Another Macro set

Stunning photos there :open_mouth:

Are they dead? didnt fly away... wow.. amazing...

how did you get so close?

You must have lots of patience!

Wow, simply amazing.

I especially love the second photo.

Please do share your camera setup!

Ervin Anastasi Wrote:

Stunning photos there

+1

This thread at LPF may interest you. This stuff is over my head, but it appears you are magnifying even more. I said this there, but it applies to you too. I can't imagine the knowledge, skill, and patience it takes to create these photos. Thank you for sharing.

Amazing work there! Teach me! :wink:

Great pictures again, old4570!

I can tell you how they are made, I spend holidays in Switserland just taking macro- pictures (in the analog days, these pictures above are much better). It takes time, patience, a good eye for what is a good subject, waiting, waiting and some more waiting again for the best shot, and a lot of lying down on your belly with your knees in the mud :-) .

Try and take some macros of a LED. I bet it would look interesting. Kinda looks like you are using a Microscope to take those. Fine work.

Amazing! Thanks for the share.

All the above. Simply orsm pictures.

No the insects are alive , and taken el-natural ( no interference )

Gear = Pentax K7 digital SLR - Lens is a Sigma 50mm F2.8 Macro 1:1 lens ( manual focus ) attached to a Ricoh 2x Macro Adapter ( really bumps the Macro to better than 1:1 , way past 1:1 )

The flash is a cheap DIY set up , everything is set up for full 100% manual .

Technique = Opportunity , I walk around and hopefully find insects that dont fly away as I try and get close for a picture , some insects are very good , while others take off very quickly and give you little to no opportunity for a picture .

The two flies were daytime shots , just lucky they hung around for some pictures while I was stuffing a camera in there faces ..

The spider was night time ( Used a flashlight to see what I was doing ) , and it was repairing its web , so it just kept doing what it was doing and didnt worry to much about me taking pictures .

As for taking macro pictures :

Lots of ways of doing it , there is no one right way , the most important things are shutter speed and light and the F-stop ..

You want as much ( high ) f-stop as you can get , with the highest shutter speed you can achieve ( 1/100 to maybe 1/200 if hand held ) whether you use a flash or not ..

I run a flash , about 1/160 to 1/180 shutter speed and as much ( high F-stop ) as I can get away with for DOF ( depth of field )

The higher the Macro the less you can get in focus ..

If you have a camera , the easiest way to macro is with a close focus filter on the end of the lens , works surprisingly well and its cheap .

http://www.sendspace.com/file/17v5cl link is for a ? guide to macro with close focus filter , my first attempt ..

For those with the talent, the technique seems so simple. Those are extremely sharp and well focused images. And of non-static subjects that are known for moving with blazing speed. Not easy at all, under any circumstances.

Even a bluebonnet flower is quite animated with a 15-20mph wind blowing when 1:1 True Macro is desired. This image is the complete flower, about 2 1/4” tall…

And to show you what 1:1 brings to the table….the ever moving Bluebonnet, State Flower of Texas

Neither comparable to the multi-faceted eyes of a nice juicy bug. :stuck_out_tongue:

Hmmm , I have no talent ! not a single artistic bone in my body . But I can learn , and in little over a year I have explored as much as I possibly could fit or afford to do in such a space of time ..

I have a collection of cameras and lenses and flashes , I have explored cheap , and I have explored the more $$ ( but not to the extreme ) , always on the look out for a bargain .

And my conclusion is , macro can be done on the cheap . You can take some amazing photos with just a decent close focus filter and flash , even a dirt cheap flash .

Its just a process of eliminating what does not work , till you are left with what does work , it sounds easy and I have to say that it really is not that hard .

Time consuming perhaps if you are going in too many directions at the same time ( That's me ). But if you learn one method , and practice . In a month you should be taking some seriously sweet photos .

Current toy = Pentax K7 - Sigma 50mm - Ricoh 2x Tele Macro Converter

Cool, what are your working aperture ranges with that set-up?

I put an add in the local craigs list for willing bug models, maybe I’ll get lucky… A Praying Mantis would be sweet. :wink:

You might end up with this type of “bug models” :bigsmile:

I’d shoot em! :wink:

The highest possible under the circumstances ( F stop ) .. ( Smallest aperture or highest F - stop , which ever way you look at it )

F16 to F22 .. With the 2x Converter that would be double , so F32 to F44 ..

I always try for the highest possible F stop , while maintaining decent shutter speed ( 1/100 + )

Where did you get that flash bracket thing?

And of course, how much?

Terrific bug photos old4570!
Kind of reminds me of those horror movies where the insects are as big as houses !! :open_mouth:

Just like you I like to use the old manual-focus lenses when doing close-ups.
(Plus you can get ’em on the cheap second-hand)