macroised

[Rhanna]

Here is an example of how hard it is to take the tele macro photo.
Top is normal lens.
The second is the macro, trying to get a photo of a small spider. Though I didn't succeed in getting a good one of the spider.
Next post shows spider.
Rupert

[Rhanna]

Spider about 10mm.
Rupert

[Rhanna]

A fly landed on the job so I thought I might as well include it in the mix.
Rupert

[Rhanna]

Then there was the yellow tails on the prowl.
Rupert

[Soquili]

Great macro shots Rupert. How close are you to the subjects?

[Burpee]

I love the fly on the leaf...what a great shot. The yellow jackets and bone gives me the creeps. Sorry, I just get the willies looking at them.

[Rhanna]

Bill,

I use two different lenses.

An old 400mm (but very good) lens with bellows I get about 5 feet (1500mm) away which is what I used for the wasps and the other shots.
But I did use an old 135mm Pentax lens (not expensive stuff!!) with bellows to take some closer shots of bees which brings me a lot closer, about a foot (300mm) away. This is one of the shots included today.
Plugged into Pentax digital K100D Super.
Rupert

[Soquili]

Thanks for the information Rupert. It has been years since I used a bellows. I wasn't aware anyone still used one for macro shots.

Bees are not aggressive and can be photographed very close up. Yellow Tails (known as Yellow Jackets here) can be very aggressive and best to keep a good distance between them and yourself.

[Soquili]

BTW here is a recipe for Yellow Jacket Soup

[Rhanna]

Bill,
Thanks for the compliments.
There is a story behind the bellows.
I have a Noveflex 400mm telephoto lens - minimum focus about 18 feet and I dreamed of one day getting the appropriate bellows. Novoflex stuff is very good but very expensive, needless to say I couldn't afford the bellows. A couple of months ago I searched eBay with 'pentax' and nearly fell off my chair when here was a set of bellows which had been modified to fit a k mount Pentax and take 42mm screw lenses. I had the lenses so I was able to buy the bellows at a reasonable price. Then another one came up in your country but only the basic bellows without any K fittings. I am going to modify it to take bayonet lenses (hopefully).
SH the really good bellows are about $200 US.
Rupert