New to this
Overkill
Registered Users Posts: 7 Beginner grinner
Hi DGrin, I'm new to closeups/macro and really to photography in general. I just got out of point and shoot land and bought a 50D. I had a wierd mess up with my extension tube order or a couple of these might have been a tad better... maybe. My dad is a professional photographer but I didn't absorb any of that, so go easy please 
The best spider pic I have gotten so far(on my tv actually). I had another with it looking straight at the camera, but it was before I got off of f5.6 and little was in focus other than the eyes:
Lots of photoshopping on my bangai cardinal:
Also I got a brief moment with a dragonfly who either got curious or tired of me chasing it. I'm going to try some focus stacking but the second one(resized only) was the closest head-on shot that I got that looks best on its own. The flash was a little harsh... a 430EXII with the omni-bounce. Actually if you can tell me which of the dragonfly pictures you prefer and why that would be a big help.
(this one was just a 100% crop, edit:resized now)
(just resized, intending to attempt focus stacking with a series of these)
EDIT: smaller images
Thanks!
The best spider pic I have gotten so far(on my tv actually). I had another with it looking straight at the camera, but it was before I got off of f5.6 and little was in focus other than the eyes:
Lots of photoshopping on my bangai cardinal:
Also I got a brief moment with a dragonfly who either got curious or tired of me chasing it. I'm going to try some focus stacking but the second one(resized only) was the closest head-on shot that I got that looks best on its own. The flash was a little harsh... a 430EXII with the omni-bounce. Actually if you can tell me which of the dragonfly pictures you prefer and why that would be a big help.
(this one was just a 100% crop, edit:resized now)
(just resized, intending to attempt focus stacking with a series of these)
EDIT: smaller images
Thanks!
0
Comments
With the dragon shots prefer the composition of the first but the focus of the second
Brian V.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lordv/
http://www.lordv.smugmug.com/
I see you have realised that you need to close the aperture down for Macro:D . I learnt that painful lesson when I first started out
I really like your image of the TV Spider. May I suggest though that it may be too much biased towards the light tones?
Peter
http://www.imageinuk.com
good start on the macros, its just a matter of praticing a lot, you'll get the hang of it. Mostly i would try to get good at the focus aspect because that is very important in macro shots. do you have a macro lens or do you use ext. tubes to go macro? if the first; try first without ext. tubes, its easier. if the last; practice more, maybe first on some pencils or what not static subject
try the macro tips here on the forum, they are a great help in setting up your flash and manual settings
I generally select 135mm and focus all the way at macro, then move the camera to get the subject in focus. The fish was not shot this way because it was too far back in the tank. Also the first dragonfly pic was not taken this way because I was still getting closer to it.
The spider picture was taken on top of my TV with the built-in flash. Some how a living room window got cracked so that is how I found it there. This was a 100% crop but I haven't edited it past that. Hopefully I can get some better spider pictures soon.
The cardinalfish was taken without flash, I was using the available lighting of my small reef tank. Afterwards it had to be whitebalanced in photoshop. Also I removed some out of focus shrimp that were being fed, which took too much attention away from the fish.
The dragonfly pics were both taken with the 430EXII and the omni bounce. I had it pointed up and left a bit if I remember correctly.
I hope to get some more pictures of coral, saltwater invertebrates, fish, and bugs soon.
My next piece of gear may be a 100mm Canon Macro. I'm lucky and can try one for a couple of hours soon, so that may help me decide.
try not to centre the subject too much, 1st dragonfly shot best for comp. leave room in front of subject.
shame about the tubes
phil
http://www.flickr.com/photos/goldenorfe/
moderator - Holy Macro
Goldenorfe’s Flickr Gallery
Goldenorfe photography on Smugmug
Phils Photographic Adventures Blog
Hi Overkill, Welcome to Dgrin
Going from a Point and Shoot to a Canon 50D is quite a move.
Hope you get your Extension Tube order sorted out,
you'll be really pleased at how much closer you can get using them.
Your focus seems to be off slightly with these shots.
When shooting bugs it is very important to get the EYES in focus.
Your backgrounds on the Dragonfly shots, or nice and smooth.
The Canon 100m Macro is one Super Sweet Lens on it's own,
with a set of Ext Tubes, you'll find yourself looking for absolutely anything that moves to Photograph
Your doing fine, like everything, there is a learning curve.
Using a DSLR is very different to using a Point and Shoot.
All the best with your new Gear Overkill, looking forward to seeing more shots.
Enjoy the Forum
.
Skippy (Australia) - Moderator of "HOLY MACRO" and "OTHER COOL SHOTS"
ALBUM http://ozzieskip.smugmug.com/
:skippy Everyone has the right to be stupid, but some people just abuse the privilege :dgrin