My first go at Macro

[Fledgling]

Here are a couple of my very first Macro shots. Purchased my first Canon last week (Powershot S2IS) - O.K. not quite (lol)up there with the big guns just yet but hey, you have to start somewhere.

Quite pleased with the flower although not quite centred, but bee is a little dark & not quite sure if that is even considered macro(?) Very bright time of the day & had a great deal of trouble to actually see through either the viewfinder or LCD Monitor to focus a little better.

Positive feedback & tips always appreciated.:) http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/missymoobooandco/2005crop.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/missymoobooandco/2005.jpg

[Ron Lacey]

Excellent macros, especially the bee, I don't see any serious clipping and I wouldn't get hung up on making sure it's centered, in fact often you don't want a centered compostion, the flower is quite good too but as subjects go flowers are pretty easy, bees are much more difficult:). The Powershot S2IS is an excellent camera, I have a couple of friends who own them and they produce great stuff so I wouldn't apologize.

As to your earlier question on the Canon 500D macro filter. That's relatively expensive for diopter lens and I'm not sure you'd improve the macro capabilities of the S2 with it. You might want to look into an expensive set of closeup diopter filters, they can be had for around $20-30 and see how they perform before you invest big. What the Canon and the afore mentioned cheapo filters do is to decrease the minimum distance you can focus your lens too so you'll find yourself having to get very close indeed to improve on the excellent macro abilities of the S2.

[Dragonslayer]

Nice attempts here and The bee image would be killer if you could have kept that white fence out of the backgroun here, The flower is my favorite and as mentioned centering the subject isn't the key to a good image, placement in the frame of the subject rarely favors centered, like the bee you would have your best image if the bee was lower in the frame and the frame was verticle giving the bee some room to move upward along the bloom.

[Fledgling]

Thankyou for your kind comments & just as much for your suggestions. I think I will "play" a little more with things just as they are for now but definately may implement your suggestion to experiment with cheaper filters, in a couple of months. Most interesting creepy crawlies seem to be in hibernation here at the moment (winter) so am going for a for a field trip tomorrow & hope to have something more to share for view & comment soon!

[RockOne]

Awesome. Very clear detail !

[queenbee288]

#1 is nice and sharp and I love the colors on #2.

Char

[Leorooster]

#1 is nice and sharp and I love the colors on #2.

Char

Ditto.

[Ballen Photo]

Hi Fledgling, and welcome to the forum. I'd say you're off to a pretty good start with these shot's, in fact, I really like the Bee. :D
-Bruce

[Fledgling]

Thanks everyone! Very encouraging comments - cheers!

[PicOlio]

Ok .. I've got the same camera... and the same VERY BRIGHT days... and I have bees and I have flowers. What I don't have is THOSE SHOTS!!!

What were the settings? And what kind of flower is that blue one?

I'm impressed, jealous, envious, and still trying :)

[Fledgling]

Thanks PicOlio. I (think) my settings were just P + supermacro, just used auto focus (isn't that lazy!) as I'm not very confident with the manual focus on the S2 yet (+ I think I need to get my eyes checked & prescription contacts or something, LOL).

The flower the bee is on is a type of Lavender, "Lavandula stoechas" or "Kew Red" which I think has its origins in the U.K.

The single flower shot is of a humble old daisy believe it or not! Not exactly sure of the species but I think it is in the African Daisy family (Dimorphotheca).

Perhaps they're just beginners luck or maybe because I also had my two year old trying to beat me to pick the last remaining "fowers" in her "gargen" & trying to pat the "piiitty (pretty) beeees" (LOL) - nothing like a bit of added pressure, ha ha.

[Bald Eagle]

Ditto.
double ditto, excellent shots.

[farrukh]

what to say hehe. all words are taken by above posts.
i liked the pic #2 more. u took it as perfect one can think if its edited. so its a gooody start.
now try doing some manual experiments. this cam got full learning facilities available in it. also try some massive zoom shots using IS

i got the S2IS a week ago and still doing experiments.
Here are some of my S2IS sample attached:

[Lioness]

Personally I think the second one is stellar. It doesn't matter that it's an easier subject- you did a great job with it. I think it has more creativity and taken with an artistic eye.

[RMc]

The bee is very good for a bee picture but your flower picture is awsome as far as flower pictures go.

Randy

[PicOlio]

I have no idea why but I am extremely fond of the clothes pin photo... I really like that!

[Ballen Photo]

I have no idea why but I am extremely fond of the clothes pin photo... I really like that!
I agree, Along with being very sharp, I think it's the way they are isolated? Nice job Farrukh. :D
-Bruce

[cowenbecky]

I love the daisy. That is awesome shot.

[malla1962]

looks like you did very well to me.:D

[Learner]

They are both great shots, but that second one is incredible!

[Becca]

I wish my first attempts were this good! I love the flower, the colors are gorgeous! And the bee is nice and sharp.

[Fledgling]

Thanks so much everyone, your comments are EXTREMELY encouraging. Thanks again.

Came across some info & stats today - don't know if they're accurate but it seems a reliable source to me & I just loved it!

It said:

....."According to National Geographic magazine their photographers shoot an average of 400 rolls of film to get the photos used in one article. So:


A typical article has 20 to 30 photos
A roll of 35mm film has 36 exposures
40 x 36 14,400 photos
On average they use about one out of every 500 photos - and these are some of the best photographers in the world."
How awesome is that!? True or not, I'm going to choose believe it for all the days that nothing gels together photographically for me. LOL!

[Ballen Photo]

Came across some info & stats today - don't know if they're accurate but it seems a reliable source to me & I just loved it!

It said:

....."According to National Geographic magazine their photographers shoot an average of 400 rolls of film to get the photos used in one article. So:

A typical article has 20 to 30 photos
A roll of 35mm film has 36 exposures
40 x 36 14,400 photos
On average they use about one out of every 500 photos - and these are some of the best photographers in the world."
Those are some interesting statistics. Did you find that article in National Geo it's self?
Sounds like an awfully small percentage of user photos. :shock:
400 rolls of film per article? Let's lowball the price of their film and say $5 US per roll, hmm, $5 X 400 = $2000.
$2000 in film expense alone per article? This speaks highly for Digital. ;)
Thanks for sharing this. :D
-Bruce

[Cobra351]

Both are great shots, but I love the second one, it's spectacular!

[Fledgling]

Thanks for your positive comment Cobra351!

Ballen Photo, very good question but no, I didn't find the quote in National Geo. Actually, I found it in a small booklet which came with my Jasc Paint Shop Pro called "Demystifying Digital Photography".

Stay tuned, I have emailed the folks at National Geo for a response to the quote......for curiosity's sake!

[farrukh]

took over 800pics with S2IS and and my faith in canon increased to 110%.

so i thought i may go on further with canon in future and buy an SLR.
so i planned for replacment of S2IS with EOS 350D. talked with canon dealer and he said ok.

and now im sitting with an SLR monster... [ EOS350D ]

i'll start experimenting with it and post pics like i did with S2IS

[Fledgling]

took over 800pics with S2IS and and my faith in canon increased to 110%.

so i thought i may go on further with canon in future and buy an SLR.
so i planned for replacment of S2IS with EOS 350D. talked with canon dealer and he said ok.

and now im sitting with an SLR monster... [ EOS350D ]

i'll start experimenting with it and post pics like i did with S2IS

I know what you're saying farrukh, I'm a Canon convert too. Look forward to seeing your pics with new gear.