My Current Technique

[mbcx4jrh]

Posting this as a sort of record of where I am just a week or so into macro.
I got my Sigma 150mm lens last weekend, and have been experimenting with setups since then.
I started out going out at around midday with just the lens and available light. To get my f-stop between f/8 and f/16 and with a decent shutter speed I could keep still with (ie. 1/150 or shorter) I needed an ISO of 500 or above. I really didnt get any keepers from about 2 hrs of photography as they were either blurred by my shaking, small DoF, or ISO noise.
So back to the drawing board. I ended up building one of these (http://www.buckcash.com/MFB.htm) but it was two heaving to keep still when two speedlights were attached. So the other night I hacked half of it off, and refined the bracket to make it more sturdy. I ended up with this:

Not too heavy and seems to work well.
I also added a monopod to the mix. I've had one for years but never ever used it.

My technique is basically to plant the foot of the monopod close to where the lens need to end up, rest the camera on the monopod, and lean slowly into position. Then rocking backwards and forwards to get the focus plane right and shooting as I go.
Only right next to the ground do I leave the monopod and rest on my elbows.

Here's a selection of images from the last couple of days, that I'm pleased with at this stage...

Roo (the cat), on my way out of the door..


Right next to the ground:


Lots of ants about..


A bee (?) drinking from a flower. Interesting green colour. It's a pity I couldn't stack a few shots here, but she was moving about so much. Anyone got a tips for this?


A wasps nest in a bush at the side of the road. Just after this they turned around to look at me and I could imagine little wasps insults being flung.. so I got out of there..


Not sure what this is. First I though some sort of fungi, now I'm thinking some sort of eggs - any ideas?


Critics/advice/tips welcome...

thanks
Joe[/img]

[rjlittlefield]

I ended up building one of these (http://www.buckcash.com/MFB.htm) but it was two heaving to keep still when two speedlights were attached. So the other night I hacked half of it off, and refined the bracket to make it more sturdy.

Thanks for the link and the modification. Good stuff!

Critics/advice/tips welcome...

I like the ant shot a lot. In this combination of pose and viewpoint, the focus plane catches almost the whole head, the front antenna and, and a lot of the legs. The abdomen rises out of the focus plane and gets blurred as a result, but in this case I think this just highlights the threatening posture. If the abdomen were sharp, it might be harder to interpret. In this image, limited DOF just says "small" without calling attention to DOF itself.

With the bee (yes, it's a bee), the same limited DOF becomes a problem. The parts that are in focus are small, while the blurred parts are prominent -- big, central, brightly colored, and obviously containing a lot of detail that is too blurred to appreciate. For me, the blur is a big detraction in this one.

Unfortunately, your options are pretty limited in this situation. Stopping down even farther would give more DOF, but this subject is so deep that diffraction would make everything blurred before the head, abdomen, and wings all became sharp. You might be able to pull off a manual stack from say three images -- this one plus two more for the abdomen and wings. But with the beast moving around a lot, it would be challenging to get the extra shots aligned well enough look good. Or you could shift viewpoint. Moving more toward the front or side of the bee would bring the head, wings, and abdomen more in plane, at the cost of OOF petals in front and behind.

First I thought some sort of fungi, now I'm thinking some sort of eggs - any ideas?

The last image shows lacewing eggs. Each egg is laid on a stalk of silk to reduce predation. In some species, protection is increased by covering the stalk with an oily material that is repellent or toxic. I get hints that yours may have this, from the appearance of small debris on the stalks, but I can't tell for sure. See closeup image HERE and further discussion and links HERE.

Posting this as a sort of record of where I am just a week or so into macro.

It's been a productive week! Looking forward to more...

--Rik