Southern Wolf
01-13-2009, 02:02 AM
So earlier tonight me and Jeremy was chattin in the chat :) about scorps and how tiny some of them were when born... He said it would be a good chance for me to work on my macro skillz. Which brought to mind this photo.
A lil background
I was a Mod (still am actually even though Im not currently active) over at another site and I ran all the photo stuff includng the weekly photo challenges. One week I ran a macro photo challenge and one of the members who is gettin her degree in Biology decided to submit an image that she took with an electron microscope. I had a few folks ask me to rule out her entry as it didnt come from a regular type camera... but I wouldnt. After that... I had several ask me to give her a run for her money. I was the only one that had the equipment to even come close. So I set out on a mission... to beat a microscope.
That same week I was taking mom to the Botanical Gardens for Mothers Day since the rose garden and iris' were in full bloom (thats where most of the rose shots for the ladies came from).... and ya know I HAD to take my camera.
So once I get there... I put on my macro lens... and stage a combo for the macro that will let me get MUCH closer.
My thoughs are... where there are flowers...there are bugs. So here I am shooting a Yellow Iris with my macro when along comes this bug and lands right on the petal in front of me.... I snap a couple shots... but they just wont do... it looks like a speck on a flower....
I lean back... slowly unzip my camera bag.... grab the combo I had pre-staged.... re-attached the camera to the tripod and snapped some more photos.... its getting better but not good enough to beat a microscope. The whole time this little guy is being very cooperative. Whereas most I tried to shoot wouldn't have anything to do with the photo shoot.
I decide to take a stab in the dark.... I back up a little... and grab even more attachments from the camera bag (more extension tubes and more teles)... slap em on the camera... and ease the tripod and camera back into place. He has changed position a bit... but still cooperating.
(tip... move in very slowly on the subject.... this lessens the chance they will flee)
I actually started from the farthest point I could focus... snapped a couple... then moved a bit closer.... snapped a couple..... moved a bit closer... snapped a couple. At this point... my lens is just meer inches away from this guy.. .and he is still cooperating. With the magnification I had going on the plane of focus was soo small it became a huge challenge just to get the eyes in perfect focus and let the DOF take care of the rest. As you can see..... the eyes arent perfect.... but what do you expect....
This guy is only about 1/16 of an inch long.. I mean he is freakin tiny.
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m49/southernwolf/Insects/0805240b.jpg
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m49/southernwolf/Insects/Long-LeggedFly0805231b.jpg
In case you were wondering..... The mission was a success... I beat out a microscope.
Another bug from that trip... its not really macro... just close up
Shot with a Nikon D80 and Sigma 105mm macro lens
Shutter 1/160, Apature is f/3.2, ISO 400
Natural light only
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m49/southernwolf/Insects/Ladybug0805128.jpg
I cant give you the specs for the macro shot... I had so many attachments on the camera.... it wouldnt register the numbers correctly. I had a 1.4x & 2x tele installed along with either 2 or 3 extension tubes.... the only way I could have gotten even more magnification would be to install another tele and I didnt have anymore.... I couldnt physically move the camera much closer. I was almost touching it as it was.
Anyhow... .thanks for looking. I love shooting macro... its such a challenge to show folks something they normally wouldnt have a chance to look at.... like the hairs on a fly that is only about 1/16th of an inch long. :rockon:
A lil background
I was a Mod (still am actually even though Im not currently active) over at another site and I ran all the photo stuff includng the weekly photo challenges. One week I ran a macro photo challenge and one of the members who is gettin her degree in Biology decided to submit an image that she took with an electron microscope. I had a few folks ask me to rule out her entry as it didnt come from a regular type camera... but I wouldnt. After that... I had several ask me to give her a run for her money. I was the only one that had the equipment to even come close. So I set out on a mission... to beat a microscope.
That same week I was taking mom to the Botanical Gardens for Mothers Day since the rose garden and iris' were in full bloom (thats where most of the rose shots for the ladies came from).... and ya know I HAD to take my camera.
So once I get there... I put on my macro lens... and stage a combo for the macro that will let me get MUCH closer.
My thoughs are... where there are flowers...there are bugs. So here I am shooting a Yellow Iris with my macro when along comes this bug and lands right on the petal in front of me.... I snap a couple shots... but they just wont do... it looks like a speck on a flower....
I lean back... slowly unzip my camera bag.... grab the combo I had pre-staged.... re-attached the camera to the tripod and snapped some more photos.... its getting better but not good enough to beat a microscope. The whole time this little guy is being very cooperative. Whereas most I tried to shoot wouldn't have anything to do with the photo shoot.
I decide to take a stab in the dark.... I back up a little... and grab even more attachments from the camera bag (more extension tubes and more teles)... slap em on the camera... and ease the tripod and camera back into place. He has changed position a bit... but still cooperating.
(tip... move in very slowly on the subject.... this lessens the chance they will flee)
I actually started from the farthest point I could focus... snapped a couple... then moved a bit closer.... snapped a couple..... moved a bit closer... snapped a couple. At this point... my lens is just meer inches away from this guy.. .and he is still cooperating. With the magnification I had going on the plane of focus was soo small it became a huge challenge just to get the eyes in perfect focus and let the DOF take care of the rest. As you can see..... the eyes arent perfect.... but what do you expect....
This guy is only about 1/16 of an inch long.. I mean he is freakin tiny.
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m49/southernwolf/Insects/0805240b.jpg
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m49/southernwolf/Insects/Long-LeggedFly0805231b.jpg
In case you were wondering..... The mission was a success... I beat out a microscope.
Another bug from that trip... its not really macro... just close up
Shot with a Nikon D80 and Sigma 105mm macro lens
Shutter 1/160, Apature is f/3.2, ISO 400
Natural light only
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m49/southernwolf/Insects/Ladybug0805128.jpg
I cant give you the specs for the macro shot... I had so many attachments on the camera.... it wouldnt register the numbers correctly. I had a 1.4x & 2x tele installed along with either 2 or 3 extension tubes.... the only way I could have gotten even more magnification would be to install another tele and I didnt have anymore.... I couldnt physically move the camera much closer. I was almost touching it as it was.
Anyhow... .thanks for looking. I love shooting macro... its such a challenge to show folks something they normally wouldnt have a chance to look at.... like the hairs on a fly that is only about 1/16th of an inch long. :rockon: