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Spider Macro - Need C&C, please!! (1 Image)

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Connor Roelke

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As much as I would like to be good at macro, I can't seem to figure it out. I get lucky every once in awhile, and thats about it. Anyway, looking to improve my skills, I slapped on the 60mm, grabbed the SB-800 and tripod, and set out. About 10 steps outside my door I found this guy eating a caterpillar of some sorts.

Anyway, please critique the image. Be harsh, I don't want any sympathy if it is as bad as I think it is.



Nikon D50
60mm Macro lens
F/11
1/100th
ISO 400
Manual focus
Manual mode

--
Some of my photography...

http://www.pbase.com/connorroelke
Feel free to comment anything! It's always apreciated.
 
What did you want to show in the picture? I see the spider and notice that is holding on to a catch but the catch is not clear, whether it is intentional I don't know. Looking at it more, it is like the belly of the spider is under water, a mirror-like effect. Liked the color though.

I must admit, Leung's post "LET'S GET CONSTRUCTIVE" kind of fall into this shot, it would be easier to criticize/comment if you posted what your intentions were. I will be doing the same thing from now on when I post images in this forum.
 
I am kind of upset that the focus managed to land on the legs. I was hoping F/11 would be enough to get some more in focus, but next time ill go crazy and stop down to F/32 - The lenses minimum.

Thanks for the critism. Maybe if it's there tomorrow I will get another chance.

--
Some of my photography...

http://www.pbase.com/connorroelke
Feel free to comment anything! It's always apreciated.
 
I think the composition is too cluttered.. a more clear view of the prey might help a lot.

But technically I like it a lot

Best
Rubén
 
Wow, I just realized that leaf interupting the prey there. I guess I should wait until night time to edit from now on, I was probably getting some glare on my monitor during the day. Ill search and see if I can find a better one, thanks!
Ruben Marrero said:
I think the composition is too cluttered.. a more clear view of the
prey might help a lot.

But technically I like it a lot

Best
Rubén
Click to expand...
--
Some of my photography...

http://www.pbase.com/connorroelke
Feel free to comment anything! It's always apreciated.
 
Connor Roelke said:
Click to expand...
connor, first of all, it's a nice go at macro and you certainly have the capabilities to make great images, and so, the problems for me are in the technical aspects of your photograph. first and most noticable problem from the get go, your composition choice. the centered composition is okay, but when you place an object in the center of the frame it becomes very static. this technique works well with some things, but when you place the object(s) in a corner or off centered somewhat, it becomes a very dynamic composition, hinting at movement. give it a shot, i'm sure you'll be much happier with your photographs.

second, your exposure is a bit over-exposed. watch for the highlight in the sky. i think you could go atleast another 1/3 ev to 2/3 easily without losing detail in the spider.

third, it's not brilliantly sharp. think about it, what is one aspect macro photography should include always? i think sharpness is what pops into my mind first. try a smart sharpen (if you use cs3) or unsharp mask. don't go crazy, but i'd say 1.5 at 100%.

although i'd say you made a pretty successful photograph for the most part.
 
Thanks for the time to write up those critiques. I will start off by saying that this is a crop from the original shot. I didn't think it was too centered for such a big object in a vertical framing. I didn't want to put the spider too much to a corner, because I didn't want ti to become too tight. I might play around and re-crop with more space, but I also think I might start to get dead space. Good observation, though, and I might re-crop. Thanks.

For the over-exposure, I spot metered for the spider I beleive. I didn't really care about the backround being somewhat blown, because the subject's exposure looks great to me. Do you think the blown backround is distracting? That would be the only reason I would bring it down a stop or so.

For the sharpening, I did actually apply some sharpening, and my focus point looks sharp to my eyes (Unfortunetly the legs on the spider, here). I didn't use photoshop, I applied +30 in Capture NX. Ill look at it again, though. Thanks.

Thanks for the critiques. I guess this one is more or less a throw away.
koejarlisch said:
connor, first of all, it's a nice go at macro and you certainly
have the capabilities to make great images, and so, the problems
for me are in the technical aspects of your photograph. first and
most noticable problem from the get go, your composition choice.
the centered composition is okay, but when you place an object in
the center of the frame it becomes very static. this technique
works well with some things, but when you place the object(s) in a
corner or off centered somewhat, it becomes a very dynamic
composition, hinting at movement. give it a shot, i'm sure you'll
be much happier with your photographs.
second, your exposure is a bit over-exposed. watch for the
highlight in the sky. i think you could go atleast another 1/3 ev
to 2/3 easily without losing detail in the spider.
third, it's not brilliantly sharp. think about it, what is one
aspect macro photography should include always? i think sharpness
is what pops into my mind first. try a smart sharpen (if you use
cs3) or unsharp mask. don't go crazy, but i'd say 1.5 at 100%.

although i'd say you made a pretty successful photograph for the
most part.
Click to expand...
--
Some of my photography...

http://www.pbase.com/connorroelke
Feel free to comment anything! It's always apreciated.
 
Good macro shots are not as easy as Kevin (TheronFamily) makes them seem ;-)

I am far from being an expert, but with my Tamron, I find that using less than f22 gives me too shallow a depth of field. F22 is fine and makes focussing a bit less critical:


Connor Roelke said:
As much as I would like to be good at macro, I can't seem to figure
it out. I get lucky every once in awhile, and thats about it.
Anyway, looking to improve my skills, I slapped on the 60mm,
grabbed the SB-800 and tripod, and set out. About 10 steps outside
my door I found this guy eating a caterpillar of some sorts.

Anyway, please critique the image. Be harsh, I don't want any
sympathy if it is as bad as I think it is.

Nikon D50
60mm Macro lens
F/11
1/100th
ISO 400
Manual focus
Manual mode
Click to expand...
--
Patco
A photograph is more than a bunch of pixels
 
Connor Roelke said:
Thanks for the time to write up those critiques. I will start off
by saying that this is a crop from the original shot. I didn't
think it was too centered for such a big object in a vertical
framing. I didn't want to put the spider too much to a corner,
because I didn't want ti to become too tight. I might play around
and re-crop with more space, but I also think I might start to get
dead space. Good observation, though, and I might re-crop. Thanks.
Click to expand...
you could recrop, or compose in the viewfinder next time.
Connor Roelke said:
For the over-exposure, I spot metered for the spider I beleive. I
didn't really care about the backround being somewhat blown,
because the subject's exposure looks great to me. Do you think the
blown backround is distracting? That would be the only reason I
would bring it down a stop or so.
Click to expand...
i find the blown highlight blob is visually heavier than your spider. you are correct that exposure for your spider is great, it's just a tough situation because that light is very bright. maybe next time you're out you can try to avoid shooting against the sky.
Connor Roelke said:
For the sharpening, I did actually apply some sharpening, and my
focus point looks sharp to my eyes (Unfortunetly the legs on the
spider, here). I didn't use photoshop, I applied +30 in Capture NX.
Ill look at it again, though. Thanks.
Click to expand...
try a little more, you might like the results. if not, okay.
Connor Roelke said:
Thanks for the critiques. I guess this one is more or less a throw
away.
koejarlisch said:
connor, first of all, it's a nice go at macro and you certainly
have the capabilities to make great images, and so, the problems
for me are in the technical aspects of your photograph. first and
most noticable problem from the get go, your composition choice.
the centered composition is okay, but when you place an object in
the center of the frame it becomes very static. this technique
works well with some things, but when you place the object(s) in a
corner or off centered somewhat, it becomes a very dynamic
composition, hinting at movement. give it a shot, i'm sure you'll
be much happier with your photographs.
second, your exposure is a bit over-exposed. watch for the
highlight in the sky. i think you could go atleast another 1/3 ev
to 2/3 easily without losing detail in the spider.
third, it's not brilliantly sharp. think about it, what is one
aspect macro photography should include always? i think sharpness
is what pops into my mind first. try a smart sharpen (if you use
cs3) or unsharp mask. don't go crazy, but i'd say 1.5 at 100%.

although i'd say you made a pretty successful photograph for the
most part.
Click to expand...
--
Some of my photography...

http://www.pbase.com/connorroelke
Feel free to comment anything! It's always apreciated.
Click to expand...
 
Hi :)

nothing too wrong with this that can't be easily sorted next time out IMO.

For my likings, I exposure manually (you did that, kudos).

In your case the overexposed top left corner would have been my metering point - retain that detail as it forms part of the whole scene.

Camera/flash set to spot meter, flash comp between -1.3 and -2.3EV will light up the spider itself.

Focus is easiest with m/f, and gently swaying fore/backward on a monopod or tripod. Once the subject comes into sharp focus, shoot.

The eyes are normally the focal point of choice, even tho that is debatable as some of these critters have 8 eyes or more, and even some eyes on the sides of their heads - lol

Keep at it, practice really does improve a lot of this. Don't shoot 1 shot, shoot 5.

Hope that can help a bit at least.

--
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kevin
so many flowers, so little time sigh
http://www.rootminus1.com/freepics/thumbnails.php?album=68
http://www.rootminus1.com/freepics/index.php?cat=10032
http://s33.photobucket.com/albums/d58/theronfamily/
 
I did some more searching around in the set, and I discovered some with less shallow DOF. Though I am still a little annoyed at his position, his "face" was covered by the prey because of his position. Nothing I could really do about that.

Anyway, this one I liked a little better, I think. No distracting blown sky, and nicely exposed spider. I also like the leaf backdrop and composition. Better?



--
Some of my photography...

http://www.pbase.com/connorroelke
Feel free to comment anything! It's always apreciated.
 
Thanks Kevin. I ran this though Capture NX, applied contrast, again +30 sharpening (Which helped a bunch), cropped to get more magnification (Not too much, though).

Anything else you guys would have done?
TheronFamily said:
agreed!
much better this one.

some final touches then;
sharpening, and a lite run through neatimage will make it really pop.
rgds
--
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kevin
so many flowers, so little time sigh
http://www.rootminus1.com/freepics/thumbnails.php?album=68
http://www.rootminus1.com/freepics/index.php?cat=10032
http://s33.photobucket.com/albums/d58/theronfamily/
Click to expand...
--
Some of my photography...

http://www.pbase.com/connorroelke
Feel free to comment anything! It's always apreciated.
 
Connor Roelke wrote:
Better?
Connor Roelke said:
Click to expand...
not for me. i much rather prefer the first to this one for a few reasons. the biggest reason is the blurry figure in front of the spider. it's really quite distracting. the bokeh in the background is also distracting for my eyes. your DOF is too broad; open up your aperture a little bit.
 
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