Insect macro shots @ Botanic Gardens - 19/04/2009

[simpleliving]

I use Raynox with my 450D and Kit lens, nowhere as good as yours. You must be a really patient guy taking those great shots with your Raynox, cause I must say it's not the easiest thing to focus accurately with that baby on. May I know what is the success rate with your shots? For me, I can easily throw away 100 pics just to get a couple of well focused close-ups. Lost motivation already :flush:

hi there....dun give up so easily
practise more....i am learning how to control the raynox as well....
you need to learn how to control your movement and breathing good so that you can focus well....start by taking larger objects for practising

 

[Fallenphoenix]

I love the details in ur pics.......

 

[HeiPiGu]

hi there....dun give up so easily
practise more....i am learning how to control the raynox as well....
you need to learn how to control your movement and breathing good so that you can focus well....start by taking larger objects for practising

Hey thanks. Maybe I can practice with still life shots first. Actually thought of buying those preserved bugs and then practice my Raynox at home with them, haha :bsmilie:

 

[TroyP]

Thanks guys for the compliments and comments

#2 - What's that thing the guy is standing on?

#2 is a sideways shot. Its the stalk inside a flower, the same as #5.
I saw heaps of these flowers and insects yesterday. I took plenty of shots, but my camera doesn't do too well with white/yellow colours

Excellent! Raynox DCR250 did the trick? and your 50mm lens is 1.8 or 1.8II? Any pp?

I don't know what a 1.8II is. Mine is just a cheap 50mm F1.8 prime lens. Cost me $180.
I do pp on all my shots (and it was quite a long and painful process, I edited 37 shots!).
Crop, maybe auto contrast, adjust shadows/highlights, resize, sharpen.

Nice picures Troy. That was very brave of you to take picture of the wasp.
It could've sting you.

I don't think the wasps will sting unless they are protecting a nest.

 

[John E]

Wow this possibly the best macro I have ever seen. Professional and highly impressive!

 

[TroyP]

I use Raynox with my 450D and Kit lens, nowhere as good as yours. You must be a really patient guy taking those great shots with your Raynox, cause I must say it's not the easiest thing to focus accurately with that baby on. May I know what is the success rate with your shots? For me, I can easily throw away 100 pics just to get a couple of well focused close-ups. Lost motivation already :flush:

I'm not trigger happy. Anyone that has shot with me knows I take quite a while before I take a shot (3-10 secs) :bsmilie:

I do use a flashlight for assistance with focus - even during the day! I think this is a key factor for well focused shots. When the flashlight is shining in the subjects eyes, you can just tell when you have perfect focus.

Secondly, if you're using manual focus, you'll need to make sure your diopter is properly configured to your eyesight. Mine was way off for 2 months before I noticed!

I edited 37 shots out of 140 (3hrs of shooting).
Most turned out well with good lighting and focus, but were similar to the shots I edited, or just too boring for my liking :bsmilie:

 

[Outlook]

Sharp and clean. The outcome of the diffuser is really amazing. :thumbsup:

 

[subisisniki]

amazng shots... is it possible to post some non-pp, non cropped shots of the above?

 

[Pauche]

I saw heaps of these flowers and insects yesterday. I took plenty of shots, but my camera doesn't do too well with white/yellow colours

try reducing the 'saturation' on your camera settings, and reduce the EV by -1/3 to -2/3, so you don't get the blown highlights. hope this helps.....

 

[TroyP]

amazng shots... is it possible to post some non-pp, non cropped shots of the above?

Which ones would you like?

try reducing the 'saturation' on your camera settings, and reduce the EV by -1/3 to -2/3, so you don't get the blown highlights. hope this helps.....

I already have it set to -1.0. So you think -1 1/3 to -1 2/3? It will tone down the harshness on the whites, but won't it also make everything else darker in the process? :think:
I did increase the saturation for yesterdays shots. The previous outing was normal levels.

 

[TroyP]

#2 - What's that thing the guy is standing on?

Flower #5 in Dayot's thread is the same one:

http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=505156

 

[digi~ET]

nice macro u have there. Ya...i am also keen at the non-pp photos. maybe u can post one of the ant/insect one?
Also ...how close are you to the insects? really interested to know this. wowo..u made me keen in this raynox..

 

[ProteinLens]

great shots bro. heard about you from steve when i went for his night macro trip last fri... im impressed! did you shoot those insects at night? from my experience its safe to go up close (10cm) w/o the fear of the subject flying/jumping away at night but shooting in the day is a totally different story.

edit: sorry saw ur 1st post...its 10am...heh

 

[scandisk]

great shots ! :thumbsup:

 

[TroyP]

nice macro u have there. Ya...i am also keen at the non-pp photos. maybe u can post one of the ant/insect one?
Also ...how close are you to the insects? really interested to know this. wowo..u made me keen in this raynox..

Ok, will post some.
All the shots were mostly 8.5cm from the subject to the raynox (11.5cm at the most).

great shots bro. heard about you from steve when i went for his night macro trip last fri... im impressed! did you shoot those insects at night? from my experience its safe to go up close (10cm) w/o the fear of the subject flying/jumping away at night but shooting in the day is a totally different story.

edit: sorry saw ur 1st post...its 10am...heh

Thanks
BTW I got stung by a wasp at night macro at LPR while I was walking down the bridge. I didnt even see it, and it just hit me in the face and stung me immediately.

great shots ! :thumbsup:

Thanks

 

[TroyP]

These images will remain here for a limited time as they are sitting on my webserver.
I can't paste them here because they are 4288x2848 and large filesize.

The cricket shot was cropped to roughly 2400x1600, touched up and resized to 1024x660.
Here is the original 12megapixel image (4.02mb)
http://parry-web.servegame.com/ClubSNAP/20090419_4502_orig.jpg

The fly in #23 is an uncropped touched up image.
Here is the original 12megapixel image (2.55mb)
http://parry-web.servegame.com/ClubSNAP/20090419_4566_orig.jpg

Note: the originals are the JPG not the RAW, so they will include my customised picture control settings.

 

[pixelpixie]

Secondly, if you're using manual focus, you'll need to make sure your diopter is properly configured to your eyesight. Mine was way off for 2 months before I noticed!

Hi Troy, can u elaborate what do u mean by the above? How can the configuration be checked/made? I'm currently using the same diopter as u, and am learning to manual focus with it. Thanks in advance!

 

[TroyP]

Hi Troy, can u elaborate what do u mean by the above? How can the configuration be checked/made? I'm currently using the same diopter as u, and am learning to manual focus with it. Thanks in advance!

Mount the camera on a tripod and set the focus to auto.
Half-press the button to obtain auto focus. Look through the eye piece and adjust the diopter until the focal area appears to be in the best focus.

That is the method I used. There are 12 positions on the diopter on the Nikon D90. I had mine set in the middle when I got it, but for my eyesight the proper focus was the 2nd notch from the "-"

 

[tchuanye]

Hi Troy, can u elaborate what do u mean by the above? How can the configuration be checked/made? I'm currently using the same diopter as u, and am learning to manual focus with it. Thanks in advance!

Mount the camera on a tripod and set the focus to auto.
Half-press the button to obtain auto focus. Look through the eye piece and adjust the diopter until the focal area appears to be in the best focus.

That is the method I used. There are 12 positions on the diopter on the Nikon D90. I had mine set in the middle when I got it, but for my eyesight the proper focus was the 2nd notch from the "-"

pixelpixie, TroyP is referring to the dioptre setting of your camera eyepiece, and NOT on the Raynox dioptre, which is fixed.

 

[Pauche]

I already have it set to -1.0. So you think -1 1/3 to -1 2/3? It will tone down the harshness on the whites, but won't it also make everything else darker in the process? :think:
I did increase the saturation for yesterdays shots. The previous outing was normal levels.

I guess you gotta try out different settings. How about spot metering on the whites? Or reduce your EV to another 1/3 when it seemed to blow your highlights?

keep trying.... photography is a never ending learning process.