Amazon Pics Part 80

[Moebius]

A few shots of a very colorful grasshopper





To better illustrate his coloration/patterns:



Ken Nelson
Canon 30D
Sigma 150mm

[beetleman]

This guy is soooo incredible Ken. Fantastic pictures....you always seem to get all the DOF that is available in a shot. an amazing color combo ( I wonder if it taste good? )

[Bruce Williams]

Three beautifully exposed and perfectly focused photos.

I have to confess to being mighty impressed with the majority of your Amazon photos. I will be buying a DSLR this year and on the strength of what I've seen of your Sigma 150mm it's definitely on the macro lens short list.

Ken, I wonder if you could clarify a couple of points for me:

Typically, how close did you get to your subject (front lens)?

Have your posted images been heavily cropped or have they generally been fairly close to full frame?

Any chance of seeing a full resolution crop from one of your posted pics?

Bruce

[Moebius]

Bruce,

1) Distance to subject - hmm, knew this at one time, but I would guess I am 9-11 inches away. Far enough away to not scare anything away except for skittish butterflies.

2) Cropping has been variable. I rarely do any heavy cropping as the image looks too pixelated. I rarely chose to post full frame, as there was always some distracting element I wanted out of there. Also, many times I wished to zoom in a bit...not that I would have needed to if I had composed the shot correctly the first time, but I had only been shooting macro with a DSLR and this lens for several months at the time.

Can't really give an average crop factor, but would guess area-wise, the end result is usually 2/3 - 3/4 of the original.

3) Exposure - no, down there my exposure was usually slightly underexposed...had to lighten post processing. Focus was usually great, the vast majority of my shots are in nice focus. However, this is a heavy lens and I use a monopod. Tripod would have been better, but did not use one. Have taken some nice ones without a monopod too, but have fallen in love with the support a monopod gives.

4) I will do one better on the full-size crop question. You tell me an image you want to see the original of, and I will either send to you (file size may be prohibitive), or give you a crop of the area you specify if you want RAW. If you just need a post processed jpg, , I can also send you a link to one, such as


http://perceptions.smugmug.com/gallery/ ... 44074-O-LB

Ken

[rjlittlefield]

You tell me an image you want to see the original of...

Ooo, ooo! Can I put in a different kind of request?

Next time it's convenient to do so, can you put the camera on a nice steady mount, focus on the middle of a moth wing at 1:1, and shoot a series stepping aperture from wide open to as closed as it'll go?

Then send me all the images (jpeg's are fine), and I'll volunteer to put together and post out a montage like the ones here, image #2, or here.

I've been looking at various crops from that lens for a long time, and from what I've seen, I'm very impressed.

But it sure would be interesting to see an aperture series from it -- that'll show us what the best actual-pixels crop could look like, given the best aperture for that job.

--Rik

[Ken Ramos]

Never seen a hopper so colorful, I wonder, I have often been led to the assumption that brightly and unsual colored insects, as well as some spotted or striped animals, are that away as a warning to predators and that they should be left alone. I wonder if this hopper would fit into that catagory. Beautiful images Ken

[Moebius]

Rik,

I would be glad to and would be educational for myself as well to know the sharpest aperture. I will hazard a guess that it will be around f8.

However, still a little early here in Nebraska....haven't seen too many moths yet (just a rare bumblebee and midges so far). Shouldn't be too long though.

When I do this procedure...I assume I don't adjust focus at all between apertures? Do you want the aperture adjusted in full stops or 1/3 stops?

K

[Bruce Williams]

Ken,

Thanks for providing that information and thanks too for the link to the post processed, full size jpg image.

I found that image particularly interesting as it helped to give me a feel for the sort of quality that the camera/lens combination is capable of, hand held (monopod assisted ). I realise of course that this is just a sample of a single image taken in less than ideal field conditions.

I appreciate your offer to send me a copy of an original RAW image and I would definitely like to take you up on it. Had a quick flip back through your postings and well....it's not an easy choice but if possible, the black and yellow hoppers in Amazon pics part 48 (the middle, close up pic) please.

I don't know if my ISP puts a limit on attachment size but otherwise not a problem as I'm on 8Mbps broadband.

Look forward to seeing Rik's montage from your test shots

Thanks.

Bruce

[rjlittlefield]

When I do this procedure...I assume I don't adjust focus at all between apertures?

Correct, and thanks for pointing that out. Be careful to make no focus adjustment whatsoever. Many lenses actually shift focus a bit as you stop down. Knowing this is very helpful on occasion.

Do you want the aperture adjusted in full stops or 1/3 stops?

Full stops is all I've ever used. But since the extra frames are cheap compared to the setup, go ahead and shoot the series at 1/3's.

Thanks!
--Rik

[beetleman]

Ken, I have to admit something to you. I have that leafhopper on my laptop desktop. The full size is amazing .

[Moebius]

I am flattered Doug. Yes, this is one of my favorite pics from the Amazon; though I would probably say that to about 50 or so....

Ken

[beetleman]

Only 50????? Lets do the math......80 posts x 3 pics each=240 pictures I think are great. Just my opinion