Down in the field

Amp34

Amp34

Amp34

Caporegime
Joined
25 Jul 2005
Posts
28,851
Location
Canada
I went out to the fields near my house today with my tubes and had got some shots in.

Pretty much the first butterfly I have seen this year.

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A pair of Soldier beetles getting it on...

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And another Hoverfly.

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very khan-esque :p j/k

They are amazing, I think the hoverfly is my favourite though because of it's colours and because those damn things never stay still, so must have been incredibly hard to capture.
 
Great shots those. How you find working with the tubes? I think no.3 is my favourite due to the plain background and hte composition(although id probably crop a bit more off the left hand side) Shame you havent got a tad more dof field though to get the bottom of them in focus. Overall though, good work. :)
 
Thanks :)

Using the extension tubes isn't too bad, although they can be a little annoying sometimes, can't change the DOF without hassle (removing the tubes and putting the lens back into the camera, setting DOF, removing lens and sticking tubes back in), and the magnification cant be changed quickly. Other than that I they are pretty fun. I really want a macro lens but just can't afford one atm.

As for the DoF on the bugs, it is a bit of a shame but I was pushing the shutter speed with f/8 and I didn't want to stick the ISO up any more. Another trip on a bright day may be on the cards. :)
 
f8 is still pretty good going though. I consider myself lucky if im heading into that region. I try not to go over 400 iso, although sometimes push it up to 800. I really could do with a decent flashgun and use it very diffused to allow me to stop down a bit.
 
Yeah, I usually stay in the region of f/5.6-6.3 but that does cause DoF problems.

A good flash would be useful too, the MT-34EX would be superb but a little too much at the moment. :D

I was quite lucky with the light yesterday, the sun came out just as I reached the field, and stayed out for a lot of the time I was there. Damn this UK and the clouds!
 
I find it much easier to work in cloudy or overcast weather than bright direct sunlight. Direct sunlight gives far too hard shadows for my liking. Ive got my eye on a R1C1 macro flash kit, or a SB800 flashgun. Will need to save up for a while first though.
 
If he does it like I do (which achieves the same effect) you simply increase the canvas size in photoshop. Whatever colour you have as your background then becomes the border. Do this twice (once for black and once for white) and bobs your uncle.
 
Yep Kahn's way is the way I did those. :)

For the images above the image size was 776 (800 minus the border), then I added a 4 pixel border (white), then a 20 pixel (black) border. All adding up to 800.

Hope that makes sense. :)
 
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