View Full Version : first shots on M with diffuser
torque22
08-09-2007, 12:49
After taking expert advice from Ajophotog I took these shots today. I set the camera on manual and added a home made diffuser (kitchen roll) to the flash as per AJ's instruction.
I am quite pleased with the results, these are def my best pics to date. the flash is still rather over pronounced...maybe i will get a flashgun and diffuser now I know what a big difference it makes.
2 pics of wasps, my first ones, all the others were hover flies.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee112/torque2/Macro/waspsm2.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee112/torque2/Macro/waspsm1.jpg
And ofcourse another Hover fly
i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee112/torque2/Macro/HFsm1.jpg (http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee112/torque2/Macro/HFsm1.jpg)
I welcome all coments
The last one could have been better focused on the head or body.
Composition is a little cramped in the first two.
Nice shots otherwise, trying an external flash gun might be a good idea is you can trigger it with your cam somehow (I don't know what camera you have), just make sure it fires from an angle that won't produce even more reflections than a direct flash.
Bouncing it off an attached paper should help a little.
Waaaaay over forum size limits of 800 pixels on the longest side. :rules: Please either resize them or remove the img tags leaving the clickable links.
Not a bad result at all. Flash does make the impossible possible with macro, but the reflections from the hard shiny bits on most insects will show up the flash. Bouncing the flash off a suitable surface is probably the best technique, but of course it's not always practical in the limited time you have to grab the shot.
I find the best results are obtained by natural light on a bright day when the sun isn't too harsh, but our climate isn't often that obliging.
torque22
08-09-2007, 13:25
Sorry CT, I thought it would be ok as its stored on a 3rd party website
torque22
08-09-2007, 13:27
The last one could have been better focused on the head or body.
Composition is a little cramped in the first two.
Nice shots otherwise, trying an external flash gun might be a good idea is you can trigger it with your cam somehow (I don't know what camera you have), just make sure it fires from an angle that won't produce even more reflections than a direct flash.
Bouncing it off an attached paper should help a little.
I cropped them so tight because i am really interested in showing as much detail in the subject as possible, as opposed to a normal (non macro) pic where you show a subject and surroundings....is my train of thought all wrong?
I can reedit the orig pics for a wider crop if needed.
Sorry CT, I thought it would be ok as its stored on a 3rd party website
We don't actually impose a kb size limit on pics hosted elsewhere - we just ask people to use common sense. We still impose the 800 pixel limit though for hot linked images. At least people have a choice over whether they choose to click the link or not.
The thinking behind it is we want to keep the site nice and snappy for everyone and we do have people on slower connections and even dialup.
The 800 pixel limit was arrived at after polling members to see what they ran their desktops at and by far the majority use 1024X768, so 800 pixels was chosen as the max size due to it not interfering with thread formatting. No-one wants to be scrolling around huge images and 800 pixels is plenty for an image properly resized. :)
I cropped them so tight because i am really interested in showing as much detail in the subject as possible, as opposed to a normal (non macro) pic where you show a subject and surroundings....is my train of thought all wrong?
I can reedit the orig pics for a wider crop if needed.
Well, in that case I'd go for a crop of the part of their body in focus (should be the eyes, as macros are portraits like any other), instead of the whole body.
Ajophotog
08-09-2007, 15:09
Nice shots Torque, an improvement for sure. it's now time to play and get a feel for it.
torque22
08-09-2007, 16:09
We don't actually impose a kb size limit on pics hosted elsewhere - we just ask people to use common sense. We still impose the 800 pixel limit though for hot linked images. At least people have a choice over whether they choose to click the link or not.
The thinking behind it is we want to keep the site nice and snappy for everyone and we do have people on slower connections and even dialup.
The 800 pixel limit was arrived at after polling members to see what they ran their desktops at and by far the majority use 1024X768, so 800 pixels was chosen as the max size due to it not interfering with thread formatting. No-one wants to be scrolling around huge images and 800 pixels is plenty for an image properly resized. :)
When did you have the poll, 1024X768 seams a bit low by todays standards.
I can't imagine a lot of people still on analog dial up either...maybe time to do another poll.
I will of course abide by the rules as they stand. Thanks for putting me straight and explaining the situation to me
torque22
08-09-2007, 16:12
Well, in that case I'd go for a crop of the part of their body in focus (should be the eyes, as macros are portraits like any other), instead of the whole body.
wow, if I had Ajophotog's phto set up i would. I have all on to get the insect itself big enough with my EF-S 60mm an EF12 tube. I will try cropping a bit less eagerly in future, thanks for your advice and input on this.
torque22
08-09-2007, 16:14
Nice shots Torque, an improvement for sure. it's now time to play and get a feel for it.
Thanks AJ, i think that F11 might be a tad too high for my liking, so i will try F9 next time and reduce shutter speed a little. I am really amazed the difference the diffuser has made with the lighting.
Ajophotog
08-09-2007, 23:07
Thanks AJ, i think that F11 might be a tad too high for my liking, so i will try F9 next time and reduce shutter speed a little. I am really amazed the difference the diffuser has made with the lighting.
Torque leave the shutter at 1/200 and try f:9 you can up the iso to 200 and give that ago but 1/200 is a good shutter to use.
torque22
08-09-2007, 23:33
ok Aj, thanks for the advice.
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