Digital Camera Magazine Photographer Of The Year 2008

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Animals

Mikael Sundberg
Sweden

Alien?

Shooting small animals isn´t easy.

This fly was more of a model than a fly, it seem to fancy mu Sigma macro lens.

Got a Q about the background, its as shot, just adjusted the exposure

Samsung GX1s; Sigma EX 105 Macro lens; ISO 200; Aperture; Spot; 500 at f/16

Have Your Say

sharpfocus:10:20 on 12/08/2008

Wow, Supergreat shot on a very difficult object, cant understand that You could come so close and still have a sharp image.

One of the best animalpictures i have seen

wow again

johnarm:11:35 on 12/08/2008

Great shot, How did You manage to get soooooooooooo close without disturbing the fly

4,5 outof 5,,U have a vote from me

johnsander:08:58 on 14/08/2008

Great Shot, sharp and great light and colors

jimjohnsson:12:01 on 15/08/2008

Nice one, one vote

TheFinn:08:02 on 20/08/2008

Bra bild

johnjohnsson:09:54 on 20/08/2008

Nice shot mate, Great clarity and focus on a very difficult object U got my vote

surgeon001:10:10 on 20/08/2008

Nice background and the composition is great it seems like the fly are on a soon to be attack, love it

ThomasSaint:12:55 on 20/08/2008

Like the open space to the left it gives the shot of action, then the actual fly is greatly captured.

A winner in my book

Thomas

Aideebar:02:48 on 21/08/2008

nice shot, curious..where was the photo taken? looks like you have edited out or removed the background.

Surgeon:07:01 on 21/08/2008

I was lucky, the background was a white table and a solid whithe chair, so no editing except for adjusting the exposure.

Thanks for your comment

Lorenabenson:01:42 on 22/08/2008

Ouch what a ugly fly, not the picture it´s great,

My vote is hereby cast

Bragi J. Ingibergsson:09:19 on 23/08/2008

Excellent capture!

mike2008:11:59 on 23/08/2008

wow, I can count the hair on the fly....Supershot

best in class

U got my vote

pplloo:12:23 on 24/08/2008

i cast one vote and U got it

Surgeon:12:33 on 24/08/2008

thanks mate

lora:12:58 on 24/08/2008

Wow--Great shot

richandjennaward:09:29 on 24/08/2008

looks like he's sitting,waiting for someone to come and talk with him! voted

kloker:07:20 on 25/08/2008

Really nice

Yoker:07:01 on 28/08/2008

Nicely captured. Go for the win, Got my vot

Migueltorres:07:59 on 29/08/2008

Muy bien

frankieboy:08:51 on 30/08/2008

what a shot, he/she is actually sitting down never seen that before

Got a vote from me

Surgeon:09:11 on 30/08/2008

Thanks for all nice comments and votes on my picture

aikman:07:48 on 01/09/2008

Good shot

torkelserty:07:56 on 03/09/2008

Nice capture from a fellow Swede,,yep a vote for this image

ddefalco:01:44 on 03/09/2008

amazing i love it, its like you asked the fly to pose for you and it just sat there whilst you took its portrait amazing work!

got my vote!

Dazrobertson75:10:31 on 03/09/2008

OUTSTANDING, This picture is wonderful, has character, Detail is very impressive, ha to be a winner.
This has my vote, good luck to you too.

triandifilo:06:46 on 05/09/2008

This is a brilliant picture, Congratulations ! Would appreciate it if you could have a wee look at my pics & see if any worth commenting on, thanks.

John_Berry_SHOOTS_People!:12:19 on 06/09/2008

Hey, thanks for voting for MY photo! Not often a competitor votes against his own photo! Thank you!

triandifilo:09:19 on 06/09/2008

And thanks for voting & commenting on my photo. I just recently added it having been at the beach all summer. I don't see any harm in voting for the photos that I really like. I entered this competition to learn from others who take brilliant pictures, like yourself.

marietsvensen:08:02 on 08/09/2008

Snyggt

mrutter:07:51 on 08/09/2008

Great capture

mikahappula:07:45 on 10/09/2008

Utterly great image, just love the exposure and clarity

Got my vote mate

robbert:07:13 on 15/09/2008

Nice mate, funny to see a fly competion against a bird of prey.

Alien, haha, just waiting for S Weaver to materialise

Got a vote

clippo:11:17 on 16/09/2008

must be missing something here - nice shot but I've seen much better fly macros. The white background is unnatural and the flies abdomen seems to have been obscured... also composition doesn't seem balanced. Just my thoughts but surely this isn't the best in the category?

frankfrake:07:40 on 17/09/2008

Nice shot, like the composition

triandifilo:07:26 on 17/09/2008

clippo I think it is the best macro shot for animals just look at all the detail have you tried to catch a fly never mind take it's picture! I know I wouldn't be able to take a picture like this, could you?

laban:12:45 on 18/09/2008

snygg bild Mikael, hoppas du vinner

clippo:12:59 on 19/09/2008

triandifilo - take a look at any of the threads in the macro section of the Canon Digital Photography forum. There are many shots similar but better than this one - not mine necessarily. Other points about this image... the detail level isn't that high. If it was a sharp image you'd see the honeycomb of the eye. I find it slightly odd that this image has generated such a high response. There are lots better in this category. Guess we'll see if the 'experts' think its good.

clippo:01:02 on 19/09/2008

it looks like this fly is actually 'clamped' in position to me by the way. See the white around its abdomen? Can the photographer explain what that white stuff it please?

rockym:08:27 on 20/09/2008

Nice hope it wins

Marco74:08:43 on 22/09/2008

I like this picture too, Mikael! Voted :-) See you. Marco74

clays:07:14 on 24/09/2008

Like your shot, gl

morroco123456:12:38 on 25/09/2008

I love the simplicity you've given the subject, it gives a tight focus to the subject, and the use of negative space creates a brilliant compositon.Voted

sinisalo:08:25 on 30/09/2008

Great shot mate

sinisalo:08:25 on 30/09/2008

Great shot mate

miltonrashid:05:27 on 03/10/2008

Nicely captured a real winner in macrophotography, GL Got a vote from me

harryHaffa:07:21 on 06/10/2008

Snygg bild Mate, Nice pic

Photolena:07:27 on 06/10/2008

Only one picture can win, i hope that this is the one

treny:08:42 on 06/10/2008

As most of the people that have had a say.

Great shot, clarity and sharpness and a very ugly Alien

rebeckaNr1:07:37 on 07/10/2008

Wow, Great close up, got a vote

dimitragiorgiou:05:01 on 08/10/2008

Just amazing !!

astridnilsson:08:39 on 09/10/2008

wish i could take pictures like this one

snyggt jobbat Mikael

sallydogherty:08:47 on 09/10/2008

Got a vote

It really looks as a Aline from Alien

henryxd233:03:42 on 09/10/2008

The thing I am not understanding about this shot is the white in the corner, Is the fly even alive or did you simply take a white clip and clamp the fly to a piece of paper and forget to crop the shot. Though there is some nice detail to this shot I dont think there is nearly enough detail and composition with the white part in the corner throws the whole photo off.

Surgeon:04:08 on 09/10/2008

well the fly is (was anayway) alive and kicking, sitting on the top of a white gardenchair and the background is another white garden chair, to bad that you dont like it, be glad to see some of your shot, but U haven´t posted any?

JohnAndKelly:12:26 on 10/10/2008

Nice shot, I´m out to buy a Macro lens
Thanks for the inspiration

minno:09:07 on 10/10/2008

tjohooooooo what a shot

jimbo12:09:14 on 10/10/2008

Some macroshot, wow just great''

got a vote

FelicityAnnA:11:53 on 12/10/2008

One ugly specimen I wouldn't want around the house. But I keep coming back to see how's it's doing. You might be on your way to POTY2008. Voted.

Surgeon:01:59 on 12/10/2008

Ohh, Thanks for the kind words.

jdesj043:04:00 on 12/10/2008

It's a good picture, but I think that anyone with a good macro lens and patience can get this shot.

axentis36:06:14 on 12/10/2008

I don't this is excellent !

markolazzardi:07:13 on 12/10/2008

totaly agree, great shot and ugly animal.

ouch didn´t know that they looked like that

1 vote from Italy

DougieL:07:19 on 12/10/2008

U can buy any lens and not be able to shott pictures like this one,

imagine how small a fly (sorry alien) and how hard it is to catch them and the you have to take a picture of it too.

Stunning

1 vote from Finland (Go Sweden)

werder:02:38 on 13/10/2008

Nice shot 1 vote

falkengren:02:57 on 13/10/2008

En röst från sverige

Dazrobertson75:04:56 on 13/10/2008

if I could i'd vote again, don't understand the bad commets above, this is a fantastic image and i too keep coming back to see how it's doing, Surgeon I truly hope this wins and makes the people who wrote bad comments eat their words, good luck mate 18 days to go.

travesti:06:34 on 13/10/2008

Agree with the previuos writer POTY2008 material, but there is a fierce competition

tlarsson:06:46 on 13/10/2008

nice

kuvamies:07:23 on 13/10/2008

Great shot indeed, but for all those of you wondering how it was possible to get so close I would say that it looks like the "tail" of it is sqeezed between something holding it in place making it fairly easy to get close.

jarri:05:17 on 14/10/2008

Don´t really care how it was shot.

I love the Alienfeeling it give me.

So start be serious and comment on the photo instead of how the setup might have been

Go Surgeon U got a vote from me Jarri

lucassundberg:05:43 on 14/10/2008

one vote for daddy

Surgeon:05:52 on 17/10/2008

ouch they aint cute Good shot

Surgeon:06:00 on 17/10/2008

There is a lot of comments of how I shot the fly and discussions of why people vote on the shot.

How it was shot has been explaind earlier, why people vote, hmmmm, I don´t know why people vote on my shot beside that I like it myself.

It might be as easy as that they maybe like it like I do.

And thats what everything is about in a good shot, a shot that touches people and make them take a standpoint.

Thanks all that have voted for the "Alien"

photojunkie1:06:02 on 17/10/2008

words mate

got a vote from me

glennpeters:06:58 on 17/10/2008

voted! this is definitely something... rare.. clear,.. different.. it cathces my attention .. winnner! :)

- Glenn Peter Perez

TaraT:04:39 on 17/10/2008

Agree, Different, and intresting.

gry:05:22 on 18/10/2008

supershot

like it

voted

I hope U win

Stormsong:09:05 on 18/10/2008

Creepy, but the abstract quality makes the subject look quite arty. Voted.

Stormsong:02:24 on 19/10/2008

Thank you Mike (Surgeon) for your very encouraging words (and votes!) on my images. I am still at the early stages of my development as a digital photographer, so any constructive criticism is very much appreciated! Good luck for the POTY - pity I can only vote once on any particular image, because this one to me is a winner hands down. Regards, Denise (aka Stormsong).

Surgeon:05:12 on 19/10/2008

Thx Denise

canonuser1:07:20 on 19/10/2008

wrong camera, but good shot anyway

alekos:11:02 on 19/10/2008

very nice and well executed! one vote from me!

aiwayamaha:10:56 on 23/10/2008

Not to keen on the cut of legs and the blue between his legs and the white space behind the back of its back.

aiwayamaha:10:57 on 23/10/2008

Legs are to close together for a fly to stand

lennart:07:51 on 24/10/2008

Snyggt bra komposition och ljus

jansson:01:24 on 28/10/2008

Hehe, nice and close,

mandylivingstead:07:34 on 31/10/2008

wow what a beauty, didnt know that they look like that.

sell it to NG

Voted

Dazrobertson75:07:42 on 31/10/2008

Mikael its in the bag mate, well done. You deserve to win this, as I have said above i love this picture.

salla:06:14 on 02/11/2008

I hold my thumbs for your win

Its a different image and really show how these creatures looks like

Good capture and you recive 1 vot from Finland

Surgeon:06:54 on 02/11/2008

Thanks for your positive comments.

dredd:07:47 on 05/11/2008

a WINNER IN MY EYES

calling:10:07 on 06/11/2008

Best shot of a fly i ever seen

close up and great lightning

go for it you got a vote from south Italy

FelicityAnnA:03:22 on 12/11/2008

Thank you for your kind comment and vote for my entry. It's amazing isn't it to still receive votes after the closing dates. Wish you all the best in the competition.

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Number of Votes: 218