Some BIFs and a stack (macros)

Lord Vetinari

Some shots from the last few days.
comments/critique welcome
Brian V.

First some hoverflies in flight.

Oi clear the runway! (actually a merged shot of the same hoverfly)



Dive bomber



Just hanging around



Fast food



Last a focus stack of thee images of a small spider that was actually threatening me

Steve Cavigliano

All are nice, but #'s 1, 4 and 5 are outstanding, IMHO Nice lighting, colorful subjects, super perspectives and you nailed the focus.


Very, very nice work LV

Steve

4labs

Great Great Great! You really make bugs look cool LV

Lord Vetinari

Thanks for the comments 4labs and steve.
Brian V.

pathfinder

Flys in flight!! How in the world do you do that!!?? And the spider is great !! :

Lord Vetinari

pathfinder wrote:

Flys in flight!! How in the world do you do that!!?? And the spider is great !! :

Thanks Pathfinder.
Hoverflies are not that hard to get in flight as they do hover around in roughly the same place for short periods of time. You just need a bit of patience and be fast with camera movement (I normally pre-focus the camera-the focus is in manual) and shoot fast. :
Brian V.

gubbs

They're all excellent but "dive bomber" ....wow!!

Bob Stanley

Excellent! The dark background is very nice and contrasts well with your hoverflies!!

Skippy

Spiders Looks Like A Giant

Lord Vetinari wrote:

Some shots from the last few days.
comments/critique welcome
Brian V.
First some hoverflies in flight.
Oi clear the runway! (actually a merged shot of the same hoverfly)
Dive bomber
Just hanging around
Fast food
Last a focus stack of thee images of a small spider that was actually threatening me

Looks like a scene from a movie hehehe:) love the detail, all those eyes, and he's ready for action........nicely executed...... Skippy (Australia)

Lord Vetinari

gubbs wrote:

They're all excellent but "dive bomber" ....wow!!

Bob Stanley wrote:

Excellent! The dark background is very nice and contrasts well with your hoverflies!!

Skippy wrote:

Looks like a scene from a movie hehehe:) love the detail, all those eyes, and he's ready for action........nicely executed...... Skippy (Australia)

Thanks Gubbs, Bob and Skippy.
The last spider was very cooperative. The first stack I did did not work (legs everywhere), but it was still performing when I went back to try again. Suprised how good their eyesight is- it went on guard when I was standing about 2 feet away.
Brian V.

BigAl

Brian, I missed these pics the first time round, but they are stunning

Just one thing (I'm not sure whether I'm imagining it) but on my monitor the LH hoverfly in #1 seems to be flying into a solid black wall. It could be that you need to mask out a bit of the upper layer directly in front of the LH fly.

Could you give me some more info on the stacked focus issue (a link or something like that). I hope you also share some more details on your new flash setup here.

regards
alan

Lord Vetinari

BigAl wrote:

Brian, I missed these pics the first time round, but they are stunning

Just one thing (I'm not sure whether I'm imagining it) but on my monitor the LH hoverfly in #1 seems to be flying into a solid black wall. It could be that you need to mask out a bit of the upper layer directly in front of the LH fly.

Could you give me some more info on the stacked focus issue (a link or something like that). I hope you also share some more details on your new flash setup here.

regards
alan

Alan thanks for the comments
Will look at that pic- I use an LCD which is lousy at the darker tones so often wonder if I miss something.
More info on combinez5 here including the prog
http://www.hadleyweb.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/CZ5/combinez5.htm

I'll do a post shortly on the flash rig setup- haven't really had a chance to fully test yet.
BrianV.

Rohirrim

Just one thing (I'm not sure whether I'm imagining it) but on my monitor the LH hoverfly in #1 seems to be flying into a solid black wall.

FWIW, I don't see a "wall" on my monitor.

The pictures are all great!

Regards,

Lord Vetinari

Rohirrim wrote:

FWIW, I don't see a "wall" on my monitor.

The pictures are all great!

Regards,

Thanks Rohirrim
Brian V.

BigAl

Rohirrim wrote:

FWIW, I don't see a "wall" on my monitor.

The pictures are all great!

Regards,

Steve, I think this may show what I'm referring to:


I pushed the rhs slider in levels to about halfway and then moved the gamma slider to the right (and doubled the size).

I probably notice this more than most as I do quite a bit of remastering of LPs to CD. When I make the CD covers from the LP cover I have to scan the LP cover in 4 sections on my A4 scanner to get the whole cover. When I put them together, I've sometimes had situations like that shown above, where, depending on the monitor, you can't see the seam, but as soon as I print it, it's visible.

Please note that I'm not trying to detract from the great pic that Brian produced, just trying to help improve it.

Thanks for the link Brian - it looks interesting. BTW, what lens are you using. From what I can see on the pic on DPR, it looks like something I'd like to have. Do you have any problems with manual focussing with the 300?

regards
alan

Lord Vetinari

BigAl wrote:

Steve, I think this may show what I'm referring to:


Thanks for the link Brian - it looks interesting. BTW, what lens are you using. From what I can see on the pic on DPR, it looks like something I'd like to have. Do you have any problems with manual focussing with the 300?

regards
alan

Thanks for the clarification on the "wall".
I'm using a sigma 105mmEX macro. No problems with manual focusing. I first ensured I had the Dioptre set properly on the eyepiece by checking auto Vs manual focus. Have two methods of focusing often use both combined. I preset the focus and the just move the camera back and forth until I see sharp focus, also often hold the shutter button half down and focus point lights up and camera beeps when good focus is achieved- I actually fire the shutter with a remote on the flash bracket with my other hand
Brian V.

BigAl

Lord Vetinari wrote:

Thanks for the clarification on the "wall".
I'm using a sigma 105mmEX macro. No problems with manual focusing. I first ensured I had the Dioptre set properly on the eyepiece by checking auto Vs manual focus. Have two methods of focusing often use both combined. I preset the focus and the just move the camera back and forth until I see sharp focus, also often hold the shutter button half down and focus point lights up and camera beeps when good focus is achieved- I actually fire the shutter with a remote on the flash bracket with my other hand
Brian V.

Thanks for the info on the lens Brian. It's got stunningly good reviews on FM, I'll have to get it, except it's a bit on the expensive side here in SA (~$750US).

With film macros I also used the move back & forth to get object in focus (only difference was I didn't have a bracket - I held the flash in left hand and camera in right, then shot when I hit the sweet spot!).

regards
alan