Another little beastie.

[Keith]

As I am venturing into another area of photography I know little about, some feedback from Macro users would be welcome please.
This was taken using a 4x close up filter, I have cropped it approx 40% and did slight enchancement with colour, mid tones and sharpening.
Is this acceptable, or does it look a liitle 'overcooked', so to speak.

[Jim B.]

You're macro photos look very good to me.As was said in your other post,macro photography can get expensive.I became interested after I started following the work of this gentleman.
http://lordv.smugmug.com/
My suggestion is to start looking at a flash set up for your macro work.You want to stop your lens down a good bit to get more DoF.
Do a search for DIY(do it yourself) macro flash brackets you might find something you can make.I'm not very handy so I bought one of these.
http://www.tripodhead.com/products/f...o-brackets.cfm
Flash really makes a difference.
Here's my best effort so far.

150macro f/16 ISO 100 1/250" manual exposure.
Regards,
Jim

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Keith,

It looks pretty good to me , better than my first attempts

Focus isn't quite on the eye, but I know how unbelievably difficult I find it to achieve that, and yours is very close to perfect.

Anyway, to prove I'm still learning, here's a recent example with a rubbish background I very crudely tried to tone down. Note to self; must try harder!



D5000 + Sigma 18-250mm f3.5-6.3 VR
1/1000s (to freeze it as it was blowing in the wind)
f6.3 (wide open, hence shallow DoF)
400ISO
250mm (1.6 cf) at about 18"
Cropped in PP also.

Hi Jim,

Nice one, but doesn't the flash hurt their eyes?

Cheers,

[Jim B.]

Hi Dave,

Sure does,look how constricted it's pupils are
That explains why I was able to take more than one shot.It must have been stunned!Spots before it's eyes and a bit dizzy I'm guessing.
Nice shot of the damsel(?).I like the colours.
Jim

[Keith]

Thanks for the tips Jim,now your example is proper Macro, that is superb. More money to spend after I have purchased my Macro lens. ;O) I have put it into my favourites for possible future purchase.

Dave, I really like the shadow detail on yours, personally I do not consider the shallow depth of field an issue, the detail in the wings right through to the insects feet touching the leaf are spot on in my opinion.

[Geoff F]

That looks fine to me. Dark subjects on white, or yellow, flowers are particularly difficult and require a bit of exposure compensation.

Getting everything into sharp focus is usually impossible even with 'proper' macro lenses and a small aperture, like F16. And attempting this often means a high ISO, like ISO 800 or too slow a shutter speed. Trying to focus on critical areas like the eyes or wings is all that you can do.

I usually prefer full manual settings for flash shots but the trouble with this is that it is a bit hit or miss and can require a few test shots before you get things correct; and your subject can't be relied upon to stay put while you are changing settings.

Correct White Balance is also important to retain those true colours.

ps. I think your model is called Empis tessellata.

[Dave Humphries]

Thanks Jim and Keith,

At the risk of highjacking the thread, here's another from a different angle.



Nikon D5000 + Sigma 18-250mm f3.5-6.3 VR
1/350s @ f11, ISO400
250mm (1.6 cf) at about 18"
Cropped about 3.5:1 in PP

This is about the limit I can go with this lens, I could get closer with the Fuji superzoom, but it lost the detail.

Cheers,

[kevinbythebeach]

Dave..the second dragonfly pic is much better..the blue really comes out in this pic....nice