[PIC_THREAD] Macro

Phal · 30 May 2014 at 21:12

Yeah all of mine were handheld but with those Damselflies/Demoiselles you just need to approach nice and slow and most of them will sit there for you. Bees aren't as skittish but also don't hang around for long.

I just take lots and lots of shots and hope there's some good ones with focus that's perfect hehe. It's so easy to miss focus when you're doing handheld shots on a moving target with a rather shallow DOF.

Aedus · 30 May 2014 at 22:26

Phal said:
Yeah all of mine were handheld but with those Damselflies/Demoiselles you just need to approach nice and slow and most of them will sit there for you. Bees aren't as skittish but also don't hang around for long.

I just take lots and lots of shots and hope there's some good ones with focus that's perfect hehe. It's so easy to miss focus when you're doing handheld shots on a moving target with a rather shallow DOF.

Got any hints for me? I don't know if I'm doing something wrong, really. I can never get the level of detail on my shots as you do in yours. Obviously your lens is much better than mine, mines the Olympus 60mm M4/3 macro lens, but I don't know if I'm missing something really basic which will help me improve my shots. Right down to the basics, filters used, if you use a flash, if you use auto settings or do you manually set your aperture, shutter speeds to particular things for best results etc etc.

Genoma · 30 May 2014 at 22:41

I would appreciate your setup too, even though I don't have a macro lens!

Phal · 31 May 2014 at 08:33

Well it's a fairly simply setup since it's just my 70d and my 100mm F2.8L lens. The highish MP sensor helps me crop more in processing later but really it's just the lens which lets me do that. The AF on the lens isn't the fastest in the world but I quite happily put up with it since the lens is sooooooo sharp.

Other than that, there's no filters used although with the bright sunlight recently, I'm definitely tempted to get my polarised filter out.

I don't use a flash currently since I still don't have an external one. Some kind of external flash or macro flash would be good though to get faster exposures or just more light so that high ISOs aren't needed.

For the most part I just use aperture priority and keep an eye on what that's doing to the auto ISO. I keep the aperture between F2.8-F11 since that's where the lens is sharpest and I choose the aperture that will give me a suitable DOF for the subject. Bees will need more DOF obvious since they're larger and when you get close your DOF will be rather small. The exposures need to be short enough so that you can get sharp shots but not too short that you need high ISOs since you'll lose detail.

Other than all that, I just take lots and lots of shots lol. This 70d has better AF than the 650d I started with but with macro stuff it still misses a lot. Super shallow DOFs with moving targets and handheld shots don't make for a reliable hit rate so I just take lots of shots and inspect later for the sharp ones.

Processing can definitely help to bring out details too but the lens is the most important thing I guess.

mingeroonie · 31 May 2014 at 09:54

Not much going on in this pic, but I like it

Ants by Paulos72, on Flickr

Aedus · 31 May 2014 at 12:36

Cheers Phal, will keep trying I guess!

Phal · 31 May 2014 at 16:51

Leaves always look cool with light coming through them

Ants add a little extra too

Sh4rkie · 31 May 2014 at 20:30

From the garden today

Phal · 31 May 2014 at 22:19

Some down-low articulated screen liveview mode shooting going on here. Despite the 20 odd shots I took of this guy, none of them seemed perfect but this wasn't far off so it'll have to do!

Summery Flutterby by Phal44, on Flickr

Kevin Clark · 1 Jun 2014 at 19:24

Missed the focus a smidge but it's hard to do!!

Here's the male version (broad bodied chaser)

Sh4rkie · 1 Jun 2014 at 21:38

Devrij · 1 Jun 2014 at 21:46

Did you hire the fly from the same place I did? They do great work those chaps.

Phal · 1 Jun 2014 at 21:52

Kevin Clark said:
Missed the focus a smidge but it's hard to do!!

Here's the male version (broad bodied chaser)

I went looking for some Dragonflies again today but they're all out of reach

Phal · 1 Jun 2014 at 22:01

Few more shots from yesterday! IDs on the Butterfly welcome as I'm too lazy to check for myself

Buttery Smooth Butterfly 3 by Phal44, on Flickr

Buttery Smooth Butterfly 2 by Phal44, on Flickr

Buttery Smooth Butterfly 1 by Phal44, on Flickr

Aedus · 1 Jun 2014 at 22:29

I went out again today and tried my luck with some more. Wind was a PITA, ignore the names

Flower Power 2 by Sneakiest Bear, on Flickr

Ants life by Sneakiest Bear, on Flickr

Flower Power 3 by Sneakiest Bear, on Flickr

Flower Power 4 by Sneakiest Bear, on Flickr

Kevin Clark · 1 Jun 2014 at 22:55

Phal said:
Few more shots from yesterday! IDs on the Butterfly welcome as I'm too lazy to check for myself

Female (with orange spots) and male common blues

Kevin Clark · 1 Jun 2014 at 22:58

Phal said:
I went looking for some Dragonflies again today but they're all out of reach

They were taken with a 100mm macro so they were no more than 6ft away.
That was until some dog owner turned up and proceeded to chuck sticks in the pond for his dog to jump in after. :rolleyes:

Sh4rkie · 1 Jun 2014 at 23:35

Devrij said:
Did you hire the fly from the same place I did? They do great work those chaps.

I reckon, rent-a-fly.com, brilliant rates lol

Phal · 1 Jun 2014 at 23:38

Kevin Clark said:
They were taken with a 100mm macro so they were no more than 6ft away.
That was until some dog owner turned up and proceeded to chuck sticks in the pond for his dog to jump in after.

The only place I know has Dragonflies nearby is a big pond which is a little nature reserve. There's lots of Damselflies and stuff there but the Dragonflies stay over the pond. They're usually at least a few meters away and I've yet to see one settle for more than a few seconds within reach lol. One landed behind me and flew away as I turned around slowly

Kevin Clark · 2 Jun 2014 at 11:58

Phal said:
The only place I know has Dragonflies nearby is a big pond which is a little nature reserve. There's lots of Damselflies and stuff there but the Dragonflies stay over the pond. They're usually at least a few meters away and I've yet to see one settle for more than a few seconds within reach lol. One landed behind me and flew away as I turned around slowly

One trick I employed yesterday was to find a stick and jab it in to the ground at 45 degrees over the water and just sat and waited for them to come to me. Dragonflies tend to hunt from a suitable perch nearby so if you make one, they'll often use it once they spot it. Depends on the species though. The big hawkers seem to like to hang vertically from a tree or reed. The smaller chasers and darters sit on top of logs, twigs and reeds from what I've seen.