First use of my steadying stick

GardenersHelper

GardenersHelper

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Nick
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For this thread I used the Raynox MSN-202. This has a very short working distance of around 30mm and I find it quite difficult to use. I decided to try photographing similar subjects with a less powerful setup, this time using a Raynox 150 and a Raynox 250 stacked together. This has a working distance of around 70mm. As with the MSN-202, I used them on my FZ200 with KX800 twin flash.

Some of the time, and quite possibly for all the images in the next post, I used my "steadying stick". I made it some weeks ago but this is the first time I have tried using it. It is especially useful for higher magnification work.


0957 1 Steadying stick by gardenersassistant, on Flickr

This is how it is used.


0957 4 Using the steadying stick by gardenersassistant, on Flickr

It is made of a wooden dowel rod inserted into the rubber end of a drain plunger. The dowel rod fits between the lens barrel and the camera grip. It only takes a little pressure on the front of the stick with the fingers that are wrapped around the camera grip to stop the camera moving up or down on the stick. Releasing that pressure a bit allows the vertical position of the camera on the stick to be adjusted.

The steadying stick damps down the movement from hand-shake while allowing flexibility of movement. This makes it easier to compose shots, focus and stay in position for multiple shots.

The rubber plunger spreads the load and stops the stick sinking into the ground and avoids damage to grass, flower beds etc.

The stick has velcro around the end to keep the stick in the plunger, but allowing the stick to be removed and replaced with a stick of a different size.


0957 2 Velcro around end by gardenersassistant, on Flickr

I have longer sticks for subjects that are higher off the ground, but I haven't tried using them yet.


0957 3 Tall steadying sticks by gardenersassistant, on Flickr

Whether a stick is usable or not depends on where the subject is and what else is in the surroundings.


Continued in next post....
 
Here are some images all (I think) captured with the help of the steadying stick. And it really did help. I think it probably improved my success rate quite significantly. It can be used for subjects that are moving around. The ant was moving a lot, and fast. The other subjects moved at a much more sedate pace.

There are 1300 pixel high versions of these images in this album at Flickr.

1
0954 51 2016_09_06 P1320229_DxO10 RAW 01cP DNG SP7 1300h by gardenersassistant, on Flickr

2
0954 52 2016_09_06 P1320269_DxO10 RAW 01cP DNG SP7 1300h by gardenersassistant, on Flickr

3
0954 54 2016_09_06 P1320288_DxO10 RAW 01cP DNG SP7 1300h by gardenersassistant, on Flickr

4
0954 55 2016_09_06 P1320291_DxO10 RAW 01cP DNG SP7 1300h by gardenersassistant, on Flickr

5
0954 58 2016_09_06 P1320321_DxO10 RAW 01cP DNG SP7 1300h by gardenersassistant, on Flickr

6
0954 60 2016_09_06 P1320345_DxO10 RAW 01cP DNG SP7 1300h by gardenersassistant, on Flickr

7
0954 63 2016_09_06 P1320371_DxO10 RAW 01cP DNG SP7 1300h by gardenersassistant, on Flickr

8
0954 63 2016_09_06 P1320371_DxO10 RAW 01cP DNG SP7 1300h by gardenersassistant, on Flickr
 
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Some super shots nick.
Good use of a bit of wood.
Maybe try a monopod for higher subjects.
 
Graham said:
Some super shots nick.
Good use of a bit of wood.
Maybe try a monopod for higher subjects.
Click to expand...

Thanks Graham.

I have a monopod, but I've never really got on with it. Getting the camera on and off it takes too long for my taste (like with a tripod, which I used to use almost all the time). And there are flexibility/ease of use issues (for me) with the heads I have tried.
 
GardenersHelper said:
Thanks Graham.

I have a monopod, but I've never really got on with it. Getting the camera on and off it takes too long for my taste (like with a tripod, which I used to use almost all the time). And there are flexibility/ease of use issues (for me) with the heads I have tried.
Click to expand...


I can see definite advantages over a monopod. This made me think about the use of your idea and in theory the speed of adjusting your position should give more time and a better chance of getting the shot. The only down side I see is the bulk of it. Thanks Nick for sharing and I for one will be trying it(y):clap: I must warn you however, you will not be popular with my wife when the mop stale and plunger disappear from the cupboard.:D
 
charlychuckchuck said:
I can see definite advantages over a monopod. This made me think about the use of your idea and in theory the speed of adjusting your position should give more time and a better chance of getting the shot. The only down side I see is the bulk of it. Thanks Nick for sharing and I for one will be trying it(y):clap: I must warn you however, you will not be popular with my wife when the mop stale and plunger disappear from the cupboard.:D
Click to expand...

:D

I bought a plunger from Homebase, probably this one. The handle unscrews.

You have to get dowel rod of a suitable diameter so it will fit into the plunger and also so it will fit (well enough) into the gap between the grip and the bottom end of the lens barrel. The size of the gap varies between cameras. The dowel rod fits snugly right into the slot of my 70D but only goes part way in with my FZ200 and FZ330, which works but needs a bit more pressure to keep it in place than with the 70D. (I wish it was the other way round, as I don't need the steadying stick with the larger subjects that I photograph with the 70D.)

As to bulk, it is large of course (especially with the longer rods), but light. (And it looks ridiculous of course, but that is something I've never been sensitive about. My flash arrangement raises a few eyebrows anyway, and when I'm kitted up with hat and kneepads, backpack with stuff hanging off the outside, rummaging around on my knees, I look like a complete dork. I've never found that a problem. :D)
 
davholla said:
A good idea, however https://www.flickr.com/photos/lordv/ just uses a bean pole. I have tried using a stick and it worked fine. However don't assume you will always find a stick. When I went to Bookham common, I didn't which was a shock. If you are traveling by public transport, a stick could look strange but it is free!

Here is a link to his set up.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/lordv/75900443/in/album-72157594293307036/
Click to expand...

Thanks David. It was Brian that I got the idea from (and also from one of my other macro heroes, Mark Berkery, who uses what he terms a "stick" - don't know exactly what.
 
Nick. You say one of your heroes Mark Berkery so I had to have a look. All I can say is Blo*dy Hell :jawdrop: think I should just bin my gear.
 
charlychuckchuck said:
Nick. You say one of your heroes Mark Berkery so I had to have a look. All I can say is Blo*dy Hell :jawdrop: think I should just bin my gear.
Click to expand...

Quite the opposite! Be inspired Charles. Mark and others like him show us what is possible. (And btw, until quite recently Mark had been working almost exclusively with a by now rather old bridge camera and close-up lenses, using the on board flash. And a stick of course. No hugely expensive gear. But awe-inspiring images. And without doing much by way of post processing too.)

We all have to start out at the beginning. I remember I almost gave up when I started out, trying to use a Raynox 250 close-up lens. I couldn't get anything in focus. It was horrible. But I kept at it, and bit by bit things improved. It has been, and it continues to be, a long slow path for me. But that's fine - seeing a bit of improvement once in a while is enough for me.
 
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