Pink Rose

Rose with the 100mm Macro lens. I had to back up from the effective flash range to get the full rose in the image. Shot in Manual at F11 and 125.

A pomagranate flower for practice in breezy conditions.

Rich

Rich,

Nice Rose! Did you take it at night? Why would you need a flash at F11/125 in the daytime?

Day shot.

F11 increased the depth of field, and 125th helps with things moving. The flash makes up for the light reduction by going to F11. It was a recommendation by Mike Engles to get better bug shots. The 580EX flash is ETTL, but not enough light at longer distances with the shield. The shield helps with the hard shadows. The lighting would have been different with the 17-85 mm lens since I could have gotten closer to the subject.

I have an off camera cable as well, and made a fixture to mount the flash off canera for some shadow.

Still working on focal point. Generally, 1/3 back and 2/3 in will be in focus. I think I have tuned the view so that I see the focal point correctly. Depending on your vision, it could be anywhere. I have been shooting in manual, and I need to know where it is. I cannot get autofocus when shooting very close.

Rich

do you get a focus indication with your macro lense? I know when I use my 300MM macro the focus is very touchy. 1/2 to one degree can be in focus or out of focus. Is the lense totally manual?

My 1000MM lense is that way... Hard as heck to take a decent moon shot.

The minimum focal length is about 9 inches from the front of the lens the senor, and the lens is about 6 inches long. So, about 3 inches from the front of the lens to the subject. It doesn't auto focus that close. My 17-85 mm lens does that too.

For auto focus, I set my camera to center point because I am shooting close to other things like leaves and flowers.

There isn't too much room for error, and I always practice to get a good idea of where to focus. I did lots of shots in auto, and then set the view to match in manual.

Rich

Hi Rich,

I set mine to spot for the lightmeter and also for the focus. for a flower I will focus on the petals closest to the camera and try and set the depth of field for just beyond the last petal. sometimes it is just trial and error for the depth of field. It is hard to have that back petal in sharp focus and the flower just behind it out of focus... Particuliarly when there is 2 inches between flowers.

I have a 300MM with a macro setting. I usually just toss the camera on the tripod and zoom in as much as I need and then set the exposure/f-stop. do you have a zoom lense with a macro setting? Makes flower pictures so much easier than having to get down to the level of the flowers. I am not a kid anymore you know.;)

BTW: Nice bright levels on this flower. Loks Good... Did you photoshop it to get the high saturation or did you luck out and get just under the overexposure point?

An as shot image. Tripod with remote switch. Probably with a focus rail and 100 mm lens.

I still haven't found all my files after replacing the hard drive.

Rich

Hi Rich!

I like this one better. Not as over exposed. Just the stem and a highlight or two. Very nice image overall.

That poppy has a wonderful texture Rich..

Norman,

I have a tripod with a clamp for holding subjects, and a tripod with a focus slide for the camera. I use a remote switch for the camera. The shot was in aperature mode letting the time float. The aperature was small to increase the depth of field. The switch keeps my vibration separated from the camera.
The tripods hole the camera and subject in fixed positions. So, with everything still, I can get a good shot. I can only do hand held with short exposure times. I have to rely on the camera to focus and shoot before I move too much.

Rich

You may have mentioned it before Rich but what type of camera do you use, is it the film/transparency kind or is it digital?. I am not a camera buff know nothing about the technicalities of shutter speeds apertures etc that's why I use a digital, just bought myself an Olympus digital camera and while for an 85 year old I have a very very steady hand I do realise the need for tripod etc for perfection. By the way I made a nice fill from you poppy picture, Thank you.

Norman,

I use a Canon 20D with a 560EX flash. I have a graphite composit tripod, and an aluminum monopod. 8 megapixel digital.

The other side of a brown on the outside butterfly. These are very illusive.

Rich

Rich, what do you have in the way of lenses? Any good telephoto?

John,

I have a 70-210 mm and an 80-400 mm. The 210 was for my EOS 620. The 400 is a stabilized type. The 210 has some Macro capability. I use the 400 when butterflys are to far away, and I cannot get close on a ladder.

Never got anything crystal with the 400. I'll have to see if I can get better images.

Rich

Hi Rich,

I have found that using a telephoto for macro the focus can be very very touchy. Like a hair turn in either direction wil put you out of focus. Play with it until the foucs indicator is constantly on without you touching the lense. At least that has helped me...

If a breeze is blowing... it might take a while to get the focus point to be still enough to get a stable indication.

I took about 500 rose pictures this weekend... no time to adjust them, or post any tho.

I was trying to duplicate a bug I seen in the X Pro forum, so I ended up with two flower pics you might like from my photoshoot the other day.

Looking at them again, it appears the focus was a little off, but they still look nice.

I never do very well with red. Rich

Your well focussed on that one Rich and I can almost smell the perfume.

Hi rich,

What I stumbled upon was a camera's lightmeter will read red dimmer than what it is... so setting the exposure to 0 will end up overexposing the shot. Try under exposing a red rose by -0.7 or -1. Your reds will be truer. You can adjust the other colors in Photoshop if you want. I typically underexpose a click or two and fix it in Photoshop. PS can not tell the difference between white and white... there is nothing to adjust in an overexposed shot. The same is true with a very underexposed shot. black is black and nothing for PS to adjust.

took another 150 pics or so today... Only had less than an hour tho... I hate being rushed through a shot... so stressful.

PS... Nice image by the way Rich. Nice focus. What are the values?

PPS Here is a more focused shot...

Manual exposure at F11 & 125, EV -.3, Autofocus center point, ETTL flash with shield. I usually set the compensation to -.3.

If I am to far away, the images tend to be dark. Just a result of how I use the flash. I am using the same settings for the butterflys.

Rich

Do the butterflys stick around for a second shot if you are close by and flash em? :eek:

(sounds preverted by not meant that way):o

Awesome flutterby shot! Did you ever get a good way to draw your flutterbys and have them look half as nice as your shots?

John,

They don't seem to be sensitive to visible light. I wonder about the IR the flash sends before it is activated.

I keep trying to make fills that would appear as the wing scales. Nice idea at the time, but I won't be drawing any longer. I'll have to do more with the images themselves.

Rich

Did you give up on drawing? I have been away for a while...:o

John,

Too much repeative motion, I think. I can only draw for about ten minutes, and then have to quit for a week. I thought I would explore the bitmap capabilities of XXP.

Rich

hi Rich,

There is lots to explore with XXP and bitmaps. Try pwaying with a transparencies of a bitmap over the original bitmap. You can get some really interesting effects very quickly.