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Home > TME Community > Share Your Work > Macro > Lady bug
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Wes
Posts: 8,976 |
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| Lady bug | June 10, 2012 @ 4:22pm | 
Wes |
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Flo
Posts: 17,472 |
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| June 11, 2012 @ 9:21am | Remarkable - you are getting very good at capturing bugs!
Please tell me what you are using. I'm assuming you're using your new Nikon with the Nikkor 105mm macro lens? Are you also using extension tubes or a magnifying adaptor?
Because the image below is as close to a lady bug as I can get with my Nikon D300, plus the Sigma 92mm macro lens!
Larger
Even when I had the old Sigma 92mm macro with the adaptor that allowed it to shoot at 100% magnification, I still couldn't get much closer, and certainly not as close are you're getting. I'm getting discouraged. So I'd appreciate any advice/insights you can give me.
Flo - PPY
"May we live in peace without weeping. May our joy outline the lives we touch without ceasing. And may our love fill the world, angel wings beating." aziza
http://photos.tonebytone.com |
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Wes
Posts: 8,976 |
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| June 11, 2012 @ 9:51am | You are always such a voice of encouragement, Flo. I have worked so hard to improve my close ups but I am progressing very slowly. Yesterday most of my shots were out of focus so I was very disappointed. But this one did come out nicely. I did use the D800 with the Nikon 105mm macro lens. I usually set it to 1:1 and then move in and out to get a focus. With moving subjects, that is not an easy task. This lady bug, for example never stopped moving so I just shot multiple shots as I was following her around. If the shots are very well focused, you can crop down to get closer but they do have to be sharp. I do that sometimes but don't end up with a pleasant shot.
I do like the composition in your shot a lot. The yellows, oranges, blacks and greens all work to help bring out your lady bug.
Whatever you do don't get discouraged. I did on yesterday's shoot and it could have sent me into the depths of depression. However, I did use my Tamron 180 mm, macro yesterday and it is just too big for me to handle well. Even on a tripod I couldn't get a decent focus. Seems like my tripod, the neotec, was not as steady as I would have liked. To top it all off, I lost my remote somewhere along the shoot. That must be at least 5 that I have lost. So not a good day at all. I will be back out tomorrow morning though to see if I can work out my problems. So, don't give up, get mad and upset, but keep trying. I would like to see you capture closer. Are you setting your camera or lens on manual focus and then setting the distance to 1:1. Give that a try. Also are you using a tripod? I send you good luck wishes on your next field trip.
Wes |
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Last Edit: June 11, 2012 @ 12:50pm by Wes | |
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Flo
Posts: 17,472 |
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| June 11, 2012 @ 11:31am | Thanks, Wes. This macro lens doen't shoot at 1:1 without an adaptor. Since I bought it used, it didn't have its adaptor. I have used 10X adaptors with it, but then the DOF is so shallow, it's hardly worth it. I haven't tried extension tubes yet, but with then there's a stop or so of light lost.
About losing remotes, lol. What you need is something around your neck to attach the remote to and then it would always be hanging around your neck. If they don't have a hole in them, then try Crazy or Gorilla Glue. Or a watch fob-type gizmo - maybe something that clips onto a belt or could hang from the camera strap.
I tend to lose lens caps, so now I have them all attached to their own lenses - you can buy these things cheap at most camera stores. The elastic does wear out eventually and then you'd have to replace it.
Flo - PPY
"May we live in peace without weeping. May our joy outline the lives we touch without ceasing. And may our love fill the world, angel wings beating." aziza
http://photos.tonebytone.com |
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RickT
Posts: 1,870 |
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| June 11, 2012 @ 6:09pm | Nice one, Wes! Sorry that you're losing shutter releases, though. I hope the Nikon ones aren't as ridiculously overpriced as the Canon ones.
Flo, like Wes says, if you can get good focus on your subject, you should have the pixels in your D300 for some substantial cropping and enlargement. I do it all the time, and my Canon 40D only has 10 M pixels to play with. This one that I posted the other day is only about 50% of the original image (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rwteichler/7165147821/in/photostream). Focus is a problem for me, too. My favorite lens for macro is 100mm and is rated at 1:1, but the poor thing's auto-focus gets completely confused as you approach that maximum, so I'm usually focusing manually. I use a tripod as much as possible. If I have to handhold, I try to snap just at the right spot as my body moves subtly back and forth with random muscle movements. Craig recommended setting the shutter action to hot and squeezing off several shots, hoping that one would hit the sweet spot. I prefer single shots, but that's because I'm lazy and don't like to have hundreds of shots to review. If you've got a subject that's moving predictably, like walking along a branch, you can try focusing on a spot ahead of it and let it walk into your focus zone.
RickT
Boulder, Colorado
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rwteichler/
PPY |
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Wes
Posts: 8,976 |
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| June 12, 2012 @ 8:17am | Thanks for you input, Rick. Macro shooting can certainly be frustrating at times but when things start working out, life is good. I think my challenge is mostly patience and just learning how to slow down when I am shooting. I haven't quite figured out why I am in such a hurry but I will get it one of these days. I don't mind going through a lot of shots if I find something that I like.
Wes |
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Flo
Posts: 17,472 |
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| June 12, 2012 @ 9:59am | Rick, thanks for your added input. Cropping??? Well, I had no idea you were cropping as much as 50%!!! So maybe my efforts aren't so bad after all!
I've tried and tried Craig's technique of slowly moving in and out while shooting off several to many frames. Usually I don't get even ONE frame with the focus I want!
So now, like Wes, I'm trying to slow down and be deliberate. As for using a tripod, unless I get a lighter camera and lens system, I get too tired to lug around a tripod, too.
I'm seriously considering moving "down" to the Nikon 1v1 plus its 2 VR lenses plus the adaptor that will allow full-sized Nikon-mount lenses to be used with its body. Apparently it's quite a remarkable little camera - not exactly micro 4/3rds. Its conversion factor with full-sized lenses is 2.7.
I have an ancient Tamron 200-400mm goliath of a zoom that's sharp as a tack. If I'd mount that lens on the Nikon 1v1 body, theoretically I'd have the equivalent of over a 1000mm!! Which would necessitate a tripod, of course, lol. Also might be too cumbersome for macro shots.
But I'm also waiting for my local camera dealer to get in the Olympus OM-Ds - to look at. Seems that it's so in demand here in the USA, that Olympus is rationing the cameras among the various dealers. Andreas over in Austria has had one for several weeks and he didn't have to wait very long. Good thing for him that he doesn't live here, lol. Now, if I'd go for the Olympus, then I'd have to trade in most of my Nikon bodies and lenses - keeping only a couple lenses for the Fuji body that takes Nikon lenses (it shoots IR).
What really bugs me is that when I was in college, I could get really great macro shots - on film - no computer and PS to play with them, either. I seem to have lost that ability somewhere along the way.
Flo - PPY
"May we live in peace without weeping. May our joy outline the lives we touch without ceasing. And may our love fill the world, angel wings beating." aziza
http://photos.tonebytone.com |
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Wes
Posts: 8,976 |
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| June 12, 2012 @ 2:57pm | Flo, remember it isn't always the camera. I have finally stopped buying another lens or whatever in order to achieve better macros with the camera I now have. For me, I know I don't need anything more, just more shooting, more patience, and less demanding on me. Today was a rainy day but I would have gone out again if it wasn't. I did start out but there was just too much wind. No need to add more frustration to my macro work for sure. I still think you can get some nice stuff with what you have.
I like this quote but am not sure if I believe it. Maybe the other way around:
"I honestly believe photography is 75 percent chance and 25 percent skill. In accidents, we really discover the magic of photography."
—Stanley Greene
Wes |
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Last Edit: June 12, 2012 @ 2:59pm by Wes | |
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Flo
Posts: 17,472 |
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| June 12, 2012 @ 3:50pm | Thanks, Wes - yes, I could probably do better with more practice, using the camera bodies and lenses I have now.
But the whole point of moving to the Nikon 1v1 system is to REDUCE THE WEIGHT that I lug around. With the D300 plus the macro lens hanging from around my neck, it ends up hurting my neck after a while. Then my back starts aching and when I have pains, I tend very quickly to lose enthusiasm for keeping on going.
This has affected every workshop I've taken for the past 2 years. I've tended to shoot less and less, instead of more and more. I come home disappointed with my output.
My physical body just can't take the weight any more.
Flo - PPY
"May we live in peace without weeping. May our joy outline the lives we touch without ceasing. And may our love fill the world, angel wings beating." aziza
http://photos.tonebytone.com |
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Wes
Posts: 8,976 |
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| June 12, 2012 @ 7:17pm | Believe me I understand what you are talking about, Flo. That is why I had to get rid of my D3 and go for a lighter camera. This one sure helps out. It isn't any fun when the body gets tired. I continue to work out 1 hour every day and my injured shoulders are getting much better at walking around with a camera on them so I have conquered that part of getting older. I guess there will always be something going on at my age.
Wes |
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Last Edit: June 12, 2012 @ 7:17pm by Wes | |
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assignment
Community Assignment #53
Picture Window
Due Date: September 16, 2011 |
Have you heard about the Backyard Shots Photography Guide "Street Portraiture with CraigTanner"?
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