Botanic Gardens - 11/04/2009

[Alm1ghty]

Very Clean & Sharp Photos :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

[nikkie]

Pro !
very nice. how on earth did you manage to capture the housefly? amazing.

 

[TroyP]

Clean and Sharp...

Good focus and colours! Esp. like the fly shots with marvellous compositions.

Great diffused light!

Thanks! I guess it's a combination of natural sunlight and double difused flash. I also love the colours I got off the leaves, best shots i've ever taken for sure!

 

[TroyP]

Great shots for all
But like #
41,33,34,24 & 14, #14 is the best as seen those tiny ants are crystal sharp.

You Win all.....
Cheers!!!!

Thanks! I just wish I could've got the big pile in full focus. I guess that's asking a bit much though.

fantastic shots:thumbsup:
I'm going to get nightmare with the dragon flies' eyes staring at me in all directions:bsmilie:

Which area of Botanics were you at to find those insects?

esther

LOL yeah, I went overboard on the dragonflies, but there was just so many there to take pics of, and they are such patient models.

You can lookup the map at streetdirectory.com and search for "Singapore Botanic Gardens".
If you drive, you can park at "Botany Centre". There's a map on ground level at "Green Pavillion" next to the Botany Centre. Look next to Swan Lake, there is an area marked "G". It's Northwest of Swan Lake, bordering Tyersall Avenue. That's where it is

Love #34 especially. The eyes are so sharp
How do you manage to capture the dragonfly without them flying away with a working distance of 12cm? :think:

It would be incredible if #45 were also taken with Raynox!:sweat:

Still deciding whether to get a macro lens or just the Raynox. Any advantages in putting a Raynox on a macro lens?

Some dragonflies are quite alright with you taking shots at close range, I can fire off 20 shots at different angles and they don't even fly away. Others are almost impossible to take a single shot of, but if they fly away they generally come back to the same spot, so just wait for their return.

 

[TroyP]

all i can say is WOW! :thumbsup::thumbsup:
great close up shots!
i mean look at that detail on the dragonflies especially! excellent!

did you use a tripod for these? if u didnt u must really have VERY steady hands hahaha

:bsmilie:

Thanks! I only use hand-held, tripod would be ineffective 95% of the time, and very time consuming to set up. At a 10cm working distance, any slight movement would mean moving the tripod again. My hands aren't steady at all, but I do manage to get into some comfortable positions where I can stabilise myself better. I use a 1/125sec shutter speed to compensate for any hand movement.

wows! :bigeyes:

Lotsa lovely shots you got there. nice! :thumbsup:

especially like 12,13 and 43

Thanks! I like 6, 12, 13, 19. The snail isn't much to look at, but I think it's a cute pose hehe.

 

[TroyP]

hi troy, very nice series, :thumbsup: ,,, i just got the same macro (raynox dcr 250) as yours, dont mind sharing some tips how you did your shots ? also can we see your diy difuser,,, many thanks

Thanks! All my settings are in the first post. I have a pic of my difuser in another thread, i'll have to dig it out. It's just a piece of plastic from a Meiji milk bottle.

Very Clean & Sharp Photos :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Thanks!

Pro !
very nice. how on earth did you manage to capture the housefly? amazing.

Thanks! Maybe the fly didn't notice me so well in the sun, and I was shining a flashlight in it's face, maybe it acted as a distraction hehe. The flies don't sit there for long, only got the 3 shots off.

 

[pcool]

All the pictures are great, very sharp and clear. Your new settings work wonder. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

[chansw]

Amazing macro.:thumbsup:
Is it solely using 50mm with raynox to get so close to the dragonfly?How u do it?

 

[TroyP]

All the pictures are great, very sharp and clear. Your new settings work wonder. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Thanks!

Amazing macro.:thumbsup:
Is it solely using 50mm with raynox to get so close to the dragonfly?How u do it?

Yep, all with 50mm F1.8 prime lens + Raynox DCR250. For the majority of the shots, I had the 50mm lens set to 0.45m focal distance. From my measurements, that puts the subject at 8.5cm away from the end of the Raynox.
To capture the full body of the dragonfly, I would change the focal distance to infinity. That's about 11.5cm to the subject, and roughly 50% wider and taller image (125% bigger).

 

[ex0rzist]

Nice control on the lighting. Your new diffuser works well. Care to share how your new diffuser looks like ?

 

[TroyP]

Nice control on the lighting. Your new diffuser works well. Care to share how your new diffuser looks like ?

Thanks. It's my new difuser, and my old difuser stacked back to back! :bsmilie:
I've used both separately at LPR night macro. The only difference between the 2 is the newer one is slightly bigger. I think it's more useful for D90 because the inbuilt flash is quite harsh (not designed for extreme macro IMO).

 

[BlackWhite]

you have a picture of how the 2 milk bottle diffuser looks like? sounds likea great low cost idea for some good fun!!
cheers!

 

[otc]

A very nice series of macro close-up with raynox.

Luvs also the diffused lighting on the light shadows beneath the fly.

Great images and thanks for sharing too.

otc

 

[TroyP]

A very nice series of macro close-up with raynox.

Luvs also the diffused lighting on the light shadows beneath the fly.

Great images and thanks for sharing too.

otc

Thanks!

you have a picture of how the 2 milk bottle diffuser looks like? sounds likea great low cost idea for some good fun!!
cheers!

I'll upload a new shot. It's actually quite a simple difuser.

 

[TroyP]

1. Old difuser

2. New difuser

3. Both attached to raynox (front)

4. Both attached to raynox (back)

5. Both attached to raynox (side)

.

 

[tchuanye]

Very good series! Now that you have figure out how to get the focus and lighting right....practice on composition. Too many shots here, but some have impact, some not so much.

Generally, watch out for the background and try to minimise clutter as far as possible.

What I like for composition are #11, 13, 30, 33

 

[simpleliving]

Hello Troy, great shots you have there !!

 

[TroyP]

Very good series! Now that you have figure out how to get the focus and lighting right....practice on composition. Too many shots here, but some have impact, some not so much.

Generally, watch out for the background and try to minimise clutter as far as possible.

What I like for composition are #11, 13, 30, 33

Thanks! Yep, yesterday was just a trigger happy event. Just aiming for good focus and lighting and didn't bother much about composition (except for the fly, but it set itself up for that one!).

Hello Troy, great shots you have there !!

Thanks!

 

[Outlook]

Great macro with simple set-up. The lighting is amazing with the self-made diffuser and pop-up flash.

 

[shakyhand76]

hi! troy, you got some amazing macro shot here. :thumbsup: i wanna ask your diffuser is made of what material? did you use built in flash only for these shots? this raynox 250 only can use in prime 50mm f1.8? how about 85mm f1.8?