[PIC_THREAD] Macro

I've just had a quick look through the photos - absolutely fantastic!

I recently borrowed a 90mm f2.8 Macro lens for my D5100 and really enjoyed taking macro photos. Now that I had had to give the lens back to the owner, I am looking at getting my own.

Could I ask, if people don't mind, how you achieved the shots? I'm particularly interested in the insect photos. I'm basically looking for tips, tricks etc on getting the insects to behave for long enough to get really close up shots and even at different focus distances so that they can be stacked.

Thanks :)
 
I'd love to spend a day with phal learning technique etc
It's not just the subject but everything!

Your pictures are basically what I'd love to achieve
 
al4x said:
I'd love to spend a day with phal learning technique etc
It's not just the subject but everything!

Your pictures are basically what I'd love to achieve
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That's very kind of you to say but when it comes to Dragonflies and also Butterflies to some extend, luck has a lot to do with the shots. There's a lot of wandering around involved until you find something worth shooting. Dragonflies are over water a lot of the time so you need to get luck to catch them on a break or find them hunting elsewhere.

As far as framing the shots, I'm often very restricted as to how to frame them since its hard to get to them. I often just get what I'm given so I just try to make the most of it. Longer lenses are definitely a better tool than the average macro lens when it comes to Dragonflies and maybe Butterflies to some extend.

The smaller bugs are a bit easier to approach and they're smaller so the macro lenses are more suited here. Good light is important since you'll often need to shoot at F8 or higher and with those smaller apertures, it's difficult to get sharp shots of subjects which are never still! That's why you'll see lots of photographers making their own flash rigs with allsorts of crap from around the house.

This is the first year I've really gotten any shots of Dragonflies and I'm only 2.5 or 3 years into these Photography shenanigans so I'm far from an expert :)
 
duffers20 said:
I've just had a quick look through the photos - absolutely fantastic!

I recently borrowed a 90mm f2.8 Macro lens for my D5100 and really enjoyed taking macro photos. Now that I had had to give the lens back to the owner, I am looking at getting my own.

Could I ask, if people don't mind, how you achieved the shots? I'm particularly interested in the insect photos. I'm basically looking for tips, tricks etc on getting the insects to behave for long enough to get really close up shots and even at different focus distances so that they can be stacked.

Thanks :)
Click to expand...

Most of the shots I take with my macro lens are handheld so I don't often do stacked shots. I've tried them before for flowers but even those are difficult when you're outside because any amount of wind might make your shots wonky for later.

There's some kinds of insects which might sit still long enough so you might get away with it for those but you'll need your tripod etc so I just stick to single exposure handheld shots for simplicity!

A nice flash rig would be nice so I can get those F9-F16 shots at faster exposures but for the moment I'll make do without since I have a new long lens to pay off!
 
SDK^ said:
One of my best macro shots.

8618630591_650b4b598e_b.jpg
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That is an absolutely stunning shot :eek:! Can you tell us a little more about it?

I looked at getting extension tubes for my recently purchased D5200 but the cheaper ones seemed to have varying success.

The Raynox DCR-250 people have mentioned above seems a decent alternative. I can just slap this on my 18-55mm kit lens (but not my 35mm f1.8) and get to it?

Another question - is it common for people to use a flash/flash rig in these shots? Is natural light on a sunny day not enough for the quick exposures needed?
 
Top one is a Moth rather than a Butterfly Phal. It is a Burnet Moth.

Throws a lot of people since it is a daytime flying moth. The give away is the antennae, moths tend to have thicker/feathery antennae.

Would you believe that over 2400 species of Moth have been recorded here in the UK!

BTW have you won the Lottery? The exif on Flickr states that both the above pictures were taken on the Canon EF 200-400mm F/4.0 L IS USM EXT !
 
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Andy90 said:
Top one is a Moth rather than a Butterfly Phal. It is a Burnet Moth.

Throws a lot of people since it is a daytime flying moth. The give away is the antennae, moths tend to have thicker/feathery antennae.

Would you believe that over 2400 species of Moth have been recorded here in the UK!

BTW have you won the Lottery? The exif on Flickr states that both the above pictures were taken on the Canon EF 200-400mm F/4.0 L IS USM EXT !
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A daytime Moth? Pfft! Who thought of this? :P It was the other side of a fence but it caught my eye since it looked rather different to the usual Orange Gatekeepers that were everywhere. It also didn't move much for the few minutes I observed it which seemed odd! Antennae are definitely thicker and furrier!

No lottery, I just decided that since my time with the Sigma 120-300 F2.8 S + extenders didn't give me the results I was looking for that I should commit...

I'll be paying it off for a while but judging by the results from today and yesterday, I'll get my money's worth even if it takes a while ;)
 
Yep - daytime flying moths. You've probably seen their Caterpillars - they're the black and yellow stripy ones (though there are some yellow and black dotty ones too).

A very nice lens you've got there - enjoy :)
 
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That's amazingly sharp. I take it that was with the built in 1.4x extender flipped in?

BTW, you're right about that Dragonfly being like a Four Spotted Chaser, without the spots. It is a chaser, the Broad-bodied chaser. That one is a female, since its yellow. The males have a sort of powdery blue abdomen.
 
Andy90 said:
That's amazingly sharp. I take it that was with the built in 1.4x extender flipped in?

BTW, you're right about that Dragonfly being like a Four Spotted Chaser, without the spots. It is a chaser, the Broad-bodied chaser. That one is a female, since its yellow. The males have a sort of powdery blue abdomen.
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I checked a website and I remember thinking "This looks just like that one except it's yellow and not blue :/" lol

Yeah, I've been using it with the extender in for about 90% of the time and comparing the ones with and the ones without, I can't really tell the difference tbh so Canon definitely did something right here! When I crop in on my shots that hit focus perfectly, it reminds me of my 100mm F2.8L with its sharpness.

I even tried it with an extra 1.4x converter in today and the results weren't that bad. It was manual focus at F8 on my 70d but in the future.... Way way in the future, I'll probably be upgrading my 70d to the new 7d2 when it's out and when I can afford it and I have a feeling that will have AF at F8.
 
Yep, when I had the EOS 50D, and fitted my Canon EF 1.4X to my Canon 100-400mm I had to manually focus. With the 5DMKIII it will autofocus with that kit on the centre spot.
 
It's a good job the IS is good too because 784mm makes it very hard to manually focus on a carbon fibre tripod :/ Unless I engage the IS by half pressing the shutter then it's practically impossible hah

2m is the minimum focus distance which isn't bad and gives fairly good shots on largish things like butterflies and dragonflies etc but I also bought an extension ring so I'll have to test that out at some point.
 
Meadow Brown or Gatekeeper, I can't really tell with it's wings tucked away like that.
(300mm with 36mm tube)

gcmb4_1.jpg



Black-tailed skimmer.
(Shot with the 600 II at 4.5m away)

bmwbts65_2.jpg
 
Quite a nice Youtube video that I found called Introduction to Macro Photography, by BH Photography, which may be of interest to some.

It is 1 hour 42 minutes long and covers everything from equipment, depth of field and composition. The only thing it really lacks is a good clean of the sensor on the camera used to take some of the images (you'll see what I mean :) )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nf1woH6JOxY
 
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