Thanks Rand, Bob, and Gregory for reviewing my photo "Lifeform". The "spike" is, indeed, "almost blown out", the light being harsh and hot -- direct sunlight! Elson In direct sunlight I have used a very cheap methood to diffuse the light - a sheet of white muslin (a very cheap, almost mesh-like fabric). Using clothes-pegs and bamboo canes it's easy to rig up a large area diffuser which, unlike many commercial ones, does don tompletely remove the directionality. And it is cheap!. <<< Perhaps I can diffuse the light by putting the subject in the freezer, Bob? :) >>> No, that will only cool the light ;o) <<< [I did get the clue from reading the details about your shot, but only after I noticed the five exclamation marks.:) Great image by the way, as usual. >>> OK: I did wonder if you meant freezer or fridge. There is a huge difference. Domestic fridges set to 4 Celcius are unlikely to harm a shield bug / stink bug / assassin restrained in a jar for short periods. In a freezer though the insect could be harmed by contact to the walls of the jar. <<< So, the "spike" is greener, and the whole picture looks more dense. But the impact of a less brighter spike is not as striking. The spike becomes an objective plant part, not the semblance of a fang, which was what I intended it to look like. >>> If you were using a tripod (or the shots are very similar), you could selectively clone some detail from the spike onto the "over-exposed" image. That way you might not lose all the effect you wanted from the contrast ... Bob __________________________________________________________________________ Join Freeserve http://www.freeserve.com/time/ Winner of the 2003 Internet Service Providers' Association awards for Best Unmetered ISP and Best Consumer Application.
