Macros - DPChallenge Forums

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

07/17/2003 11:30:20 PM · #1

Some shots from this evening:

Comments very welcome.

pitsaman

Canon EOS-30D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

07/17/2003 11:31:29 PM · #2

middle one is grat!

pitsaman

Canon EOS-30D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

07/17/2003 11:34:52 PM · #3

Hungry bee

Lady bug

More here

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

07/17/2003 11:37:40 PM · #4

Maybe because of the influence of the middle one, but the top one could be a bit darker.
The petal edges on the bottom-left look possibly oversharp, but they also might just look that way--I'm not so used to photos taken with good optics.
Otherwise, I can't think of anything to suggest or change; they look great.

dsidwell

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

07/17/2003 11:38:12 PM · #5

Once again, you show us how to do it, Gordon! The lighting is particularly effective on all three. I like the first best, probably because of the impeccable composition and lovely blur of the background colors.

07/17/2003 11:38:29 PM · #6

Your hungry bee one is cool.

07/17/2003 11:40:08 PM · #7

Originally posted by GeneralE:

I actually think the second one is probably a bit too dark - I think looking at it I pumped the contrast a bit too far.

The flower has hardly any sharpening at all done to it - I used my least sharpening action - its just that crisp. I could blur it if you like ? :)

Musicman

Sony DSC-F717

07/18/2003 02:34:29 AM · #8

I like all your shots.
1 - It looks like your focus was right on but your aim was toward the head of the butterfly which cause the large wing span to suffer a little. I still couldn't make this photo. Great timing.
2 - Contrast is just a dash hard. Again, great shot.
3 - I think this is my favorite. I wish you would have gone up a stop in the aperature. I think I am saying it right. Or not zoomed in. The top of the flower is crystal clear but the end of the right pedestal is a little blurred. To bad the left pedestal was cut at the end.

Like I said, great job. I'm hoping one day I can produce shots like you have. Present and Past. I can't get over your photo of the Texas State Capitol Building

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

07/18/2003 09:29:22 AM · #9

The second one with slightly less contrast
It was shot in late evening sun, so this is pretty much 'as seen'

f6.3 this time, compared to f3.2 in the version above
I find the background starts to get distracting about this point though.

Message edited by author 2003-07-18 09:36:24.

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

07/18/2003 09:51:27 AM · #10

Originally posted by Gordon:

The flower has hardly any sharpening at all done to it - I used my least sharpening action - its just that crisp. I could blur it if you like ? :)

No, it is fine! The edges are sharp without haloing. I think it's the darkness of the shadows under the petal edges which fooled me at first. Wish I could do this with my camera.

autool

Canon EOS-20D

Canon EF 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 II USM

07/18/2003 09:51:27 AM · #11

Gordon, I especially like the middle one best in your first post. I wish I could get the clarity that you have. I took this one yesterday at 8AM, with a #2 close-up filter. My old eyes don't let me know when it isn't completely in focus. I wish I could find a way to remedy this.
I have made diopter edjustments with my glasses and without. I always seem to be just a tad off. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

My Moth

Message edited by author 2003-07-18 09:54:41.

Canon EF 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 II USM

07/18/2003 10:27:35 AM · #12

Originally posted by autool:

Looks like we have the same butterflies around

I've only recently started trying to do butterfly/bug macros so I don't know that I can give a lot of advice.

I'm trying a mix of techniques.

Some are shot on a tripod - this usually requires a bit of observation to find out where the bugs return to - some dragonflies and butterflies are very territorial so will run from you, but come back if you wait in the right place. This means you can set up a tripod and wait.

Using a tripod I'm using a mirror lockup and a cable release. I tried using the timer, but there seems to be a pretty direct correllation between how close the timer is to firing and how strong the wind gets. A cable release lets me time things better.

Focus/ aperture. Using a tripod lets me get a bit more depth of field and use a smaller aperture - this means I'm more tolerant of slightly incorrect focus (although there still isn't a whole lot of DoF!)

The other way I check for focus is similar to the way the camera hunts - I focus in and out and pick the one that looks sharpest - I don't think bad eye sight will change the 'sharpest' point much - it'll just change how sharp it looks ? I could be completely wrong on this I'm sure.

Tripod helps a huge amount, but if the subject is moving, it doesn't matter as the result will still have motion blur - butterflies in particular move/ shake a lot. The cable release again lets me time things to when everything has stopped moving. Click once, mirror locks up, then wait until the wind dies and the bug stays still and shoot.

I've started experimenting with external flash (a 420EX with diffuser on an extension cable) my results have been pretty pathetic so far with this approach - I don't yet quite get how to get a good exposure consistently this way - any advice would be great!

The first butterfly above was shot handheld, just waiting until the sun was right and setting the camera in Tv mode to keep the shutter at a hand holdable speed. The secret I have there for getting a good sharp exposure is to shoot lots. I probably looked at and dismissed about 40 shots for each of the okay ones shown above. I hope as I learn from these mistakes my technique will get better - but there are also maybe half that are ruined by subject motion, a quarter that have an inappropriate DoF (I can't see enough in the DoF preview to really differentiate at this scale)

Observing the butterflies also makes life easier - after a while you start to understand what spooks them and when they'll sit and pose for you for hours.

autool

Canon EOS-20D

07/18/2003 10:37:17 AM · #13

Gordon,
I suppose you are right about the eyesight thing. I'll just look for the best blur that I can find. Of course when I look at someone elses one shot, I didn't consider how many they took to get it. I almost always use a tripod, but for the time being I am stuck with using the camera release. I have not been able to justify Oly's release for the E-10. Thanks for the advice.
Dick

07/18/2003 10:47:11 AM · #14

Originally posted by autool:

Well, last night I filled two 512Mb CF cards, and got 3 pictures that I'm happy with ( at the top ) so that's about 160 shots, so about a 2% success rate ? (and there are things about two of them that I'm not satisfied with) Maybe about another 10 are useable/ printable and some are the same shot in different orientations for different print use but I tend to take a lot to get one that is just right. I hope one day I'll get better but the more I shoot the less I'm happy with.

Another thing about getting sharp butterflies and anything macro, is to try and ensure that the sensor plane is parallel to the subject - so for a butterfly try and keep the lens parallel to the wings. This is much easier to check from the side than when you are behind the camera so when the tripod is set up, look from the side.

If you take your time this way, they let you get quite close, and you can get plenty of detail and the shallow DoF has less impact.

Journey

Canon PowerShot G3

07/18/2003 12:18:23 PM · #15

Originally posted by Gordon
Looks like we have the same butterflies around

[img:

//www.pbase.com/image/16665721.jpg[/img]

I tried using the timer, but there seems to be a pretty direct correllation between how close the timer is to firing and how strong the wind gets. A cable release lets me time things better.

I've started experimenting with external flash (a 420EX with diffuser on an extension cable) my results have been pretty pathetic so far with this approach - I don't yet quite get how to get a good exposure consistently this way - any advice would be great!

Observing the butterflies also makes life easier - after a while you start to understand what spooks them and when they'll sit and pose for you for hours.

I like this image. It has a nice composition and it's different just because no attempt was made to get all the detail of the wings and hence, didn't result in the stereotypical butterfly shot.

I really laughed about this post and the correlation between wind and timer firing :) For days i tried to make shots of a wildflower in my garden that had this crazy, but very fragile, stem. Even with the mildest of weather this flower seemed to be bobbing non-stop on some unnoticeable breeze.

Do you have these problems with the 420 flash only with macros or in general? Just ordered the 420 with diffuser and hoping that it doesn't come with a manual the size of a Dostoyevski book in order to figure out how to use it. Don't believe an extension cable is included though, is it?

I think what spooks those butterflies most of all are those ubiquitous photographers with their lenses and filters breathing down their necks.