This past summer, after watching this ladybug accidentally flip onto its back and then right itself again, I got my camera out and flipped it onto its back intentionally (I'm just mean).

Waiting patiently for a couple of minutes while it wiggled its legs and then finally opened its wings to flip itself over, I managed to catch it on the way over with its nose on the window sill.

This was at a construction sight so I didn't have much control in way of setting (note dust on window sill), but I'm sure that there are things that I could have done to make the shot better. I'd appreciate any suggestions.

http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h106/LongInt_2006/Bugs/Ladybug1.jpg

Longint

I do hope you had some lovely aphids for its reward for helping out.

My problem with the photo is that it isn't in focus possibly because its struggling to roll itself over and not a fast enough shutter speed. The pic is a little on the small side to see properly on my monitor.

What I do like is the lighting as it brings out the colours nicely.

Roger

Thanks, readingr. You're right.

I took it with a Powershot A80 on Program AE mode. I kept back a little bit in case the bug moved out of frame and pressed the shutter button halfway to autofocus and waited for it to flip. I had it in Macro so the DOF was quite limited. Any movement by the bug made it a crap-shoot. The Tv was 1/125 and the Av was f/2.8. I was OK with the low f-stop because it meant a faster shutter speed and I wanted to catch it with a minimum of motion blur. In retrospect, I probably should have used Av Priority or full Manual and raised the Av to increase the DOF, even though I would have needed a longer exposure. That would have given me a better chance of keeping it in focus.

As for the size, that's probably the shot's biggest limitation. The 400x400 crop that you see is what was left from the original 2272x1704 (It's only a 4 MP camera). Also in retrospect, I should have risked missing it if it moved too much and used my 3X optical zoom to get as close as I could focus to get a larger finished crop.

You've given me two good things to think about. Thanks. :thumbsup:

Any other comments are still welcome. :)