Fly on the wall

[Mike Bell]

Spring is here in Scotland at last! I'd forgotten how the flies like to sun themselves on my southwest facing garden wall. Tried sneaking up to them but this was as close as I could get with my Sigma 150 plus a 21mm extension tube.

1.
http://static.flickr.com/42/121505934_c040a1315d_o.jpg

2.
http://static.flickr.com/54/121505936_88ff05ad4a_o.jpg

3.
http://static.flickr.com/38/121505937_ea9c02c927_o.jpg

How do you guys get those great close shots with the eye detail and everything?

[racketman]

You used f16 which is unlikely to bring out sharp detail in the compound eyes- try f11 next time and really concentrate on focusing on the eyes. Your 60EFS will be easier to hand hold on these small insects.

Nice bubble though!

How did you remove the camera serial number from your EXIF info?

[Mike Bell]

You used f16 which is unlikely to bring out sharp detail in the compound eyes- try f11 next time and really concentrate on focusing on the eyes. Your 60EFS will be easier to hand hold on these small insects.

Nice bubble though!

How did you remove the camera serial number from your EXIF info?

Thanks - I will try f11. I tend to go for maximum DOF all the time - must experiment more.

I would never have got these shots with the EF-S 60. Both flies flew off just after I got this close (about 20cm).

I have never seen my camera serial number listed in the EXIF of any of my shots in my most-used software (Corel Paint Shop Pro X) except as '03]1'. I have never altered it.

[dpastern]

Thanks - I will try f11. I tend to go for maximum DOF all the time - must experiment more.

I would never have got these shots with the EF-S 60. Both flies flew off just after I got this close (about 20cm).

I have never seen my camera serial number listed in the EXIF of any of my shots in my most-used software (Corel Paint Shop Pro X) except as '03]1'. I have never altered it.

It seems that f11 is really the sweet spot for maximum DOF and minimum diffraction. Interesting, but I'm not going to argue with the laws of physics, and the experiences and suggestions of much better and more experienced photographers than myself! I'm generally trying to stick to f11, sometimes f13.

As to the EXIF data, I think that some applications don't read the EXIF information very well, or very accurately, hence the serial number being dropped!

Dave

[Hatch1921]

Nice shots Mike. I really like the photo with the fly blowing the bubble. Hope to catch one...one day :) Well done. Hatch

[Bald Eagle]

Excellent captures of a bubble blowing Fly, I have to disagree on the f16, most of my shots are taken at f16, and I have not had a problem with capturing the finer details.:D

[LordV]

Some great shots there MIke- that rates as a tea coloured bubble (come in 3 grades- colourless, tea and dark coffee) :).
As the above have suggested for best detail on fly eyes, depending on the size of fly you need to be shooting at betwen 1:1 and 1.5:1 with an aperture no smaller than F13 but preferably F11. Depending on the angle it most likely will look like most of the fly is OOF in the viewfinder as the eyes do stick out quite a lot. When I'm doing these I use my focus stacking/ bracketing type technique and take the first shot where virtually none of the head looks in focus and then move in very slightly take another pic and so on. One of the shots should be perfect focus on the eye and if the fly didn't move you can use the other shots in a focus stack for greater DOF.
Brian V.

[Omri Alon]

I like #2 :D That is one dirty bubble :lol:

[chemicalbro]

very cool mike.......... the bubble blower is my fave...... as has been said you don't always wanna go for maximum dof..... as the lower you stop the iris down you tend to lose detail due to diffraction...

here's a link to a cool diffraction calculator
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/diffraction-photography.htm