Let's talk about Macro

[Alan Gage]

Thinking it might be a fun subject to bring up. Seems it's something people are always wanting to try and I find it's never as easy as you think it will be.

It's one of my favorite types of photography but I usually find it quite difficult to get the results I want. I guess it's really no different than regular photography in that you not only need an interesting subject but good light as well, and those two don't seem to go together a lot of the time. Then you have to add in the extremely narrow DOF and problems with keeping the camera steady at such large magnifications.

I started out with extension tubes and while they're cheap and work well I found them to be a pain for the most part. Having a real macro lens is so much nicer, allowing you to focus all the way from 1:1 to infinity and anywhere in between. With tubes I was constantly having to switch lengths as I changed my composition and then had to find the narrow band I was able to focus in; not ideal for moving subjects.

Another thing I've found is that it's very easy to use off camera flash with macro photography and can make it much easier to create nice light. Both the camera and flash will be close together (and close to the subject) so using a cord to the flash is perfectly acceptable. A bare flash head is generally going to be a large light source to whatever little tidbit you're photographing so you'll end up with a soft light as well. Flash works great in low light as well as sunlight to get rid of the harsh shadows of the sun. Since the flash is so close to the subject (less than a foot usually) it easily has enough power to be brighter than the sun at very low power levels, making for long lasting batteries and fast refresh rates.

I hardly used flash at all in the past year but wish that I had, it would have improved a lot of shots I'm not real happy with. Today I had a chance to when I saw a tiny jumping spider crawl out onto my living room window. He was of course very backlit so I grabbed my camera and flash and guessed at f/5.6 for the flash exposure. Was about 2/3 of a stop off but I wanted more DOF and less light in the background so I stopped down to f/16 and adjusted flash output accordingly. I was pleased with the result for spending less than 2 minutes taking the shot, hand holding and manual focusing at 1:1 and having the flash just sitting on the arm of the love seat. A little more persistence could have gotten a real nice shot I think, unfortunately I seem to lack that most of the time.

Anyway, I didn't intend this to start out as a tutorial, more to here other peoples techniques and successes/failures. So let's here them. What's your macro setup? Subjects? Tips?

Here's my spider, cropped pretty heavily from the full frame even though it was 1:1, doubt he was over 1/8" long.



A water strider from a recent AZ trip, they'll be back in Iowa in a few months. This one is full frame:



And one from this summer on the prairie:



The tiny flowers and insects of the prairie are the main reason I couldn't stay out of real photography when I tried this past spring. I tried it with my P&S but was very unsatisfied with the results. I plan to hit it hard this spring/summer, which is what has got me thinking more about macro now.

Alan

[martolod]

[Alan Gage]

Boy, that sure is a lot of aphids. The second shot looks like a Ragwort of some kind, do you know if it is? Looks to be a happy crawler.

What did you shoot them with?

Good stuff!

Alan

[JohnR]

I tend to use my 60mm hand-held and my 200mm on a tripod. I like macro because you can find interesting subjects almost anywhere... but composition can be a challenge too! I've not tried flash yet, but should - I find subject movement is often an issue (with flora).

I love that last one of yours, Alan, and the caterpillar, martolod.

I haven't done enough lately... But here's one from last year - it is heldheld with the 60mm, with the hood resting on the edge of the rock I was lying on. The anemone is normally closed but opens to feed in the incoming stream of the tide, this is the only one I've seen wide open like this. It's maybe 3 inches all the way across. (I may have posted this before - sorry if so!)

[JohnR]

Here's a couple of shots that show the anemone feeding - you can see it's caught a tiny creature on the left, and the tentacle going into the mouth on the right -



Didn't notice that until later

[Wayne]

We don't need no stinkin' macro for spiders over here...

[martolod]

Boy, that sure is a lot of aphids. The second shot looks like a Ragwort of some kind, do you know if it is? Looks to be a happy crawler.

What did you shoot them with?

Good stuff!

Alan

the 'ragwort' is a native bush out the from of our bedroom window.in early summer it is covered with caterpillars, they just looove them yellow flowers. i don't use pesticides so i have them come back every year.the bush don't seem to mind..it just keeps growing new flowers
shots 1 and 4 18-50mm sigma lens
shot 2 135mm pan focus sigma lens (aperture down to f64 but not this shot this one is around f16-f22 i cant remember which)
and here is the set up for the rose stymen
it was a 50mm smc  and a 135 sigma pan focus back to back..or front to front in this case

[Austintatious]

I would LOVE a nice macro 1:1 lens for my SLR. But I am using what I do have.
Camera is a Panisonic FZ1, with the Leica 12X zoom lens. 35 to 435 mm equivalent on a film camera. To this I add a Nikon 4T close up lens.
Here is what I'm getting with the rig. (very shallow depth of field)

[martolod]

i gots me pentax 67 extension rings in the mail today from adorama:2yippee:
and with the p67 to p645 adapter i looking forward to some nice largish macros

[Major Black]

martolo, a pal of mine does some nice macros with his Pentax 67. I think he reverses a long lens maybe plus a tube or two.

My SL66 has reversible lenses and bellows too. I have a tube for it which I use in times of lens flare when lens is reversed.

[martolod]

mark
i have a 200mm lens coming from KEH but in the meantime  i will use what  have.
admittedly the pentax glass(in both 67 and 645 guiseS) is giving me real warm feeling in my loins...:2yippee:
i just keep on getting blown away at quality
if i get time today i'll load up some pan f + and burn a roll under natural sunlight

[conniecat]

I don't have any special set up, tho, just hand held with my arm braced. I have 100s, but here are a few favorites. Sorry if I have posted them before.

 

 

 

[Alan Gage]

John, that anemone is great and good eye with the feeding. I'm always surprised when I get home and start reviewing my macro shots how many things I captured that I never noticed at the time. Especially successive shots of the same flower. There will be a tiny little black speck of a bug that I never would have noticed except that it moved between shots.

I can relate to having problems with macro compositions. When I got my first macro lens I was super excited because I thought anything I pointed it at would turn out amazing, just like all the pictures I saw on-line. While it's probably possible to turn anything into a good macro shot it's certainly not easy, at least not for me. I find I have the best luck if I take the time to set up the tripod. This keeps the camera steady and gives me time to really look at the framing and get it just right. One of the most difficult things about hand holding for some subjects is the odd postures it takes to get the body in position while still holding the camera to your eye. Got to hurry and take the shot before I fall over! I think my tripod shots are far and away the best, too bad I don't carry it along more often.

How often do you find yourself using the 200 macro? I thought a 100mm would be a good compromise, and it is, but at 1:1 it still brings you quite close to the subject and there are times when a 50 would be nice for the different perspective.

Austintatious, those look great, SLR or not.

Mark, that dandelion(?) is beautiful. Just the sort of shot I strive for but never get. So simple yet so beautiful. I thought long and hard about getting an SL66 because of the built in bellows and lens reversing but the thought of scanning film again kept me from taking the plunge.

Connie, that's quite a surprised look on that wasp/hornet. Looks like he got caught with his proboscis in the hummingbird juice.

Just checked the weather forecast and it's supposed to be decent here this weekend. I'm announcing it here so I'll hopefully stick with it, but I'm going to take some time, get outside and do some macro shoting this weekend. I'll be back sometime on monday with 10 to show. Anyone else want to join in?

Alan

[JohnR]

Hey, I'll join in. I need some motivation! It's been wet here, so fingers crossed.

 

How often do you find yourself using the 200 macro?

Lately, not enough... I use it when I'm specifically going somewhere to take macro shots, and lug the tripod along too. Last outing with it was last October, so time to get serious again

[martolod]

How often do you find yourself using the 200 macro? I thought a 100mm would be a good compromise, and it is, but at 1:1 it still brings you quite close to the subject and there are times when a 50 would be nice for the different perspective.

don't forget i was talking 6x7 not 35mm