Little Butterfly. C&C Welcome

Continuing my newbie efforts at macro here are some small butterflies I found in my garden a few weeks back. C&C welcomed.

GEAR
Canon Rebel 300D
28-105mm USMII
Vivitar Close-Up Lenses
Canon Speedlite 380EX Flash


I know they're a bit soft so I'd love to hear how I can make these shots better and sharper with the gear I used.

All the soften area of each shot are the natural effect from the close-up lenses. I only added a little sharpening and a little saturation for each shot.

Butterfly 1

Well, the good news is that you've proven that you can take shots of butterflies. The bad news is that awful Vivitar c/u lens. You should aim to ditch it at the earliest opportunity. You CAN get quite good results from a close up lens - check out some of my posts with my Canon S3 using the Canon 500D or Raynox DCR-250 - but not from a single element one. Hoya and Vivitar are one step up from the bottom of a bottle.
Having said that, I appreciate that cash might be a problem, and there are things that you can do with what you have:
1. Do you have Photoshop? If so, shoot raw and use the lens correction tool to get rid of the colour fringing.
2. Shoot at small apertures as this will not only help your DOF but also improve edge sharpness from the Vivitar lens.
3. On a minimal budget you can get yourself a set of extension tubes. You can use these for now with your kit lens, and they'll still be useful if you get a macro lens in future.
HTH,
Eccles.

I agree with Eccles, I bought a Raynox 250 and have been totally amazed at the results you can get from it.

eccles wrote in post #3637791
Well, the good news is that you've proven that you can take shots of butterflies. The bad news is that awful Vivitar c/u lens. You should aim to ditch it at the earliest opportunity. You CAN get quite good results from a close up lens - check out some of my posts with my Canon S3 using the Canon 500D or Raynox DCR-250 - but not from a single element one. Hoya and Vivitar are one step up from the bottom of a bottle.
Having said that, I appreciate that cash might be a problem, and there are things that you can do with what you have:
1. Do you have Photoshop? If so, shoot raw and use the lens correction tool to get rid of the colour fringing.
2. Shoot at small apertures as this will not only help your DOF but also improve edge sharpness from the Vivitar lens.
3. On a minimal budget you can get yourself a set of extension tubes. You can use these for now with your kit lens, and they'll still be useful if you get a macro lens in future.
HTH,
Eccles.

Thnx Eccles, I appreciate the tips and will put them info effect immediately. You're very right about the budget, I'm saving up for a 100mm or the 105mm Sigma. Any advise on which one's better?

Attic wrote in post #3637929
I agree with Eccles, I bought a Raynox 250 and have been totally amazed at the results you can get from it.

Hi Alby, I actually have a Raynox 250 in my Wish List on Amazon so hopefully soon I'll buy it. Thnx.

Depending on comparative prices in Trinidad & Tobago, I would still suggest that a set of extension tubes may well be your most cost effective purchase. They simply allow your existing lenses to focus closer. Since there's no glass in them there's not much benefit in going for Canon and many people here use Kenko. I use close up lenses because I have no alternative with my S3 which is a fixed lens compact.

eccles wrote in post #3643738
Depending on comparative prices in Trinidad & Tobago, I would still suggest that a set of extension tubes may well be your most cost effective purchase. They simply allow your existing lenses to focus closer. Since there's no glass in them there's not much benefit in going for Canon and many people here use Kenko. I use close up lenses because I have no alternative with my S3 which is a fixed lens compact.

Actually the only photography equip. I ever bought here (in Trinidad) was my 70-200mm f4L. And that's because I got it from a buddy at a steal ($400US:grin but normally the prices here are 3-5 times what you would normally pay in the US... so I buy online and wait until I know someone coming into the country to bring it for me (customs' fees here are also very high so I avoid shipping directly).
Having said that, the Kenko tubes cost about $169US (Adorama & Amazon) and the Raynox is about $40US so the Raynox would actually be the most cost effective solution.

I'd be interested to see and shots you guys took with the Raynox.