Dabbling in Macro...

Tim Kamppinen

Hi, this is my first post in this forum. I've done very little macro work before but I've had a set of simple extension tubes ($15 from a Hong Kong retailer) sitting around largely unused since last August. Anyway, it was overcast and rainy today and maybe an hour before dusk I decided to go out and try some macro shots for fun using the tubes and my 50mm 1.8.

I realized quickly that it's much harder than it looks! Getting the focus right when hand holding is a challenge to say the least, and since I was using tubes when I stopped down the aperture my viewfinder went dark. I did a lot of it with live view on my D90 which made it a little easier when crouching down, etc. I also could have picked a better time, as I had to crank up the ISO to get a decent exposure at f/8 and it still required marginal shutterspeeds consdiering I was handholding.

Eventually I went and grabbed my tripod so I could lower the ISO and use a longer shutter speed, but by that time it was getting darker so I still had to use ISO 1600 and a 1/10 shutter speed. That sucked because some of the blades of grass I was trying to photograph were blowing around slightly in the breeze and I wasn't able to get a sharp capture of them. Regardless, I ended up with a few shots that I liked. (as a side note I've been totally impressed with the high ISO of the D90... the first and second shot were ISO 3200, with the second being pushed about a stop in camera raw, which makes it the worst one of the bunch... but the other two were at ISO 1600 and they're totally useable and I wouldn't hesitate to print them) Anyway here are the shots. I'd appreciate any comments and critiques, as I'd like to do more macro work in the future:

#1



#2



#3



#4

Skippy

Tim Kamppinen wrote:

Hi, this is my first post in this forum. I've done very little macro work before but I've had a set of simple extension tubes ($15 from a Hong Kong retailer) sitting around largely unused since last August. Anyway, it was overcast and rainy today and maybe an hour before dusk I decided to go out and try some macro shots for fun using the tubes and my 50mm 1.8.

I realized quickly that it's much harder than it looks! Getting the focus right when hand holding is a challenge to say the least, and since I was using tubes when I stopped down the aperture my viewfinder went dark. I did a lot of it with live view on my D90 which made it a little easier when crouching down, etc. I also could have picked a better time, as I had to crank up the ISO to get a decent exposure at f/8 and it still required marginal shutterspeeds consdiering I was handholding.

Eventually I went and grabbed my tripod so I could lower the ISO and use a longer shutter speed, but by that time it was getting darker so I still had to use ISO 1600 and a 1/10 shutter speed. That sucked because some of the blades of grass I was trying to photograph were blowing around slightly in the breeze and I wasn't able to get a sharp capture of them. Regardless, I ended up with a few shots that I liked. (as a side note I've been totally impressed with the high ISO of the D90... the first and second shot were ISO 3200, with the second being pushed about a stop in camera raw, which makes it the worst one of the bunch... but the other two were at ISO 1600 and they're totally useable and I wouldn't hesitate to print them) Anyway here are the shots. I'd appreciate any comments and critiques, as I'd like to do more macro work in the future:

Hi Tim,

Great first post, I particularly like the first shot.

You can in fact hand hold and get extreme Macro shots.
Brian, Paul and others are very very clever at shooting this way.

You can set your ISO to 200, F8-F11 or even a little higher,
and have hour speed at 200, I sometimes go a little higher than 200.
Using a flash makes it all possible.

No need for a tripod, most times you cannot get to where your subject is with a tripod.

You've done extremely well with these.
Be sure and check out the many posts in this MACRO section and look for tips on how they shoot.

Got questions you'd like to ask folks who are right into MACRO,
just ask and I am sure you will get the answers you seek.

Thanks for sharing.... enjoy the forum .... Skippy
.

Tim Kamppinen

Yeah, afterwards I started thinking, "This would have been so much easier if I had been using my flashes..."

I have a big monstrosity of a homemade ringflash that I'd like to try out for this... not sure how it would come out but I'll give it a go anyway... the other thing I'm going to try is a small softbox directly above the subject to mimic an overcast sky... I'll post some results when I get them.

Lord Vetinari

Welcome to the forum - good first post- all good shots and rather like the moody interpretation of #1 and good compositions and angles in all of them.

Not the easiest of things shooting with the lens aperture cranked down - I've done that in the past. Flash does help freeze the shot if it is the primary light source but as you mention you need a diffuser of some type - I use it a lot but natural light us always nice for macro especially under light cloud.

Brian V.