They are looking at us (3 macro shots)

[msvadi]

this dragonfly was kind enough to pose for me today:

http://www.bytephoto.com/photopost/data/500/302030921_020_copy.jpg?5010

http://www.bytephoto.com/photopost/data/500/302030921_017_copy.jpg?7036

http://www.bytephoto.com/photopost/data/500/302030921_014.jpg?1862

[megaweb]

nice shots :)

If you wanna take better dragonfly shot , I would prefer the wings to be tilted upward. It is not easy to achieve that position but it is kind of challenge :) . Try to re-position the dragonfly ( you can use ur hand to wave it to let fly away and most of the time it will come back the same position again ) and when the moment it lands , the wings are tilted up. That is the best moment to capture it.

[msvadi]

megaweb wrote:
nice shots :)

If you wanna take better dragonfly shot , I would prefer the wings to be tilted upward. It is not easy to achieve that position but it is kind of challenge :) . Try to re-position the dragonfly ( you can use ur hand to wave it to let fly away and most of the time it will come back the same position again ) and when the moment it lands , the wings are tilted up. That is the best moment to capture it.



Thanks a lot. It's a nice tip. I will try that. It seems like one has to understand insects in order to take a good shot.

[marie]

very nice shots msvadi
congratulations
I like the last shot in particular.
(nice hints for all too )

:)

regards
marie

[pappy]

These are all excellent photos, very well done.

regards,
peter

[new girl on the bloc]

great macro-dragonfly shots! i rarely see any here, but i'd love to photograph some.

[sclamb]

msvadi

Superb shots! Can you give some technical details - it is always good to learn from the experience of others.

Thanks.

Simon

[msvadi]

sclamb wrote:
msvadi

Superb shots! Can you give some technical details - it is always good to learn from the experience of others.

Thanks.

Simon

I'm glad you like it.
I don't believe that I can give any usefull details, because I'm very new to all this. But, since I like to teach a lot (occupational hazard ;) ) here it comes:

I used B&W +10 macro lens for the first two shots. I bought it on ebay for something like $10. It arrived a couple of days ago, so what you see is actually my first macro shots.

I think that dragonflies are good subjects for macro practice. Like megaweb has mentioned, they stay on the same spot for a really long time. I took about 86 shots of that dragonfly. Most of it was an absolute crap, but I was able to select about 10-12 shots with more or less good focus. I tried also to take pictures of wasps and spiders, but it did not work very well (move to fast in the first case and not enough light in the second). With a dragobfly it's much-much easier. I was able to get very close to it. I think I even touched it a couple of times with the lens.

I used manual focus for the first two pictures. I set it to the smallest distance available at the full zoom:

Shutter speed: 1/100 sec
Aperture: 8.0
Exposure mode: Av
Flash: Off
ISO: 50
Focal length: 21.0mm
Subject distance: 0.265 m
AF mode: Manual Focus


The last shot is just plain G2 macro mode, no attachments, autofocus:

Shutter speed: 1/125 sec
Aperture: 8.0
Exposure mode: Av
Flash: Off
Metering mode: Evaluative
ISO: 50
Focal length: 21.0mm
Subject distance: 0.279 m
Macro focus: On
AF mode: Single AF
Focus point: [Left]

I adjusted levels and applied the USM filter in photoshop.

[sclamb]

Thanks for the information. Really good shots and nice to know the subject 'sat' for 86 of them! Wish I had more dragonflies and caterpillars to shoot in my garden.

I might invest in a +10 as I am stacking two +4s and a +2 at the moment and losing quite a bit of light. Still having fun with the reversed 50mm though.

Thanks again and keep posting those images!

Simon

[msvadi]

I guess, loosing light can be very critical for macro shooting. I noticed a lot of shake blur at shutter speeds below 1/100. I took those dragonfly shots in the middle of a very bright sunny day, but for the extreme close-up shots camera wanted to go to 1/60.

I'm wondering how is it possible to keep the shutter speed above 1/125 with f8.

The last time I did my shoping on ebay there was a lot of +1,+2,+4 macro sets (new or practically new) very cheap. I even put a bid on one of them, but, lucky for me, I was outbid. I did some reading and noticed that many people prefer +10 lens.

+10 lens are much harder to find on ebay. I did not want to pay the full price, because I was not sure how much macro I was going to shoot. I wanted +10 hoya, because of the front thread, but I could not find any. Again, I was lucky to find B&W lens in excellent condition quite cheap.

[sclamb]

msvadi

The only way to keep the shutter speed up is increase the ISO, or use flash at 1/60s to freeze the subject.

I noticed that you images were at ISO 50. Try ISO 200 and use something like Neat Image or Grain Surgery to reduce the noise.

Simon

[msvadi]

Thanks, I'll try different ISO settings the next time. I think I tried ISO 200 only once for a night shot and there was just too much noise. I like the clean look of ISO 50. But I'll try higher ISO values.

I have also 420EX flash, but it's useless for macro shooting if attached directly to the camera's hot shoe. What kind of device do I need to use it for macro photography?

(Just noticed that I hit 200 barrier a few posts ago. What privilegies do I get now? ;) Can I say "welcome" to new members now or I have to wait another 800 posts? ;) )

[sclamb]

Take a loook at the article at http://www.mplonsky.com/photo/equip.htm. This shows his flash setup.

I considered the MR-14EX macro ringlite until I saw the price (£350!) so I now use the set-up that Mark uses. It is a Kirk FB-8 flash bracket with the 420 EX mouned on it and connected to the G3 with the extension Flash Cord 2. Use an Omni bouce or other diffuser for the flash.

That set-up is quite liberating and allows ISO 50 shooting under most circumstances.

After 200 posts, you get to buy the drinks!

Simon