1st thing i do is upload my raw fie to dpp(canons digital photo professional raw software) and open the file,Because i use shooting mode (neutral) it sets the sharpen to 0..the typical thing for me to do is set raw sharpen to 3 and bump contrast up 1 notch,,Changing saturation depends on the shot..sometimes i will use -1 saturation if the colour is blown out,that happens normally when im shooting a bee on a yellow flower in the mid day sun,..somtimes il keep it where it is..other times il bump it up 1 notch like i did with this shot.after doing that il change exposure if needed so i get it near spot on.if u check out the histogram chart at the top your see where i set it to.



I then convert to jpeg then upload to photo shop cs2.
The reason i dont just use photoshop raw is because the colour is way off..every thing is calibrated right but i find the colour i get from dpp compared to cs2 is a big difrence,of coarse i could fiddle with saturation to get it right but why should i?i want to see the correct colour i have just taken not something thats way off the mark..so for this reason i dont use cs2 raw
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The downside to this is im having to save my jpegs 2 times which isnt ideal


after i converted the raw file in dpp i then upload it to photoshop cs2.1st thing i do is run noise where professional..This gets rid of noise and will also help when i come to sharpen at the end..after this il check the histogram and change levels depending on what the image looks like and what the histogram is showing,normally not alot because iv already sorted that out in dpp(digital photo professional)..il then use highlights if needed then i will sharpen using unsharp mask setting 100-1-1...Then finally il use either the healing tool or the clone tool and get rid of all the dust marks off the pic.I tend to have a few spots when using the mpe-65 even if i have a really clean senser.Il then save 2 copys..An original full size version which gets stored in my external hardrive and uploaded to deviantART and then i re size to 1200x800 and upload it to my flickr acount.all this sounds alot but being truthful i spend no more than a couple mins processing each image,,the time consuming work is cloning out dust marks on my images,.

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My flickr gallery - http://www.flickr.com/photos/hooked_on_macro/

My deviantart - http://macrojunkie.deviantart.com/

Prayingmantis breeding stock

Idolomantis Diabolica - giant devils flowermantis - Out of stock
Phyllocrania paradoxa - ghostmantis - Out of stock
Pseudoharpax Virescens - gambian spotted eyemantis - Out of stock
Hymenopus coronatus - orhid mantis - Out of stock
odontomantis planiceps - Antmantis - Out of stock
Pseudocreobotra Wahlbergii - flowermantis - Out of stock
Blepharopsis mendica - devils flowermantis - Out of stock
Phyllovates chlorophaea - Texan Unicorn Mantis - Out of stock