A Few New Macros

Sandman said:

Michael Soo,

Thanks so much! This series was shot at f16. I went back the next
day and took some using f32 ~ the smallest aperture available with
this lens.

Browse the gallery of images if you like. The EXIF data is available:

http://www.pbase.com/sandman3/bugs_and_butterflies

The last images in the gallery are the most recent ones.

Thanks again, my friend,

jim

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Great shots Jim. How I wish I have those bugs and would care enough to pose for me to get my own macro...hehehe. Macros are fun though I'm limited to flowers right now, I hope to find more bugs around the house. I attempted before but those bugs were uncooperative(probably I scared them away). I think I may have to upgrade to a 100mm macro to distance myself from the subjects. Currently I have a 50mm macro. Perhaps later..
--
Jonji
Please visit my gallery at: http://www.fotop.net/Josh4fun/Josh4fun

Josh4fun,

Thanks for the compliments. Yes, the 100mm gives a very nice working distance from your subjects. Still hard to get close enough to dragonflies and such, but every once in a while you luck out!

Thanks again,

jim

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Sandman, your photos and comments are all good!

I have been using USM for sometime and I played with some funny number last. Would you tell me what is the Threshold used?

Thanks in advance.

--Jon.

Those are amazing shots!! How do you get them so close. I do not get such good shots with my macro. I want to know all your secrets!

Sandman said:

Fellow Rebels,

Been a while since I posted some macros. Took these this morning
with the EF 100mm f2.8 macro and the Canon MT-24 Flash. Comments,
suggestions, & critiques welcome!

Biting My Nails



Fly on the Wall



Teddy Bear (with a snack)



Wax Off ~ Wax On: Words of the Grasshopper



Walk This Way!



That's All Folks!

Cheers,

jim
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galleries at: http://www.pbase.com/sandman3

Click to expand...

--
galleries at: http://www.pbase.com/cindy74

Cindy74,

Thanks for the compliments! As for the technique~

I just keep getting closer and closer until I can't get a focus lock anymore, then back off a hair until I can. I'm assuming that is my closest focusing distance. Also, when I get a focus lock, I either take my shot instantly or abandon the shot and try for another focus lock. A delay of even a fraction of a second takes me completely out of the area of acceptable sharpness/focus! And finally, I crop my images some. Here is an example:



and the original:



Even with this crop, I'm getting amazing 8 x 10's. Rebel images at ISO 100 are so clean, they beg to be enlarged!

Cheers,

jim

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Shoot more, ***** less!
galleries at: http://www.pbase.com/sandman3

Jonathan Lee,

Thanks so much!

As for the threshold, I usually use zero! Rebel images at ISO 100 are so clean, you can sharpen away. And this selective sharpening technique confines the sharpening to where it is needed anyway. For Paul's layer sharpening technique, he does not specify a threshold, so I assumed he meant zero. That's what I've been using anyway.

Cheers,

jim

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galleries at: http://www.pbase.com/sandman3

Yowza??? I havent used that word for years... But thats what I said when I saw them!

Excellent work! I have this lens on my Wish list... Seeing these, I wish my wish had already come true.

Thanks for sharing!

Johnny

hi sandman,

Great work, congrats!

I own a canon 100mm too and just bought a Metz 44 AF-4 for my DR. could you give me some tips to use it for macro ?
which mode to use ? which setting on the DR ?

I just tried a few shoots setting the DR to manual 1/125 and F/11 with ETTL flash but they came out very underexposed (weather was bright but no sun).
I was about 20cm from the subject, maybe the flash light ran above the subject?

tks.

Jim, thank you too, for your compliments,

It'll yet take me a while before I can master my C770 . I live in Ahmedabad - India, and this is my first experience with any digital camera. Before this, I had a manual SLR through which I learned most of my photography. I suppose thats the best way to learn, as you start to avoid mistakes (as film based photography is still expensive here!) . As for kids, Indians are mostly below the poverty line.... I'm only trying to show my perspective through the lens, different times of the day, different things happening. I'm going to try and capture more of daily life here, which is not shown on TV etc .

Apart from that, your bugs were great, I'll try to get some more photographs online sometime, and if so, I'll inform you. Thank you again, for your encouraging words!

Sandman said:

AK3D,

Thanks so much for the compliment. Much appreciated.

I did look at your gallery of images. Very nice indeed. Where is
your home? You have a good sense of composition and very good
technical mastery of your camera. The motion shots are very nice.
I partcularly like the shots of children. They look so poor, but
so happy.

Thanks again for viewing my bugs.

All the best~

jim

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galleries at: http://www.pbase.com/sandman3

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--
-- Aamir --
3D/Multimedia

cybercap,

Thanks so much for the compliments.

As for settings on the camera and flash, I would suggest you start with camera manual mode, use shutter speed of 1/200 seconds, and stop WAY down (f11, f13, f16, f32). I only have experience with the Canon 550EX and the new Canon MT-24 twin macro flash. With either flash unit, I shoot in E-TTL mode. You will get a nicely illuminated subject against a very dark to black background. This is a function of the gross underexposure of the areas that are not illuminated by the flash.

I do have to "play" with the FEC on either flash unit. Since your subject will makeup most of the frame, the color of the subject will have a great effect on the flash. This is fairly predictible and follows the usual and classic "exceptions" to "normal" metering. For example, white subjects are usually underexposed and require positive FEC and dark subjects require negative FEC. In any case, use the histogram to judge your exposure. I do not try to push my exposure too far to the right, as it is very easy to overlook a thin line of histogram data on the right that can easily get blown by pushing too far to the right. The blinking blown-highlight warning is very helpful. I shoot RAW to permit me a bit more lattitude with adjusting the exposure, but having to make a radical adjustment is quite rare.

As for shooting technique, take your shot just as soon as you get a focus lock! If you hesitate even a fraction of a second, your body sway will take you completely out of the area of acceptable focus (DOF). My technique is to approach the subject looking through the viewfinder, making slow progress toward the subject and taking frequent half-presses of the shutter release to get a good focus. When I am so close that I can no longer get a focus lock, I back off a bit and start shooting. Recomposing is out of the question. Focus on the subject's eye when possible. I've found that if the subject's eye is not in focus, the shot is destined for the recycle bin!

Good luck. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. We look forward to a new member of the "Rebel Macro Club."

Cheers,

jim

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Shoot more, ***** less!
galleries at: http://www.pbase.com/sandman3

Yiannis,

Yowza ~ not that's a compliment I've not received before! Thanks so much!

I wish you already had this lens too. We could learn to use it together! Hurry up, you could be the next member of the Rebel Macro Club!

Cheers,

jim

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Shoot more, ***** less!
galleries at: http://www.pbase.com/sandman3

Sandman-

I wanna be you. Those are amazing. My macros aren't anywhere near the quality of yours. I have the 100 2.8 Macro so I guess my next purchase is the flash. Oh yeah.. and a lot more practice. I have tried to take some macros at ISO 1600 to get more DOF but didn't like the results. Looks like the flash is the way to go. I assume it enables you to close down the aperature and get some DOF? Again amazing shots! Seriously I look forward to your posts. Always good info and never negative (I don't think).

Thanks for the inspiration!

Stan

Sandman said:

Fellow Rebels,

Been a while since I posted some macros. Took these this morning
with the EF 100mm f2.8 macro and the Canon MT-24 Flash. Comments,
suggestions, & critiques welcome!

Biting My Nails



Fly on the Wall



Teddy Bear (with a snack)



Wax Off ~ Wax On: Words of the Grasshopper



Walk This Way!



That's All Folks!

Cheers,

jim
--
Shoot more, ***** less!
galleries at: http://www.pbase.com/sandman3

Click to expand...

--
Harris

PBase/DPReview/NTF supporter
Egret Stalker #4, WSSA #29

http://www.pbase.com/backdoctor

Hi Jim,

I'm really interested in macro photography, and your shots are great. They inspire me to go get some equipment of my own and give it a shot. I've been using the kit lens, and it doesn't get close enough for my liking. I'm looking at the canon 100 and the sigma 105, as is everyone else here.

There has been so much talk about flashes that I began to wonder if an external flash is as much of a prerequisite as the lens itself.

I experimented a bit this morning with f/20+ and 1/200th of a second, as I've never used an aperture that high before. They seemed to be lit just fine with the built-in flash, and I guess I don't understand what the hype is about.

What I don't want to happen is to buy a dedicated macro lens, only to discover that I need to spend another 400+ to get a flash to get the kind of pictures I'm looking for. I would rather know going in that I need to spend that kind of money, so that I can make that decision.

thanks,
Mark

Oh and if you have any macros w/o flash, or with built-in, I would like to see them.

StanSmith,

Thanks so much for the compliment. Yes, it is the flash that permits faster shutter speeds and smaller apertures. This series was taken at ISO 100, f13 and 16, and shutter speed of 1/200 second. I've gotten similar results using the Canon 550EX using a Stofen or Lumiquest diffuser. If you don't have an external flash unit yet, that is one choice. That Metz flash looks pretty sweet too.

Thanks again. Looking forward to seeing your shots.

Cheers,

jim

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Shoot more, ***** less!
galleries at: http://www.pbase.com/sandman3

Backdoctor said:

Sandman said:

Fellow Rebels,

Been a while since I posted some macros. Took these this morning
with the EF 100mm f2.8 macro and the Canon MT-24 Flash. Comments,
suggestions, & critiques welcome!

Biting My Nails



Fly on the Wall



Teddy Bear (with a snack)



Wax Off ~ Wax On: Words of the Grasshopper



Walk This Way!



That's All Folks!

Cheers,

jim
--
Shoot more, ***** less!
galleries at: http://www.pbase.com/sandman3

Click to expand...

--
Harris

PBase/DPReview/NTF supporter
Egret Stalker #4, WSSA #29

http://www.pbase.com/backdoctor

Click to expand...

--
Shoot more, ***** less!
galleries at: http://www.pbase.com/sandman3

mpaynter,

Thanks so much for the compliments.

You can certainly use either the Sigma or the Canon without flash, but you'll not get the fast shutter speeds and small apertures needed for this kind of stuff.

What I would suggest, if I may, is to consider getting an external flash first. It is my humble opinion that an external flash for the Rebel is one of your most important accessories, even more important than additional lenses. If you are like me, you are the DESIGNATED photographer where ever you go! And your family, friends and co-workers want shots of their events, no matter what the lighting conditions are. We all like ambient-light images over flash pics, but ambient light is just not possible in many shooting conditions.

You have a number of good units to consider. I have the 550EX and love it. If I were buying an external today, I probably would give serious consideration to the Metz, since it offers both E-TTL and auto thyristor modes. Some folks just don't like E-TTL, so the auto thyrisitor is nice to have.

Once you get your flash, then return to saving for your lens collection. I assure you will not regret getting a GOOD flash unit.

Best wishes and thanks again for the compliments,

jim

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Shoot more, ***** less!
galleries at: http://www.pbase.com/sandman3

are they natural inhabitants of your home?
-c

Jim

I flipped the switch and took a couple of photos. It is much easier to focus
with the macro switch. The shots are not any sharper but they are a lot closer.

Thanks for the sharpening link. PS is a great program but I can't seem to get the hang of it. I still just use the shots straight from the camera.
Do you know of any good books for PS like PS for DUMMIES?

Here is a link to my most recent shot with the macro switch on.



Jim, I have been reading this forum for a while and this thread is one of the best yet. You make a great moderator.

Pino

Sandman said:

pinophoto,

This is a link to the instructions for layer sharpening:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1031&message=7038550

This is a great technique. When you first read through it, it is a
bit overwhelming, but print the instructions and follow it
step-by-step. It actually takes much longer to type the
instructions than to do it! Once you do this a few times, you will
be able to do it in your sleep. I use PS CS and have written an
"action" for setting up this sharpening routine. I don't use it
for every image I take, but most of my macros get this treatment.

Once you get this down PAT, let me know and I'll share one more
variation on this that I use. It is how to apply this sharpening
routine ONLY to specific areas of the image, rather than sharpening
the entire image. I just don't want to overwhelm you right now.
Let me know when you are ready.

Cheers,

jim

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Shoot more, ***** less!
galleries at: http://www.pbase.com/sandman3

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pinophoto,

Thanks for the compliments and kind words.

As for good PS Books, the Scot Kelby book, THe PhotoSHop Book for Digital Photographers is very good.

Also, read the forums and ask questions. Take it one step at a time and soon you will have a logical workflow and be on your way. Each of us who uses PS today was completely bewildered and overwhelmed by the application in the beginning.

Your efforts will not be wasted! PhotoShop is THE gold standard in image post-processing. What you learn today will still be useful years down the road!

Cheers,

jim

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Shoot more, ***** less!
galleries at: http://www.pbase.com/sandman3