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Wee idea #1 - Macros
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08-11-2007 12:31am#1I'm no expert on this subject by any means or standards, but it is the one I'm most fascinated by and I'm determined to one day have mastered macros
Probably the most important technical factor for a successful macro is the Depth of Field or DOF for short. The DOF is determined by the aperture used, the bigger the opening (f2.8) the smaller the DOF and vice versa. See the two examples below:
1st one was taken at f2.8 @ 1/100sec
2nd one is identical but was taken at f32 @ 2.5sec
Up till now, most of the macroshots I've taken have been at f2.8, simply to keep the exposure time down as they were either handheld or some precarious balancing act on a cheapo tripod. Now that I've invested in a solid tripod I can begin experimenting with smaller apertures and I'd estimate that the aperture sweetspot for shots like the examples will most likely be around f5.6.
On ISO settings I've pretty much been sticking to 100 or 200 iso and no higher. The macro lens gets so close/inside the subject and is capable of recording so much detail that I've not had the heart to try higher ISO's for fear of graining. Silly I know as its digital, but i'm still as sparse as when I was using film so many moons ago
A decent flash gun to fill out the subject is probably another accessory thats invaluable for macros and is #1 on my wishlist
Hope I've posted enough here to kickstart the wee ideas threads and that the more experienced macro heads will correct any of my possibly wrong practices
Johan
PS If anyone fancies a wander around the botanics sometime and having a go with my canon 100mm macro, just PM me. I'm usually there friday afternoons0
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S602 with a 50mm AIS reversed in front of the lens ...
And off camera flash. For any decent magnification ratio that off-camera flash is an absolute must, particularly if the subject is quite close to the lens (in this case about 3 or 4 inches). Thats what gives the black background aswell, with a sufficiently small aperture there's next to no ambient light affecting the picture and depending on where you're pointing the flash, chances are the background won't be illuminated at all. I've just gotten my hands on another strobe recently, and my SB-26 can be triggered remotely so I plan to see if I can use the sb-26 to illuminate the background, and the other strobe mounted off-camera to illuminate the subject.0 -
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Ah well....my Macro exprere is pretty much zilch so im struggling to add anything to this..... looks like the "wee idea" is out the window!
Wasnt that the idea of the 'wee idea' thread, to discuss and share our know-how on one topic and we all learn a bit
For instance I would have never thought of using f9 for macros, but now Fajitas has mentioned it I'll deffo be trying it out next time
At home I do have a couple of heavy duty studio lights that work brilliant in my makeshift studio (2hrs of rearranging furniture, but always worth it!
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But those are not very portable and of no use in the botanic gardens. Somehow dont think they'd appreciate it if their venus flytrap disappeared for a day or 2
oshead, that ringlite flash looks brilliant, think I'll put that top of my gear wish list0 -
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Hmmmm... I feel somehow obliged to contribute to this thread
I say, tripod shmipod. Or at least i try to. Using a tripod limits my moving about to play with composition so I've started bumping up my iso to 400 on the 350D which gives noticeable but acceptable noise, and I usually end up shooting with my 100mm wide open at f2.8 and at the lowest shutter speed I can handhold - that being 1/250th, shockingly
Anyway, I use the extremely shallow depth of field to draw attention to detail, and de-clutter backgrounds.
Recently I saw Carrigman post a beautiful shot of an autumn leaf arrangement bejeweled with water droplets, and that wouldn't have worked without the whole thing being pin sharp. But I think it's important to consider what works best for each particular image rather than just having the mindset that more depth of field is always a good thing.
My main advice for anyone looking to shoot macro is to pay attention to your background. Just by shifting the camera 10mm either way can completely change what's directly behind your subject, and either make or break a shot. I used to have to delete so many when I got home because I didn't notice something brightly coloured or light reflecting in the background that totally stole the show when you look at the pic.
Finally, on post processing - if you have a shot with a bit of noise, and with lots of soft out of focus areas, don't just go ahead and sharpen the whole thing because it'll get quite messy. Use the high pass method - there are plenty of tutorials to search google for but in a few words: duplicate background - filter, other, high pass, use a diameter of 2-6 depending on what shows up your edges in the preview - change the blend mode of the high pass layer to 'soft light'. Switch the layer off and on to see the difference, play with different radius settings and multiple layers at various settings on top of each other, to see what effects you can get.0 -
tripod schmipod..... now you tell me after I've invested in a manfrotto.... could have bought half a ringlite with that
Actually thought of something that I should add to my initial post this morning as I was cycling to work, but cant remember what now for the life of me..... probably because nearly got hit by a taxi as well :rolleyes:
It'll come back to me tho
And 1/250th handheld when only inches away from the often slightly swaying subjects with a very small DOF is nothing to be ashamed of :-)0
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