New to macro, need advice/help

first off - happy holidays everyone!

for christmas i recieved a canon 100mm macro. its an amazing lens, samurai sword sharp, and acts as a great portrait lens. my question is, i see a lot of you guys capturing bugs with such vivid detail. it seems to me i have to get so close to anything to get a good 1:1 magnification. How are you guys tip-toeing around bugs like flies and such and not scaring them away? I have a tripod, but its so clunky and ameteurish that i feel like it would be more of a hassle than a help

any suggestions would be of so much help thanks guys!!

Congrats on the lens. Many of us handhold the lens for bug shots or use whatever support you can find around (often bits of yourself) - I often use a bean pole which I hold in my left hand and just grab whatever bit of camera I can. A lot of the shots you see in the macro section use flash (camera in manual 1/200th, iso100, F11) flash in ettl. This helps freeze any motion.
Some tips on not scaring off bugs here- http://www.flickr.com …iscuss/72057594​073223102/

Brian V.

Thank you for the link Brian. The tips will come in handy.

barbara

d.tek,
Congrats on your macro lens and welcome to the forum

d.tek wrote in post #6946879
How are you guys tip-toeing around bugs like flies and such and not scaring them away?

I try to get them unharmed in there natural environment which can be hard and I need to approach very slowly and quietly, and a lot of them get scared away

LordV wrote in post #6950840
Some tips on not scaring off bugs here- http://www.flickr.com …iscuss/72057594​073223102/

Brian V.

Brian - Excellent listing. One other that I use for most non-predatory insects is coming at them straight on. While they all detect lateral movement very well, they detect head-on movement less so. Of course, the predators have very good vision for just about any kind of movement so this doesn't work so well from them. Nothing like looking at a praying mantis at 1:2, then having it turn and lock its eyes on you. It's like something from a 1950s SciFi horror movie...

Do not get too frustrated trying to do bugs with your 100mm, it is hard. You really need a longer lens to do bugs well. 150-300mm. Would give you a nice comfortable working distance.

I, too, have a 100mm and am new to macro. I also just purchased a set of diopters (close up filters) from Hoya. It was about $100 for a set of 3 (+1, +1, +4) from Adorama.

For capturing bugs, I find the time of day and ambient temperature play a vital role in my success rate.

I find the best time to go bug-shooting in the summer is early morning, and in the autumn, early evening right before dusk or on cool days in general; the cooler temperatures calm down active bugs quite a bit and give you a chance to get in close. I've been able to easily get within 3 inches of flies, damselflies, dragonflies, and bumblebees on cooler days, but very rarely can I do this on the warmer ones.

I won't actually have owned a proper macro lens until next week; up to now, I've been using my Sigma 70-300 APO DG and a 50mm 1.4 with Kenko tubes. That said, I notice now that I use the Sigma more in the summer (almost 3 feet of working distance, 1:2 magnification) and my 50mm + tubes more in the late summer / fall (about 2 inches or less of working distance, but close to 2:1 magnification).

Other things you can do to avoid scaring away bugs is to keep your camera at eye level and to stay low while creeping; doing so reduces your profile a bit so it takes the bugs a little while longer to notice your approach. I also don't think I've ever made a good bug shot with a lens hood mounted; they seem to increase the profile of your camera to the bugs enough that they will almost always fly away before you can capture them.

If you're a bit crazy like me, spend a few days using the 50mm + tubes or any other very short-range macro setup, and you'll find yourself learning stealth and how to creep up to bugs very quickly