Question for all of you macro shooters

[AprilArchambeau]

My husband got me the 100mm 2.8 macro for Christmas, and in my experiences, bugs always fly away when you go near them. So how in the world do you guys get the close ups of the bees and flies, and things of that nature? I see myself laying in the grass for countless hours in the spring :lol:

[Sorarse]

Try explaining that one away to the neighbours! ;) Have fun.

[tzalman]

My husband got me the 100mm 2.8 macro for Christmas, and in my experiences, bugs always fly away when you go near them. So how in the world do you guys get the close ups of the bees and flies, and things of that nature? I see myself laying in the grass for countless hours in the spring :lol:

The new IS model? Lucky girl, I dream about that lens. Increasing the focal length with a 1.4 tele-converter will allow you to stay a bit further away and the quality of the lens is so high that even if you do take a small hit in IQ it will still be great. I don't know if it will take the Canon converter, but the Kenko or Tamron will probably go on.

[chauncey]

Try zapping them with some hair spray...

[AprilArchambeau]

Haha I seriously considered putting super glue on an ants feet ans positioning them on a leaf :lol:. I know I'm mean!

And no, it isnt the IS :cry:. But I want to make myself so that I do not rely on IS so this should help because I will be using it for portraits as well!

[Tony-S]

Non-predatory arachnids have excellent lateral perception, but poor head-on perception. Your approach to these should be head-on. for predatory arachnids you move head-on, but only in brief advances. It's a slow game and you click while you go.

[tzalman]

Try zapping them with some hair spray...
Copy sent to the SPCA. Your right to write in the Exif, "No animals were injured in the making of this photograph," is hereby revoked.

I want to make myself so that I do not rely on IS
Years too late for me to do that.

[John_B]

AprilArchambeau,
Slow movement and lots of tries can give excellent results that you truly earn.
Of course that is just my opinion, as there are those that step down to chauncey's way :(

[chauncey]

or you could capture them and cool them in the fridge for a while for no permenant damage...it's a bug and you kill thousands every day sinply by walking around.

[Mike]

I prefer thee natural and harmless way of stalking the subject. It takes time and patience and when you get a good shot it makes it worthwhile.
Take time to look around your garden as you will find many more bugs and critters than you initially think are there.

[tonylong]

Congrats on getting a great lens, April! Macro shooting needs patience and development of skills that are important to the field, but the rewards are there.

I'd have a tripod on hand when you're shooting macros so you can get the narrow apertures that give you a reasonable depth of field -- if you shoot at something like f/2.8, those tiny shots will have very little in focus. Even f/16 will surprise and/or dismay you at how little is in focus when macro shooting.

Just so you know, a lot of the ultra-close bug shots are done with the MP-E 65mm lens that is capable of 5:1 magnification -- that is, a bug will present an image on your sensor that is 5 times its actual size. The 100mm macro has a 1:1 magnification, meaning a 5mm bug will appear on the sensor at 5mm. So, don't let some of the macro images you see throw you off. Use your lens to its best capabilities. Shoot things that will fill the frame as much as possible -- you will be able to get some amazing stuff if you just stick with it.

You can also use tubes and TeleConverters to get closer (with tubes) or more magnification. Also, pack a flash and a hotshoe flash extension cord. There are special macro flashes, but if you have a regular hotshoe flash you can handhold it to light close-up subjects that would otherwise tend to be blocked by the lens shadow.

A method that people have used with very nice results to combat the narrow depth of field is called "focus stacking". This is where you take a number of shots for which you slightly change the focal plane to get a wider depth of field. I've seen some great results from this, although if you are shooting a moving bug you'll get uncertain results:).

Have fun! Shoot a bunch of different subjects/objects to get a feel of how to do this (and to get a whole different perspective on "how things look")! Since your husband got this for you, go ahead and make him sit for a portrait of his eyeball! Play!

[chauncey]

Tony, you gave us a lot of good info there...thanks. ;)