Galls of Cynipid Wasp - Dryocosmus rileyi/Kokkocynips rileyi

Unusual and interesting galls that I found on red oak along the edge of a small, woodland meadow. The galls will drop off the leaves in October, leaving scars behind.

I'm not sure if it's noticeable, but I had to heavily edit this photo. My flash blew it out and without a flash was too dark. So, I used the blown out flash shot and increased highlights, and I'm not sure what else, in photoshop so the image would be usable! Before I edited it, none of the details of the galls were really noticeable.

comments (8)

Ferdy Christant

Lion

My theory of what happened: you started without flash and focused on the gall, the camera's light metering sees it as a light subject and assumes the overall exposure is to be darkened. It's similar to getting gray snow in a shot.

The ideal, theoretical way to avoid it is to mess with light metering modes, or to even separate light metering from focusing and exposing. A much quicker and practical way is to use exposure compensation. Too dark? Just up the compensation.

One thing you could check is if your camera is on spot mode for light metering. That's the mode causing a lot of issues. For example, focusing on a black bird would blow out everything else. It measures a tiny area of the scene in spot mode, best to set it to a wider value.

For the record, it's not noticeable, I couldn't tell if you didn't tell :) Posted 7 years ago
1. Christine Young
  
  Lion
  
  Interesting! I have no idea what my camera is set at, but will check. It would makes sense if that was the issue because this is a common issue for me. Taking pictures of anything white is such a trial. Thanks for the tips, they are priceless nuggets! Posted 7 years ago
2. 1. Ferdy Christant
    
    Lion
    
    And the other tip of course...shoot RAW ;) Posted 7 years ago
  2. 1. Christine Young
      
      Lion
      
      Lol, I know! I totally need to. Change is sooo hard, but I'm sure I'll love it once I actually start and get used to the format. Posted 7 years ago
    2. 1. Ferdy Christant
        
        Lion
        
        No need to feel pressure, your shots are incredible without RAW. If your camera allows it, you can set it into a mode where it shoots both RAW + JPEG. So then you can keep doing what you're doing, and during a slow period try RAW. At least you would already be capturing in the format with maximum flexibility, regardless of whether you use that flexibility today. Posted 7 years ago
      2. Christine Young
        
        Lion
        
        Good thoughts, I think I will wait to try RAW during a slow period. I’m very intrigued to see how the quality changes. Posted 7 years ago

Flown Kimmerling

Lion

I LOVE these! Posted 5 years ago
1. Christine Young
  
  Lion
  
  Thanks, they are among my favorite galls that I've found. Posted 5 years ago