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I like the 3rd one the most!
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Jan 22, 2012 08:35
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Just got a flash over the weekend so finally I've been able to get some more macro shooting in. Unfortunately with these, the pan I used had a nice coat of oil on it (was supposed to be clean  ) so they look a little noisy and messy, but whatever, it was my first attempt. 
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Jan 24, 2012 09:48
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yoohoo posted:Just got a flash over the weekend so finally I've been able to get some more macro shooting in. Unfortunately with these, the pan I used had a nice coat of oil on it (was supposed to be clean I really need to work on my macro lighting. I built a large diffuser for my flash so now I end up with a nice reflection of my square diffuser instead:  For future reference: a ladybug can't live in a container for 2 days without food or water. 
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Jan 26, 2012 18:59
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yoohoo posted:Just got a flash over the weekend so finally I've been able to get some more macro shooting in. Unfortunately with these, the pan I used had a nice coat of oil on it (was supposed to be clean I tried it for the first time today as well. Very enjoyable though it takes a lot of time to get everything right. The oven tray I used had white specks embedded in the black and it really shows. Learned a lot from this and will definitely give it another try soon.   Used extension tubes on my my 55-250 lens, set roughly to 125mm. Autofocus isn't great on these tubes and it works even worse on water, so most of my time was spent on the focus and it still came out pretty bad, especially compared to yoohoo's shots. DOF is also a big issue as you can see with these F8.0 pictures but the flash I used was set to 1/16, so next time I'll play more with those two. InternetJunky posted:Those came out pretty great. Are you timing the shot manually or do you have a fancier setup? I don't know what Yoohoo did, but since this is really hard to time I just set the camera to take 10 consecutive shots every time. With 1/250 that got me on average 2 or 3 usable pictures, with 7 where nothing happens.
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Jan 26, 2012 21:02
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InternetJunky posted:Those came out pretty great. Are you timing the shot manually or do you have a fancier setup? I just timed it manually, went through about 200 shots in about 30 minutes. I found that if you release the shutter just before you think the drop is about to hit the water you can usually get some good shots. I'm going to try the same setup later today but with a much higher depth of field, I think these were shot at 2.8 and 5. BioTech you don't want to autofocus with these kinds of shots. Set everything up and get your water dripping and then switch your camera to manual focus, take a pen and put it right where the drops hits the water and manually focus on that point using the 5x or 10x. Then you can just fire away as much as you need to without worrying about the camera focusing on an impossibly small and fast point. yoohoo fucked around with this message at 21:14 on Jan 26, 2012 |
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Jan 26, 2012 21:09
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yoohoo posted:BioTech you don't want to autofocus with these kinds of shots. Set everything up and get your water dripping and then switch your camera to manual focus, take a pen and put it right where the drops hits the water and manually focus on that point using the 5x or 10x. Then you can just fire away as much as you need to without worrying about the camera focusing on an impossibly small and fast point. I think we saw the same Youtube video, because I tried just that. I kept the thing in manual focus after finding the pen with autofocus, but I had to hang the bag with water from a lamp, which rotated a bit meaning drops went everywhere. This is why I had to keep adjusting. Next time I'll have a clean surface, more depth and a stable drip. I also did this with a Gorillapod and while I love it, it showed I need a real tripod. Zoomlens and extension tubes are a bit too heavy to keep it stable.
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Jan 26, 2012 21:39
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Everything I take a picture of seems to come with a complimentary rat hair. Cheese mould: 
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Jan 27, 2012 19:47
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Not perfect, but still one of the better Macro shots i've taken so far.
FlashBewin fucked around with this message at 21:46 on Feb 23, 2012 |
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Jan 27, 2012 21:37
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These are definitely not going to win any photography awards, but I was amazed they came out so good for being handheld. It's a nudibranch (a saltwater creature / aquarium pest) in a water bottle, lit with a flashlight and taken with a 5DmkII and the 100mm L macro w/ 68mm extension tubes at closest focusing distance. It's probably 5mm long.  And its eggs - the disc is about 3mm wide. I found it unbelievable that you can make out the cell walls (or whatever this would be called) in the top-right part. I wish I had got the whole thing in the focus plane.  I had hoped to do a lot of macrophotography of my reef tank when I got into this new hobby, but I didn't make a wise choice for my tank... it's made of cheap acrylic and has a curved front, which makes it a huge pain to shoot through. My next tank will definitely will have a low-iron flat glass front so I can get much better photos. I was really happy with this shot, though:  There is a 'sweet spot' where things at the front, center of the tank aren't horribly distorted. Gambl0r fucked around with this message at 07:19 on Jan 28, 2012 |
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Jan 28, 2012 07:04
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 Paper Trail  The head of a red wasp  Eye of a common anole (lizard)
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Jan 29, 2012 21:09
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My second batch of water drop shots was identical to the first (scroll up), but I tried some new things with the third batch and this came out as the best shot. I am gonna remove the three specks of dust and the white thing near the bottom right corner, but otherwise I really like this one. This is straight from the camera, no processing done yet.
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Feb 3, 2012 12:15
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There are a lot of fantastic images in this thread. I hope to have some good ones down the road, but for now here is Tesla who guards my desk. Tesla by omgitsdave, on Flickr I'm looking for suggestions on what gear to go with. Here is what I have: Rebel T3i EF-S 18-135mm 3.5-5.6 IS EF 50mm 1.8 II fake edit: also a cheapo LED ring-light. So far I am using dirt cheap close-up filters on the 50mm. I am considering Raynox for a next purchase based on this thread. Which Raynox snap-on would work best for me? I may also just go ahead and get an actual macro lens. I am looking at either the 60 F2.8 EF-S MACRO or the EF 100 F2.8 MACRO. Initial thoughts are for just a few bucks more I should consider the 100, but that the 60 will essentially be 100 on my camera, and will be lighter to carry around. Would this help for hand-held shots? Thoughts?
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Feb 3, 2012 17:16
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omgitsdave posted:Initial thoughts are for just a few bucks more I should consider the 100 Well, it depends on what you shoot but the 100 would be a lot better for bugs and things like that. The 60 would require you to be awfully close. It'd probably be okay for floral stuff but 90mm or longer is what I'd recommend for a dedicated macro lens. The Raynox DCR-250 is what I have, it's pretty great in a pinch. Here's a yellowjacket wasp with the DCR250+Nikon 50mm 1.8  I had to get uncomfortably close to get that shot, haha. I'd say if you got the Raynox you'd probably be better off using it on the 18-135 at the longer end. I use it on a 70-300VR now and get good results.  7 shots focus stacked: 
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Feb 3, 2012 19:40
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Soooo, this woman's macrophotography is currently on some design blogs: http://www.flickr.com/photos/twomeows/sets/72157628096684316/ (The more impressive ones are toward the end) How much of this do you think is done in-camera, and how much is post? I mean... are you freaking kidding me ? I realize she is getting great, sharp shots... but the insane color in the backgrounds and flowers, the too-good-to-be-true bokeh, the perfectly placed rain falling... is this for real?!
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Feb 4, 2012 00:36
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Gambl0r posted:I realize she is getting great, sharp shots... but the insane color in the backgrounds and flowers, the too-good-to-be-true bokeh, the perfectly placed rain falling... is this for real?! I saw something a little while back in a real similar style: http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/interview-magical-insect-photographer That kind of shows his setup and what he does. He claims no editing outside of: quote:Sometimes the photos require a little fine tuning that mostly includes general brightness/contrast, white balance correction, and noise reduction. But there is no change in the content of the photo. This is not a photomontage, no pasting in or cutting out objects, no selective coloring or saturation boosting or anything similar. The colors are real, the "snow" is real, and so are the insects, landscapes and the rest. The results are impressive but man he must be putting tranqs into his sugar cubes because I could never get something like a mantis to pose for me like they manage to get.
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Feb 4, 2012 01:12
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 wool carder bee by Raikyn, on Flickr  Bee in Flight by Raikyn, on Flickr Raikyn fucked around with this message at 08:03 on Feb 5, 2012 |
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Feb 5, 2012 03:05
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PREYING MANTITS posted:The results are impressive but man he must be putting tranqs into his sugar cubes because I could never get something like a mantis to pose for me like they manage to get. My guess is that this is taken in the morning. Insects are generally not very active during that time. (But I like the idea of putting tranqs into the sugar cubes.)
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Feb 5, 2012 11:19
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azathosk posted:My guess is that this is taken in the morning. Insects are generally not very active during that time. (But I like the idea of putting tranqs into the sugar cubes.) There'd be a market for'em in both sugar cubes and powdered form to sprinkle on flowers! I cannot get bees to stay still for the life of me!  yeah, I'm thinking early morning too. Either that or the freezer trick.For the heck of it (and because I lacked a proper Nikon micro lens) I decided to pick up an old Nikkor 55mm f3.5 Micro PC AI manual focus lens off KEH for some experimenting. I already had a 2X Kenko TC and a Raynox DCR-250 macro adapter on hand so I figured I'd see what kind of quality I could get out of it with all that tacked on. Here's an uncropped/unresized/unsharpened shot with the setup:  The working distance is around 4 or 5 inches when using the lens nearly at its max, unfortunately it extends long enough to block a bit of the flash as you can see so to remedy that I've got a DIY snoot made from a pringles can of all things with a coffee filter on the end of it to diffuse the light which worked fine for me with another setup but I haven't put it on this setup yet. I'm quite happy with the results already so I doubt it'll be disappointing. It's a bit overkill on larger critters but just unclipping the Raynox mostly solves that and gives a much longer working distance in case you're dealing with skittish ones. edit: and a shot today with the diy snoot/foam diffuser of a carpenter bee which apparently read this thread and felt sorry for me and actually kept still for awhile.  PREYING MANTITS fucked around with this message at 08:43 on Feb 27, 2012 |
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Feb 23, 2012 04:49
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My latest attempts... Macro Spider-100 by The1KrisRoB, on Flickr And my favourite from the set (still alive and impersonating a facehugger)  Macro Spider-072 by The1KrisRoB, on Flickr PS if you're a gigantic pussy and can't stand spiders, I'm sorry (I'm not sorry)
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Mar 4, 2012 00:13
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So I need some advice guys. I have a Raynox DCR-250 coming to give macro stuff a try. However I still need a flash so I can hand shoot since with the wind out here a tripod and slower shutter speed are going to suck. I have a Nikon D3000 right now and will be upgrading, but that will be several months down the line. So what flash should I look at for around $150?
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Mar 6, 2012 00:17
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I'm pretty happy with how this turned out.
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Mar 9, 2012 06:39
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Atticus_1354 posted:So I need some advice guys. I have a Raynox DCR-250 coming to give macro stuff a try. However I still need a flash so I can hand shoot since with the wind out here a tripod and slower shutter speed are going to suck. I have a Nikon D3000 right now and will be upgrading, but that will be several months down the line. So what flash should I look at for around $150? I'd recommend grabbing a Yongnuo 468, a cheap e-ttl cable and a cheap flash bracket/ballhead. DIY diffuser and you should be set for ~150.
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Mar 11, 2012 17:30
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Jook posted:I'd recommend grabbing a Yongnuo 468, a cheap e-ttl cable and a cheap flash bracket/ballhead. DIY diffuser and you should be set for ~150. Thanks. I am pretty handy and have access to tools, so I will be building the bracket and diffuser. I have been playing with my Raynox 250 and I enjoy it a lot, but I definitely need the flash since the tripod really limits the options.
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Mar 11, 2012 17:52
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Graniteman posted:I'm pretty happy with how this turned out. That's awesome!
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Mar 14, 2012 00:19
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Was too cold for bugs so here's some not-bugs.      
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Mar 15, 2012 13:26
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http://www.geekologie.com/2012/03/what-in-the-insane-posed-ant-photography.php I want to wave to my little friends too Time to bust out my dumbest purchase ever, my x10 up close lens for my 50mm.
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Mar 17, 2012 19:20
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rear end is my canvas posted:http://www.geekologie.com/2012/03/what-in-the-insane-posed-ant-photography.php Ants on the foreground are perfectly in focus, ants on the back are out of focus and yet the trees way, way far away are only slightly blurred... That's one hell of a DoF.
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Mar 17, 2012 23:03
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I am guessing he is stacking and compositing the good poses from shot to shot. The last one pushes it but rocks anyway.
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Mar 17, 2012 23:21
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rear end is my canvas posted:I am guessing he is stacking and compositing the good poses from shot to shot. The last one pushes it but rocks anyway. Stacking implies multiple shots with one single composition. Here, the foregrounds are disconnected from the backgrounds, like one is simply pasted on top of the other. I don't have a problem with heavily manipulated images, as long as it's honest.
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Mar 17, 2012 23:46
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yeah, while those images are pretty neat looking I have a feeling that a lot of post work went into them including merging of different shots.
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Mar 18, 2012 02:03
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Posted this in SAD some time back Standby, dragonfly by alkanphel, on Flickr
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Mar 18, 2012 03:01
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I just picked up the DCR-250 and slapped it on my ef 50mm 1.4 My under-utilized Blue Yeti mic. You guys weren't kidding, macro is hard.
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Mar 23, 2012 03:54
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Nuts and Gum posted:You guys weren't kidding, macro is hard. Yeah, but very rewarding too. 
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Mar 23, 2012 04:44
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I really want to get some extension rings or something instead of reverse mounting, it's just so tricky getting this close to a bug without accidentally poking him.  Mayfly by MrDespair, on Flickr
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Mar 24, 2012 01:51
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I made a new diffuser for my 430EX flash, to use as a macro flash. Because the surface area of the custom flash is bigger, and is only on one side, the light is softer and gives the image more depth; so the images are meant to look a lot better than with my (considerably more expensive) MR-14EX macro ring flash. Here it is finished and attached:  Now that it was built, I went on the hunt for some bugs to photograph. It seems my yard now has a lot of leaf-curling spiders (I'd say about 15-20 or so that I could see). The problem with photographing them is that because they're usually hovering in between leaves and branches with a lot of space around them, you end up with an image of them with a pitch-black background: not ideal. Whilst I continued looking, I saw a leaf-curling spider in action. A bug flew past it and only just touched its web, not enough to get snagged. This didn't stop the spider coming flying out of its leaf at a ridiculous speed. Incredible. Unfortunately, it immediately scuttled back into its web after realising there was no meal to be had. Still in the same position, I looked up to see a fly hanging around under a leaf. Since it was on a lovely green leaf, I thought I'd grab a shot. Sure flies aren't that exciting, but this was mostly to test out my new flash diffuser.  Upon closer inspection, something wasn't right with this particular fly. If you look at it's abdomen, you'll see a bunch of tiny bugs all over it. Let's have a closer look at it.  Now, I'm not fly expert, but I believe they deposit their young in dead or dying flesh, which they then eat and grow from maggots into an adult fly. This would indicate that what is on that fly's abdomen is not offspring, but parasites, namely mites. The fly can't be enjoying having those things hanging off him, though I'm not sure how they affect the fly itself. My backyard adventures didn't end there. I did find a leaf-curling spider in action, feasting on a captured wasp. I had to photograph that. As you'll see, the background doesn't have the most pleasing look since it's so dark, which I described earlier.  I know there are wasps around where I live, I had to smash one of their nests last year since it was right outside my back door. I can't say I have seen one with as much colour on it. Nice catch Mr. Spider, enjoy your meal! I know the images aren't the best. I think someone in this thread may have asked how this macro rig went, so I though't I'd share this just in case.
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Mar 25, 2012 05:53
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I forgot to put a diffuser on my flash when I went out,still not too bad. 347C0006-sml by Raikyn, on Flickr
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Mar 27, 2012 08:21
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What flash bracket is that Danoss? It seems nice and simple. I started bug season with baby spiders and a new cheap mini-softbox thing that works much better than the previous bubble wrap and foil.  Triumph at Tightrope School by Icybacon, on Flickr  Mama Wolf by Icybacon, on Flickr
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Mar 30, 2012 07:10
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Alpenglow posted:What flash bracket is that Danoss? It seems nice and simple. It's an eBay special, the Hakuba L-H1 flash bracket. Seems like some finally turned up on eBay again, they went AWOL for a while there. Here's a link.
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Mar 30, 2012 11:30
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Has anyone here tried Magic Lantern? I read it has a focus stacking setting where it automatically moves between two selected focus depths taking pictures along the way. Does it work? Does it automatically stack them or do you have to do it afterwards? I am using an extension tube and dof is razorthin, so this could really help me out. However, I am kinda scared of installing Magic Lantern.
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Mar 30, 2012 14:02
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Built a flash bracket and took some pictures of roses.   Still have a lot of work to do with the colors and I really need to clean my lens, but I like the result so far.
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Mar 31, 2012 15:05
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