You'll let me know if I'm bugging you, won't you?

Bend The Light

I am on a mission to get some GOOD bug pics. Was out today in my folks' garden and took these...
These are taken on my Canon 400d, 18-55mm kit lens installed correctly with +1, +2, +4, +10 dioptre filters added, and light provided by my super duper light diffuser/deflector that I made from mount board and tin foil. What do you think?









Here is the Super Duper Light Diffuser/Deflector...

GOLDENORFE

the last bumble bee shot looks best
a lot of noise in a few and look a bit soft.
are you cropping alot?

Chrissiebeez_NL

bugging? puuhllleeez

The focus on all these is very nice but there are still some nits that take it from a truly excellent shot:

1: a little soft and CA (from the filter?)
2: nice soft light on the subject but very poor noise
3: lovely focus and composition, as well as colours but somehow lacks contrast in the face (some leaf in the way?)
4: same strange contrast around the face and composition is mwah
5: jowzers!

If you need a high iso try getting at least the colour noise out (and maybe the grain as well)

cant really help you with the rest cause i think it may come from the filters

Bend The Light

The noise will be because of high ISo, 800 on these. I realised that I was using too high ISO to compensate for small apertures (f36). Next time I will try lowering ISO, and opening the aperture a little, but not so much to jeopardise the DoF.

There could be Chromatic Aberation, yes. The filters I added are not expensive...I have so little money to get gear for this I have to buy cheap, or MAKE stuff!

Not sure where the "lack of contrast" in the face of the bees is from, other than it could be reflected light from the petals around...there would be no leaves in the way, they were on the top-most blooms of the flowers. I did notice that, but was not sure how to counteract it.

There is SOME cropping, but not too much. Also note that these are reduced quality from the originals - I resize and watermark for Flickr...my originals MIGHT not look quite so soft, perhaps?

Anyway, thanks guys for your input.

GOLDENORFE

f36 ! ?

i have never shot lower than f14

Bend The Light

GOLDENORFE wrote: »

f36 ! ?

i have never shot lower than f14

Yeah, maybe that's my trouble, eh?

Chrissiebeez_NL

hope you dont mind but i tried removing the noise and sharpening up a bit. will remover it in a second if you dont like me posting it :

just two seconds work

Dont know if sharpening was such a great move on this image with this much noise but as you can see the noise is less prominent when you take the colour noise out

Chrissiebeez_NL

GOLDENORFE wrote: »

f36 ! ?

i have never shot lower than f14

That could explain some of the softness though

Lenses have a 'sweet spot' in aperture. Below it it becomes soft but way above it just as well.

Bend The Light

Chrissiebeez_NL wrote: »

hope you dont mind but i tried removing the noise and sharpening up a bit. will remover it in a second if you dont like me posting it :

just two seconds work

Dont know if sharpening was such a great move on this image with this much noise but as you can see the noise is less prominent when you take the colour noise out

No, I don't mind. What noise removal do you use? I trialed Topaz, and liked it, but haven't paid for it yet. I also have a method using surface blur and layers which is quite nice.

I like what you have done with the noise, but agree that sharpening wasn't so good, perhaps. Then again, it wasn't a big original RAW file, was it?

Chrissiebeez_NL

just the colour noise removal in photoshop raw (3?)

Lord Vetinari

Not bad at all.
I don't really understand your camera settings though, When shooting with flash I'd shoot with the camera in manual , ISO 100, F11,1/200th. This will give you sharper looking shots with much less noise.
Brian v.

Bend The Light

Chrissiebeez_NL wrote: »

just the colour noise removal in photoshop raw (3?)

Ok, I'll look into that. Thanks!

Bend The Light

Lord Vetinari wrote: »

Not bad at all.
I don't really understand your camera settings though, When shooting with flash I'd shoot with the camera in manual , ISO 100, F11,1/200th. This will give you sharper looking shots with much less noise.
Brian v.

Thanks.

Yeah, I am beginning to understand...slowly!

I'll get there...