I like the idea of this shot, but there are a few things that bother me. Firstly, the image lacks biting sharpness, though I know this can sometimes be an equipment/budget limitation. Secondly, the wasp looks dead - one wing is twisted and it's feelers are limp. Thirdly, the way the other wing lies along the twig doesn't look great to me.

I wonder if an angle that showed the wasp more from the side would have produced a stronger image with less "dead space" at the bottom too?

Dave - I totally accept your comments - it was a last minute attempt to try and win myself a camera. The wasp was virtually dead and it would have been very difficult to get another angle because it was taken by scanning the wasp and flower not in a camera, so is therefore shot upside down - ie. the flower is on top of the wasp! It was amazingly sharp but I think I lost it when I resized the image for submission. A dead wasp was definitely not the ideal but my phobia of them would prevent me getting that close to the real thing!

Hi Jacqui, sorry, yes, I'd missed the bit about having scanned it when I posted, spotted it afterwards. Not a bad effort with a scanner really! I think it would be hard to scan a wasp that wasn't dead or close to it! Don't think I'd fancy it anyway!

Yeah, resizing is strange, sometimes it can make images seem more sharp, other times less so. Which software did you use?

Hi Dave - I used Photoshop.

What a great idea and shows original thinking I think that its a good attempt

Not many people would attempt to scan a wasp so you deserved a win based on that alone...........Its a great attempt ,just a shame the wasp looks a bit the worse for wear...

Considering it was a scanned image not a bad result, but I don't think it quite worked. A 3 dimensional subject is really quite hard to scan effectively. With insects you really need to be able to focus on the eyes more or have them on a background where they really stand out. I understand your desire to try anything for such a great prize though. Full marks for effort. :)

I think this is a lovely photo, the blue in the flowers lights up the picture. I am a amature photographer but you still know what looks good. This photo would look good blown up in a frame.

I love the contrasting colours of the wasp and the buds - if the wasp's wings were too staight I think it would have been too perfect. I'd never have thought of scanning it - Well done!

The wasp isn't in a great condition, but you can't really help that! Wasps (and any small insects) can be incredibly difficult to photograph, especially given the inherent problems with macro shots (lack of depth of field and lack of light) - so firstly you should be congratulated on getting this.

The blue flowers go really well with the yellow of the wasp, and the colours complement each other nicely.

However, overall I think the shot lacks 'pop'. It looks a little dull and flat, and I think a bit of post-production would bring out the best - perhaps tweaking levels, curves, brightness + contrast, saturation etc. - sounds like a lot of work, but that should only take a couple of minutes.

last chance bump