[PIC_THREAD] Macro

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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I just had to have a look at that lens

Needless to say.. I'll never have it!
 
xibinim said:
That is an absolutely stunning shot :eek:! Can you tell us a little more about it?
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Thanks :)

I had seen similar images on various photography sites and I wanted to capture one myself. Macro photos usually contain insects or flowers or water and I set out to get all three in one image.

I found a location in my garden, lined up a ladybird and waited for light and bug to get into the correct position. It took a couple of hours to get the perfect shot - the sun was behind me and so it was challenging to photograph the scene without casting my own / camera shadow over the area. Also achieving the correct DoF was tricky; I really wanted the water drop to show the background flower in focus, the settings used were 1/200, F11, ISO 200 using a Canon 20D and a Canon 100mm Macro lens.

I was pretty chuffed with the result and it actually won the Macro photo comp round on this forum in 2007.
 
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al4x said:
I just had to have a look at that lens

Needless to say.. I'll never have it!
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Yeah I told myself that when I first saw it too but eventually I realised I wouldn't be happy until I had something like it lol :)

I've had it a week so far and I can't fault it. I've also tested it with a 25mm extension tube which I also recently bought and it's awesome with that. You can still focus out to about 6-7 meters away and gives a bit more magnification so it's awesome for Dragonflies/Butterflies etc or maybe even very close birds.

I also found out that the lens is quite well made since it fell off my tripod onto an asphalt car park :/ My heart stopped!

The 70d needs a new housing for the flipout screen but that's all which seems good for a 2 meter drop. The lens doesn't have 1 scratch on it thanks for the lenscoat and the quick release plate on the foot. The 70d ate the rest of the impact I guess and everything still seems to work fine :D

Now I keep the strap around me as well as keeping it fixed to the tripod and I check the QR plate lock every few minutes lol.
 
Not up to the standard of a lot of the shots in here but I'm quite happy with these. All taken either Sunday just gone or today, using a Panasonic FZ150 with a Nikon 5t close-up lense mounted on an extension tube.

Moth or butterfly?

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Tiny fly

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Tiny Fly 2

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Scruffy

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See, really scruffy

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Busy

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Hoverfly have a quick rest

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Fly

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Exiting the flower

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Just landed

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@valve90210

It's a day moth, some obscure Latin only name that begins with 'p' iirc. Took some pics of one the other week, lovely golden markings on the back to contrast that burgundy.

'Scrufffy' looks like a Speckled Wood though to be fair it looks in good condition compared to some of the very raggy winged butterflies you see post-hibernation.
 
In preparation of buying a Raynox DCR 250, I attempted to make a diffuser after copying a DIY one from another forum. However I notice in a lot of Youtube videos, people place a white film at the end such as a plastic bag. Should I do this with the below*?

2d6pfgj.jpg


*this is the one I am copying.
 
You can do some tests but you'll find you get better looking results when you have something like a white plastic bag over the end to diffuse the light. Direct light onto the subject will be brighter but you'll get bits which reflect or are just too bright so you get around this by diffusing the light.

A bit like using a garden hose. If you do everything with a jet of water then you get splashing everywhere whereas if you just have a sprinkling attachment like on the end of a watering can then it's much more gentle.
 
Got some great pics today I will be putting up
Also seen a Creature I have never seen before

A common lizard

There are only 3 types of lizard in native uk
 
Woodwalton Fen in cambs

What a beautiful place. I literally could have spent all day here - not far from home (25 mins)

This little guy is 13cm long and a common lizard
i have never seen her (her i think) ever
i showed someone what i had taken and they said they had only ever seen one before

I got very close - taking pics closer and closer but only one at this distance - and she had had enough!

this is probably one of my favourite pictures ever, not because of the quality.. but because i captured something i had never seen before and might never see again

Common Lizard 1 - Woodwalton Fen - Cambs by Al4x, on Flickr

And a big dragon fly (king or emperor i havent checked yet)

Dragonfly - Woodwalton Fen - Cambs by Al4x, on Flickr
 
Phal said:
You can do some tests but you'll find you get better looking results when you have something like a white plastic bag over the end to diffuse the light. Direct light onto the subject will be brighter but you'll get bits which reflect or are just too bright so you get around this by diffusing the light.

A bit like using a garden hose. If you do everything with a jet of water then you get splashing everywhere whereas if you just have a sprinkling attachment like on the end of a watering can then it's much more gentle.
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Thanks - my prototype isn't quite as good as the picture above but does the job. I will try adding a plastic bag at the weekend.
 
More from my recent trip to Canada, a Monarch Butterfly that was wandering around the shoreline of the St Lawrence river. I've got some other stuff to process from there but that will have to wait till I can be arsed!



Taken @ 560mm with the lens on a tripod using 2 legs as a bipod as discussed. There was no extension tube fitted here (I've been trying them out with this lens) so it's just the basic magnification with a little cropping and some processing :)



The range definitely helps when it comes to Butterflies and they're big enough to get some decent detail.







1-




Sandy Butterfly by Phal44, on Flickr




2-




Hungry Butterfly by Phal44, on Flickr




3-




Fearsome Butterfly by Phal44, on Flickr
 
Tbh I don't think I'm too bothered about what most people like in type of photography
I think I'm going to find myself focusing on macro

But I'll never have that lens!
 
al4x said:
Tbh I don't think I'm too bothered about what most people like in type of photography
I think I'm going to find myself focusing on macro

But I'll never have that lens!
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Well if you wanna focus on macro then you can do without the lens :) I've managed to get this far without a flash but I would like one as it can make life a lot easier! If you're serious about focusing on macro then look into rigging up something to light your subjects :)

There's too many expensive things I want :(
 
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