1st macro post (56k warning)

gluwater

Don't be expecting anything like Lord Vetinari, but I think they're not bad for a first attempt. It was a really good learning experience and a lot of fun. I think I'm going to really enjoy macro and my new canon 100 f/2.8.

First I'll show you a flower, I have no idea what kind it is, I'm not into naming yet but maybe I'll go buy a book. This is uncropped.


Now for a couple bugs. First a butterfly that kept posing very nicely for me. This is slightly cropped for composition.


Here is, correct me if I'm wrong, a jumping spider. Also slightly cropped for composition. This is one of the few shots I took that I actually got the eyes in good focus.


A spider I barely noticed out of the corner of my eye. No crop or processing besides jpg conversion from RAW. I did use a tripod on this one though. All the rest are hand held.


And now it's dinner time. Another one with a slight crop.


Here are a couple deer I saw along the way. I was so intent upon looking at the ground around me I didn't even notice them until I was almost on top of them. These were also taken with the 100mm. They aren't the sharpest, I'm still working on my manual focusing skills.

Check out the rack on this guy. He must be the grandaddy of the local woods.


This guy was a lot smaller and has some interesting shaped antlers.


And last but not least the youngster of the group.


I hope you like them. I sure had a good time taking them. Please comment on them, I really have a lot to learn and would love some feedback.

Nick

jeff lapoint

Nick,

yur off to a great start with the new lens! i really like the first flower and the jumping spider, but they are all quite nice. have fun with that super thin DOF!

-jeff

Lord Vetinari

Look pretty good to me. First shot is of a cornflower (well that's what it's called in the UK). Not sure if the shots are with flash but thet do have narrow DOF which means you had fairly wide aperture. Most of us macroholics are shooting with flash at F11-F16.

Brian V.

gluwater

Lord Vetinari wrote:

Look pretty good to me. First shot is of a cornflower (well that's what it's called in the UK). Not sure if the shots are with flash but thet do have narrow DOF which means you had fairly wide aperture. Most of us macroholics are shooting with flash at F11-F16.

Brian V.

Hahahahaha, now you tell me. I was useing a 580EX flash, which is great by the way, but I kept the Aperture low, between 2.8 and 8 for the most part. I'll have to practice and try out different flash settings also. I think I'm going to blind my cat with it soon, she's the only one that will pose for me. Thanks for looking and commenting Brian and Jeff, it's always appreciated.

Nick

tmlphoto

gluwater wrote:

Hahahahaha, now you tell me. I was useing a 580EX flash, which is great by the way, but I kept the Aperture low, between 2.8 and 8 for the most part. I'll have to practice and try out different flash settings also. I think I'm going to blind my cat with it soon, she's the only one that will pose for me. Thanks for looking and commenting Brian and Jeff, it's always appreciated.

Nick

I can't see your pics just now because of smugmug problems, but after reading your post I would like to direct you to some macro tips in this thread:
http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=16228

Good luck with your macro shooting.

gluwater

Thanks Thomas, I have seen that thread but haven't yet gotten around to reading through it yet. Thanks for pointing it out, I have to make it a point to read it. Hopefully you'll come back and take a look here once SM is back up and running.

Nick

tmlphoto

gluwater wrote:

Thanks Thomas, I have seen that thread but haven't yet gotten around to reading through it yet. Thanks for pointing it out, I have to make it a point to read it. Hopefully you'll come back and take a look here once SM is back up and running.

Nick

Looks like a great start to me. With your open apertures the flash was basically fill flash. The lighting looks very natural. The flower shot works with the very limited depth of field. There is a whole subset of macro shots people do with very limited field of view on purpose. The results can be quite striking. Looking forward to more macro shots from you. I would leave the flash on ETTL. Try experimenting around with smaller apertures. It is a learning tool to take basically the same shot at several different f/stops and then review your results.

gluwater

Thanks for the tip Thomas. I was playing around with the aperture a little bit with the spider. I just got teh 580 also so I'm just learning how to use that also. I look forward to taking these suggestions and trying them out, along with reading Brian V's tips. I'll be a pro in no time at all . For anyone that has never tried this before, it really is an art to get some of the results posted here on dgrin, especially Brians hoverflys and Troys dragonflys (don't mean to exclude anyone, I'm just familiar with their work).

Nick