two more "Head Studies"
Moderators: rjlittlefield, ChrisR, Chris S., Pau
two more "Head Studies"
A couple more stacks. The first one is a Robber Fly I collected during the summer. The same one I posted here in the past. (Robber fly with wasp) A stack of 40 shots using Helicon Focus. I still need better lighting and I did use the flash this time on both pictures. I feel they are a step above the first one I posted not long ago. . The second one is a stack (17 pictures) of a Six Spotted Tiger Beetle Cicindela sexguttata.
Last edited by beetleman on Tue Jan 22, 2008 5:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Take Nothing but Pictures--Leave Nothing but Footprints.
Doug Breda
Doug Breda
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rjlittlefield
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Doug,
Subject pose and stacking technique looks OK in these shots, but I still find the lighting too harsh to show off these subjects to best advantage.
Notice the large amount of "black" areas, where not enough light is getting back to the camera to register. Part of those are shadows, part are shiny surfaces that happen to be angled the wrong way to reflect any available light. Both aspects can be reduced by using a more "wraparound" light source. Take a look at Wim's setup at http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/v ... php?t=3895 . It may not be clear from the photos, but I believe that in practice his subjects get held inside the soup cup, roughly at the tip of the clip in the photos. That provides something like a full hemisphere of lighting, except for a dark hole in the middle where the lens sits. This arrangement will deliver light to almost everywhere the camera can see, and will provide significant reflections from any shiny surfaces that are angled less than 45 degrees away from the plane of focus. For another illustration of the effect of diffuse lighting, see this post, 2nd panel, top row.
One trick to help adjust the lighting is to stop way down and take just a single modeling shot instead of a stack. It'll be too fuzzy to use for anything except evaluating the light, but you can see what you're getting immediately, on the back of the camera.
--Rik
Subject pose and stacking technique looks OK in these shots, but I still find the lighting too harsh to show off these subjects to best advantage.
Notice the large amount of "black" areas, where not enough light is getting back to the camera to register. Part of those are shadows, part are shiny surfaces that happen to be angled the wrong way to reflect any available light. Both aspects can be reduced by using a more "wraparound" light source. Take a look at Wim's setup at http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/v ... php?t=3895 . It may not be clear from the photos, but I believe that in practice his subjects get held inside the soup cup, roughly at the tip of the clip in the photos. That provides something like a full hemisphere of lighting, except for a dark hole in the middle where the lens sits. This arrangement will deliver light to almost everywhere the camera can see, and will provide significant reflections from any shiny surfaces that are angled less than 45 degrees away from the plane of focus. For another illustration of the effect of diffuse lighting, see this post, 2nd panel, top row.
One trick to help adjust the lighting is to stop way down and take just a single modeling shot instead of a stack. It'll be too fuzzy to use for anything except evaluating the light, but you can see what you're getting immediately, on the back of the camera.
--Rik
You are totally right about the lighting Rik. You know what is happening; I am suffering from “NEW TOY” syndrome. I realize what my new equipment is capable of and I am not caring much about technique, I just want to see some stuff come out of the box. What I have to do now is “Settle Down” and make a setup that will produce even better photos. 
Thank you Joan
Thank you Joan
Take Nothing but Pictures--Leave Nothing but Footprints.
Doug Breda
Doug Breda
I am in full agreement with this Doug. I have been experimenting as well and am mighty pleased with some of the results. I tried taking macros with a 300mm lens and boy, was I surprised at the results. Yes, I agree it might not be as good as a macro lens, but you could almost not tell the difference.I am suffering from “NEW TOY” syndrome. I realize what my new equipment is capable of and I am not caring much about technique, I just want to see some stuff come out of the box.
Joan Young