First Macro's...love some advice..

[Pehpsi]

had fun trying out some macro's. harder than i thought but.

getting the whole bug sharp was a problem, like focusing near his head, would make his back blurry. any macro tips would be great!

also, anyone know what the hell it is?

stats:
D70 with Tamron 70-300
f11
1/500
iso 400
built in flash
300mm focal
handheld




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cheers.

[Aussie Dave]

Pehpsi,
These are very good for a first attempt. As you pointed out, macro is quite difficult and it is quite a task to obtain a good DOF.

Remember the smaller your aperture, the more DOF you will get. The range in your DOF, when shooting macro, is tiny in comparison to normal styles of shooting. Therefore, the smaller the aperture you can get away with, the more DOF you will have to play with....and we're talking about millimetres here

Sounds easy, but in reality light levels don't usually afford one to be so lucky. Stopping down to f22 would be great but your shutter speed may fall to an unacceptable speed. This is where a tripod comes in handy (along with either the timer function or a remote). Of course, none of this will help you if your subject is on the move. ISO can also be adjusted, but often people tend to shy away from it because they think it will give them noisy images (which it will if they are underexposed).
Another thing to remember is that with the lens stopped down this much, any dust-bunnies living on your sensor will be much clearer on your images. Therefore it is best to learn how to clean your sensor and to keep it as clean as possible....unless you're happy to clone out all the DB's, during PP.

One of the best additions you can get is a SB600 or 800. This will let you choose those apertures you want and can add enough light to the shot to give you a better shutter speed. The on-board flash is not really suited to macro photography, so an external unit will make a huge difference...and is also beneficial for general shooting as well.

I've also found, from personal experience, that if the situation will allow you to use a tripod....use it. You're likely to end up with much sharper images compared to handheld ones.

Good luck. Once you get right into the world of macro, you'll soon be lusting after a real macro lens....

[Yi-P]

What Dave said was right.

Adding a SB600/800 can give you plenty of light to work with macro when stopped the lens down.

Most macros are shot below f/16 or smaller for maximum DOF.

[sirhc55]

Or the R1C1

[Pehpsi]

thanks , dave. learnt quite a bit from your post, appreciate the tips.

i don't have a speedlight yet, but it's on the cards (SB800).

i tried using my tripod and self timer, but the slug kept on moving from the shot and didnt work real good as expected.

i'll look into a macro lens though, 300mm on my tamron, you'd think i had Parkinson's...

cheers..

thanks also yi-p and sirhc55...

[blacknstormy]

Hey Pehpsi -
nice shots for your first macros I think you did pretty well with the gear that you had at hand !!!!
I shoot most of my macro stuff at around f22, using the SB800, iso 200 and usually shutter speed of around 250 - but depending on what effect I want, will drop it down to f8-9 and natural light - but these end up being arty farty shots usually  LOL
A dedicated macro lens makes a hell of a lot of difference though - and once you've used one, you won't go back.

And for the record, it is a moth caterpillar, a Sphingid caterpillar to be more precise (not a slug) . The adults are more commonly known as hawk moths

Nice
Hugs
rel

[Pehpsi]

thanks blacknstormy...

nice looking caterpillar too, great colours. took me a while to figure which end was which though...and boy can they eat...my mums pretty pissed i left them on her plants (there was 3 in the same spot)

i'll be using some of my holiday pay to get me the SB 800, and treat myself in december..heard many good things about this speedlight!

cheers...

[Matt. K]

Nice macros for a first go! Anyone know what kind of butterfly/moth that thing will turn into?

[Manta]

i'll be using some of my holiday pay to get me the SB 800, and treat myself in december..heard many good things about this speedlight!

And they're all true. All you have to do is work out how to get the best out of it. That's the hard part..!

[Pehpsi]

cheers matt.

look forward to the challenge, Manta. bought my D70 in april, and literally didn't know what SLR meant...

[blacknstormy]

Ok, time for your next entomology lesson

It is a late instar caterpillar of Theretra oldenlandiae, subspecies firmata (Walk). It is found from India and Sri Lanka, through SE Asia and into Australia (taken from Moths of Australia, IFB Common - and yes, I do have it in my collection )

If you want a link to some further information, go here :

http://www.amonline.net.au/factSheets/hawk_moths.htm

edited - this is a much better link to the australian museum fact sheet on the species - and gives you a nice shot of the adult hawk moth as well

[Pehpsi]

great link there mate...

i'm really liking these little things.

just hope they don't move too fast so i can find them again in the poolyard in a few days...