Insects!

[pokechen]

My first try at Macro. C&C appreciated (:

[LeoLeo]

Hi Nadia ?

Assume Nadia, from "Nadia photography"..if I'm wrong, you may correct it putting your name under the "real name", to address you properly.

In the 3rd one, the little fellow looks smiling , and the colours are nice. Unfortunatelly, in macro photos, especially for insects, everybody is looking for "the insect" and the little one is in competition with the flower.
In the first one, is a bit motion blur, but I like the ideea. Half picture, simetry on diagonal axis..
Sorry, but the second one is not telling me anything.

Because my macro photography is almost zero, you are still a feet ahead of me
Leo

[Geoff F]

What camera/lens and settings? Did you use a tripod?

Insects, which are nervous subjects, are always difficult. But the grasshopper and cricket are quite good.

Macro photography of wildlife is a fascinating subject once you master the basics. And a shallow depth of field is the most challenging.

My recommendations for macro are: use a tripod; try to get square with your subject to make best use of the shallow focus depth; use a narrow aperture (I prefer around F14) and adjust the ISO as needed; spot meter and use some Exposure Compensation when necessary.

And with editing: Often, you can't choose the background when shooting, so a bit of careful cropping is required, vary the size/ratio of your crop to fit the scene (use portrait layout as well as landscape); apply a little selective sharpening to your images, and that also applies to brightness adjustment.

But remember this warning; Macro photography can become addictive and expensive.

[execushot]

Recently, I'm beginning to use Canon EF 75-300 mm F/4-5.6 USM III for macro photography. But It's so difficult to take a nice macro photo, does anyone know the tips & tricks about it?

[Geoff F]

Very basically, Cayho. Always use a tripod with that lens. You will need plenty of depth with your focus so try a setting between F11 and F16. This will probably mean increasing the ISO but you should be able to go up to ISO 800 in most circumstances.

Also, keep an eye on the shutter speed. Wind rock and subject movement can cause problems. I find that if I can use somewhere around 1/200 I can get away without using a cable release or mirror lock up.

Sometimes a bit of flash will help. I prefer to use manual settings and adjust the flash compensation to suit the scene.

Auto focus can sometimes select the wrong area so I prefer to manually focus when possible.

An extension tube, recently discussed in greater depth on another post, will help to get you a little closer to your target. With a 70-300 (Canon) lens I found that a 25mm tube worked reasonably well.

But obviously, nothing competes with a 'proper' macro lens. But getting a macro lens around 150 mm isn't cheap. I use a 180 mm.

[xalupa]

In general, i don't like your composition in these photos. The main problem here is the unfocused images, though.

nº1, has no visible focus.
nº2, focus is in the leaf.
nº3, focus is in the flower.

Use when posible a simpler background, rise your ISO to get more speed, isolate you subject moving yourself, changing the angle, DO NOT use tripod unless it's a static subject, try the Macro mode, try the smallest/longest focal, try the fill flash. Take a lot of shots.

good luck.

[FrankMi]

Hi Nadia, I have a lot more to learn in Macro Photography but to add a bit to the observations, it is more difficult to get a really interesting photo of an insect when you have to look down on it as in picture #1. The second and third shots are much better in this respect as you are on the same level as the insect. I also think I would have tried to loose the leaf on the left in the second shot as it is in competition with the subject.