some more insects fir the forum

[ATBphotography]

Hi everyone at POTN my name is Andrew Bennett I’m 15 and I’m a high school student in England. I don’t study photography and probably won’t at university. (It’s just an overly expensive hobby at the moment).
I have been contemplating joining a forum for a while now and after seeing the quality of the images being posted on this one I thought this would be a great place to start out.
Here are a few images that I took a couple of days ago with my 350d with 65mm mp-e, mr-14 ex and wirelessly controlled 580ex perpendicular to the setup (my usual technique for macro). Can you tell me what you think of these images (BE HONEST) I don’t mind how harsh you are but If you can think of anything please give me some ideas on how to improve my shooting technique and these images as well. The images are pretty much how they came out of the camera, just some cropped from the tops of the images to get rid of an excess of empty space. Some sensor dust has been removed and a tiny amount of sharpening was added to each.

I also have loads more images at my website

www.andrewbennettphotography.co.uk (http://www.andrewbennettphotography.co.uk/)




But this is still partially being constructed and a few of the hyperlinks are wrong. I never have time to finish the site because of my next set of major exams are 1 week away and I have lots of studying to do.

1. This fly landed feet away from me on my patio table, i slowly crept up to it placed the flash to it's right side and very slowly moved in with the camera, he/she stayed just long enough for me to compose an shoot three images before flying away- this was the best.

http://www.andrewbennettphotography.co.uk/fly5small.jpg
2.this is just a 100% crop of the first image.
http://www.andrewbennettphotography.co.uk/fly598percentcrop.jpg
3. this strange looking creature was hopping around my my pond and i only managed to get 2 good shots of him because he wouldn't stay still long enough.:mad:

http://andrewbennettphotography.co.uk/longnose-bugsmaller.jpg
Thanks for looking and don't forget to visit my website www.andrewbennettphotography.co.uk (http://www.andrewbennettphotography.co.uk)

[AirBrontosaurus]

While I'm not 100% familiar with the MP-E, your DOF seems extremely small. I would try a smaller aperture (larger f/number) to get increased depth.

Also, try messing with the levels a bit in photoshop. They seem a little over-exposed to me, but it could just be my monitor.

Great detail though. Man, that lens sure gets close.

[ATBphotography]

Thanks for the advice AirBrontosaurus i used an aperture of f/8 but a lot of the time using an aperture lower than that produces an unnatural background, the depth of field can be awkward but the results are worth it. I'll try messing futher with the levels and curves in photoshop.
Thanks again.
regards
Andrew.

[dpastern]

Nice shots, the mpe-65 is a very difficult lens to master I believe. I've read in a few places that it's better to go with a 100mm macro if you're new to this type of photography. That was enough to scare me from contemplating the mpe-65 lol!

The cropped section of the fly's eye looks a bit oversharpened to my eyes, and a bit noisy. What were the settings on the USM in Photoshop (I presume)? Have you used any noise reduction software? I find the DOF in the first shot fine, it really does highlight the fly's face/eyes. In the 2nd shot, it's a bit too narrow for my personal liking. The backgrounds look a bit too washed out for my liking as well, quite possibly the flash was a bit too much, might be worth playing with the FEC. I'd also recommend trying to get a more natural background - white as a background is notoriously difficult to get right. Don't get me wrong, I think they're both very good shots, I'd be happy to be shooting them that good!

Dave

[Hatch1921]

I think it is a good start. As mentioned above the DOF is very shallow. Try shooting from F/11-F16. With the lighting setup you have... you should be able to achieve great results. A basic rule of thumb for me... the greater the magnification...the more light you need. I've shot with the 580ex @ +3 and still needed more light. Do not be afraid to blast away until you find a the settings you need to expose the images properly. I tend to shoot a leaf or something just to test the exposure and see how things will look prior to shooting the insects.

First step... more DOF... you are well on your way. Have fun with it all... looking forward to more posts.

Welcome to the forum :)
Hatch

[ATBphotography]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I do agree, the second photo is too much overexposed,it seems that you all agree on using an even lower aperture so i'll try that out when i have the time.
Thanks again
Andrew Bennett.

[bones]

I agree with others about the DOF, but I took a look at your site, I like it and your portfolio shows you have a good eye for composition. Keep it up.

Bones

[ATBphotography]

Thanks bones.
I'm pleased you like my site, hopefully after my exams this summer, i should start putting a load more images on. Heres one image that i took of the same fly which i had forgotten i had taken (i still get lost looking through all my files) the shot was taken at f/14 at 1/80th with the same flash setup. The background is still the white table top but it isn't quite so washed out , what do you think?
http://www.andrewbennettphotography.co.uk/flyf14.jpg

[racketman]

lot of nearly great pics in your gallery; think I liked this one the best:
http://www.andrewbennettphotography.co.uk/bugweb2.jpg

[ATBphotography]

Thanks racketman, I'm really pleased that i joined this forum, i've had loads of new visitors to my website since joining. like i said i'll be putting lots of new images on over the summer.

[Omri Alon]

Welcome! :D Both your pics lack DOF. Try closing the aperture to something like f/13 or f/16.