The Garden is ALIVE!

nickeverett

The hot weather is back again and the wind has dropped, so the garden is starting to come alive with insects.

Here are a from this morning. I'm not sure what either of them are so any help ID'ing would be great!

Lord Vetinari

Lovely captures
Think #1 is a muscid fly - Coenosia species.
#2 is a soldier beetle possibly
Brian v.

Cambyses

Wow, not only do you guys take great macro shots, it is also amazing how much you actually know about your tiny subjects!

I really enjoy macro photography and hope to spend more time on it, and learn more. I placed an order for my Tokina 100mm today, and eagerly looking forward to receiving it, and having fun with it. But to get the type of wonderful insect shots you guys get, I assume I would need a lot more; extension rings, reversed lens, focusing rails and focus stacking, etc.

I guess I will first play with 1:1 inherent magnification I'll have with the Tokina, and hopefully at some point in future, grow to a more elaborate setup.

manos60

Did you use flash at all.

nickeverett

Thanks for the info Brian. Did a bit of reading it looks like the Soldier Beetle is a good one to have around; they eat aphids! I was finding plenty of their larvae when I dug over the garden in spring, so maybe a few more to come.

Thanks for the comment Cambyses. There are some great macro shooters on this forum.
I'm fairly new to it, like yourself, and often marvel at the other members stunning shots.
But I don't think you always need a ton of gear to get decent shots.
I'm currently using canon 400d, sigma 70mm f2.8 macro, Speedlite 580ex with mini softbox and occasional Giotto tripod.

Manos, I used a Speedlite 580 set at 1/4 power with a 10"x6" mini softbox diffuser on the front.
These shots were at ISO 100, 1/160, f11.
I shoot manual flash because I like the control it allows me. Plus in macro if find that the ETTL metering on my 400d tends to overexpose the subject in some situations.

Cambyses

nickeverett wrote: »

I'm currently using canon 400d, sigma 70mm f2.8 macro, Speedlite 580ex with mini softbox and occasional Giotto tripod.

Oh, so have you not used any additional close-up lenses, extension rings, etc. for these shots? If so, you only have a 1:1 magnification with your Sigma 70/2.8, so have you cropped these shots, or are these insects bigger than what I thought? In any case, if your great shots are only with your macro lens, it would really be encouraging to me as it shows how much I may be able to learn and achieve just by the Tokina 100 that I hope to receive in a few days.

manos60

Thanks for your reply Nick,ive just got into macro and its a lot harder than it looks. Im using a D3 and a Nikkor 105 VR. Would you suggest any other kit for bugs. Many thanks.

GOLDENORFE

really good fly shot, nice composition and light!

lighting in the beetle shots looks a little harsh, beetles always difficult! lol