org. ratings. This photo is not orginal, there are million photos like this one and it does not add something new to this genre I think :-)

Good to see a digital photograph make POW...congrats Mark, and keep doing what you're doing.

I have seen so many great shots like this that I believe I at times actually take them for granted. Nowhere else have I ever seen insect captures like those posted here. They are fascinating to say the least. Beautifully seen and captured!!

Mette wrote:

"This photo is not orginal, there are million photos like this one..."

Unoriginal only in the same way that every photo of a human being taken since the first grainy portrait is also unoriginal. For cryin' out loud, try to find another shot of a Syrphid fly doing THAT to an anther! And then try to find one that is composed as cleanly!

Mark, that's a really, really nice shot!

What is surprising is that you took this shot using something from Pentax and still managed to get it published on this site. Amazing!

Bill

It looks like it's singing into a microphone. :D :D

Can`t really say anything that hasn`t been said. You are, definitely, the insect macro expert on the site. Great photo. I don`t know if it`s your best but that is all opinion. I think for you it would have been better to put up a folder or subject of the week. Looking at the people commenting, there are alot of great photographers praising your work and I think it is well deserved. You say how you do it but I don`t know how you do it.

I was going to ask how you manage with slower shutter speeds to compensate for the smaller apertures required for maximum dof. I couldn't see how a tripod would be useful if the subject was moving ... but then I read your tech info and saw that you use flash! Fabulous work Mark, you're an inspiration. It is very difficult to get sharp pictures at such close distances, particularly when the slightest movement of the camera moves the subject out of the plane of focus.

This pic is so good, and Mark's not even a "professional" Mark, you've really inspired me to get into Macro. Keep up the good work.

Mark, my favorite aspect about your bugs is the lighting. It would be impossible to capture this amount of clarity and definition without the use of some kind of lighting modification, I'd say. The brightest light available by nature would be full sun, but the highlights on all of these are diffused, indicating either a lighting tent of some sort, or auxiliary lighting, i.e., flash, also softened by diffusion. As for originality, there is a lot of decision making going on in so far as camera position for angle of view (considering the limited depth of field) and in background selection (although most of the backgrounds are completely fuzzed over, they are still selected carefully, they still need to be selected carefully for hot spots and color coordination) I agree with the comment way up there that it's hard to find a best shot in your folders, Mark. Congratulations and it's about time.

A name to be remembered in Insect-Macro Photography. An excellent folder display!

Reminds me of Miles Davis -- late period with shiny clothes and fly sunglasses. ;-)

Beautiful photo, Mark!

Beatiful colors , nice shot a true macro...

I don't know whether this is your best photo or not, but it is my favorite of the many outstanding macros you have posted. I agree that it is time for you to author a book, or at least a monograph.