The Bugs are here !

[marlunn]

Well its that time again, the bugs are out in force and the macro lens gets to be a near permanent fixture - Female St Marks Fly - Bibio marci

[Barbara Ponder]

I hear the joy in your voice all the way over here! Excellent shot!

[Geoff F]

I was beginning to find a more reliable supply of bugs then the weather changed.

But only male Bibio so far. I tend to get confused between female Bibio and Fever Flies (Dilophus febrilis).

[Shadowman]

Nice effort.

[marlunn]

Barbara, yep - its fun time

Geoff, I was almost tossing a coin on that and then noted the front leg 'blades' my book says thats the indicative ID point.

Cheers John

[James G]

Mark, beautiful capture... My wife tolerates images of insects.... my brother (a biologist) can't stand looking at them... they just don't get it!

[marlunn]

Cheers James, ah well it takes all sorts, me, I cant stand celery

[deetheturk]

Great capture Mark!

[Rebel]

Awesome shot Mark.

[IzzieK]

Celery has bugs????!!!??? Anyway, very nice shot, sharp and recognizable...(compare that to my effort this morning -- you wouldn't believe I shot a bug..I wasted my time...)

[JohnRostron]

I've not seen any St Mark's flies around here yet. I will have to have a go at photographing them. I am always amazed by how small their heads are!

John

[Kaye Leggett]

Beautiful shot. Like Izzie I admire your art - my attempts at bugs are all in the bin

[bnnrcn]

Very nice shot Mark

[DanK]

Nice capture. You're lucky: after a very hard winter, we still have very few bugs out and about, and pollinators in particular seem to be pretty scarce yet. I have had my bug-hunting setup ready for several days but have so far not gotten anything.

One suggestion, if you don't mind: f/6.3 is pretty wide for bugs, and the DOF doesn't look like quite enough to me. I'm far too much of a klutz to stack bug shots, so I usually shoot at f/13 or so, and even that makes it really hard to get the right parts of the bug in focus.

[James G]

Celery has bugs????!!!??? Anyway, very nice shot, sharp and recognizable...(compare that to my effort this morning -- you wouldn't believe I shot a bug..I wasted my time...)

Izzie, I'm with Mark.... celery is useless.... but you are never wasting your time shooting a bug.... or anything really!

[marlunn]

Thanks David, the game is on !

Cheers Matt,

Izzie, its never a waste of time - its all learning

Thanks John, yep - took me a few goes to get the head in the shot !

Thanks Kaye, its all practice and I practice a lot to get a few !

Thank you Binnur,

Cheers Dan, it was in woodland and very shaded, that was the only way to get a 1/20th hand held @ iso 1000. not into stacking and flash at the moment so I go with what i can get

Go with that James

[DanK]

not into stacking and flash at the moment so I go with what i can get

It's very hard to avoid flash if you want good bug shots in anything but open sun. Flash gets you a more useful aperture and freezes motion without a very high shutter speed. It's a pain to figure out a diffused flash rig, and it makes the camera heavy and off-balance, but without it, it is hard to get enough light. You shot at 1/200. Since even tiny motion creates blur at macro distances, I assume you wouldn't want to go slower than that. You were already at ISO 1000. To get the extra two stops of DOF that I usually have without adding light, you would have to shoot at ISO 4000.

If you look at this macro forum, which is where I have often gone for tips and inspiration, I think you will see that most people are using flash for bugs. There are a number of threads posted there showing how people have rigged up their flashes.

Anyway, YMMV, but this is the route most folks I know have gone.

[marlunn]

slowly looking at ringflash and other options but not rushing it
I do see it as a 'natural' progression but not willing to spend on it as yet until i have a better starting place photogrpahically to improve on, not fully happy with my current ability that I am getting the best out of the kit I have now

[IzzieK]

I have a ringflash but never thought to use it in macro shooting...

Mark...please do not put yourself down...you are better than most and you know it...I'm on your side if no one else is...whatever kit you have. You have helped me even just by reading your tips on other members' post you know...seriously!

slowly looking at ringflash and other options but not rushing it
I do see it as a 'natural' progression but not willing to spend on it as yet until i have a better starting place photographically to improve on, not fully happy with my current ability that I am getting the best out of the kit I have now

[Geoff F]

I just use a standard Speedlite flash which works well enough. In fact the basic camera pop up flash can be handy is you use it correctly.

Two things put me off ring flashes. Worry about accidental damage to something 'stuck on the end of my lens' and not wanting to have something which looks like two threatening eyes on the lens when I'm approaching nervous insects.

But they can be useful if you are getting very close to your subjects and are in a shadow area for a Speedlite type of unit.