Beginner My first Batch. Any suggestions?

Brian_of_Bozeat

Brian_of_Bozeat

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Hello, thanks for looking in. I was very lucky a few weeks ago to be given a bit of a practical primer by @g8ina of this parish. Anyway, this is my first batch of shots from my first solo adventure into the bug world.

All of these shots were taken with my D7000 and Nikor 55-200VR "kit" lens with 48mm (36+12) Meike extension tubes (this give me 1:1 at 105mm with a focus distance of approx 200mm off the front of the lens) I have found this to be a very useful setup, when I see what I want to shoot the zoom helps me get the focus quite close and then I let the autofocus take over (single point & servo). I was using a Meike ring flash. Being new to this I was experimenting with settings as I went along and kind of lost track...Its all in the exif which I will mine to see what worked best, what fun!

All suggestions and comments gratefully received, I am here to learn so please don't feel the need to hold back.Ta.


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Welcome to the world of little animals Brian. i think you've made a good start. Like you say, it is great fun.

It's a matter of personal taste, but I rather like shots like these, where you see the whole animal with some environment/context, with a lot of the animal in focus. I expect you'll want to explore doing some closer in shots too, where of course you'll have much less of the subject in focus, unless you get into stacking, which is something else you might want to try a bit further down the line.

Apart from the first one (and arguably perhaps the last one) the subjects are rather central. It's often thought to be a good idea to capture (and/or crop) so the subject is pointing into the picture, with more space in front of it than behind it.

I'm interested that you are getting 1:1 from 200mm working distance with 105mm focal length. With my 70D I just tried photographing a ruler with my 55-250 at a fraction over 100mm with 48mm extension, and at a working distance of about 230mm got a scene width of about 50mm, which is about 1:2. Don't know what the difference is there.
 
Nice start Brian.
None are really 1:1 I suggest as Nick says.

Another thing to add to your set up would be a Raynox DCR 250 if you want to get closer.
 
Great start Brian, and yes it's great fun. Alf nailed it, either a Raynox 150 or 250 would give you the next step up and you wouldn't need those pesky extension tubes either. Keep posting your shots!
 
Welcome.

I would suggest the best thing you can improve is the lighting - a lot of the eyes look blown to me. Seems to be fairly harsh lighting. Have you attempted to use any diffusion with the ring flash ? I know George has posted a good setup in the kit thread for a ring flash - I expect there are more good ones there too. Good diffusion will bring more detail out. You may also want to maybe dial down the flash exposure compensation if the light persists with diffusion to be harsh/bright.

Keep practicing and have fun.
 
GardenersHelper said:
I'm interested that you are getting 1:1 from 200mm working distance with 105mm focal length. With my 70D I just tried photographing a ruler with my 55-250 at a fraction over 100mm with 48mm extension, and at a working distance of about 230mm got a scene width of about 50mm, which is about 1:2. Don't know what the difference is there.
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Many thanks, composition is so subjective, but thanks for the tips.

I also took my figure of 1:1 by shooting a ruler and comparing the number of mm across the frame against the Nikon claimed size of the sensor... OK I had a look and I had made an error on my spreadsheet of the results, I got 26mm across the frame at approx 50mm off the end of the lens and the sensor is 23.6 mm across, so you are right.

nass said:
Great start Brian, and yes it's great fun. Alf nailed it, either a Raynox 150 or 250 would give you the next step up and you wouldn't need those pesky extension tubes either. Keep posting your shots!
Click to expand...

I love my extension tubes... Much better then the reversal ring I tried or the revolting "close up filter", but I will have a look at the Raynox's thanks.

ChrisA said:
Welcome.

I would suggest the best thing you can improve is the lighting - a lot of the eyes look blown to me. Seems to be fairly harsh lighting. Have you attempted to use any diffusion with the ring flash ? I know George has posted a good setup in the kit thread for a ring flash - I expect there are more good ones there too. Good diffusion will bring more detail out. You may also want to maybe dial down the flash exposure compensation if the light persists with diffusion to be harsh/bright.

Keep practicing and have fun.
Click to expand...

I agree, the eyes seem to be the hard part. Many thanks for your suggestions, I will have a look at some options. I will try and find the "kit thread".
 
Brian_of_Bozeat said:
Much better then the reversal ring I tried or the revolting "close up filter", but I will have a look at the Raynox's thanks.
Click to expand...

Achromats like the Raynox 250 and 150 are multi-element lenses that produce altogether different results compared to single element close up filters.

Brian_of_Bozeat said:
I agree, the eyes seem to be the hard part. Many thanks for your suggestions, I will have a look at some options. I will try and find the "kit thread".
Click to expand...

George's ring flash setup is here.
 
All points have been considered here already. It's a very good start so certainly take some pride in that. They're a little further away than 1:1 shots BUT, that's fine. Close up is also accepted. Certainly light diffusion is key in these shots and very much needed. I have to admit, I'm not a fan of ring flashes unless clever diffusion is used.
 
GardenersHelper said:
Achromats like the Raynox 250 and 150 are multi-element lenses that produce altogether different results compared to single element close up filters.

I will investigate. Thanks again.

George's ring flash setup is here.
Click to expand...

OH, that's great. Thanks very much.
 
IanClark said:
All points have been considered here already. It's a very good start so certainly take some pride in that. They're a little further away than 1:1 shots BUT, that's fine. Close up is also accepted. Certainly light diffusion is key in these shots and very much needed. I have to admit, I'm not a fan of ring flashes unless clever diffusion is used.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your kind words.
 
Thanks everyone, some great advice here that I will follow up on, Just what I was after to help me to improve. Cheers (y)
 
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