Saturdays Mini Beast Safari

[Ryewolf]

One of the problems with macro is not just finding your subjects but identifying them afterwards...

Mystery Bug, my instincts tell me this isn't the adult....

Red Solider Beetle - at least I know what this one is...

Tiny Fly... on a similar plant as the solider beetle....

Teeny Tiny Fly, it was so small it was hard to see with the naked eye....  Again on a plant like the others...

Hoverfly - this one had me confused as it looked like a wasp, but on a large screen you can see it's proboscis...

It's a moth on a thistle head - that's all I know....

A Spider....

[Korky]

Some great work there, Rye - my arty eyeballs would have to choose shot 1 as the pick, but the spider comes a very close second.

Have you done the black backgrounds in post processing?

Korky

[Ryewolf]

2 minutes ago, Korky said:

Some great work there, Rye - my arty eyeballs would have to choose shot 1 as the pick, but the spider comes a very close second.

Have you done the black backgrounds in post processing?

Thanks Korky, no the black backgrounds are purely a side effect of the settings (f11, 1/200th iso 100 in Manual Mode) and using a ringflash with -2/3rd EV

[JohnP]

Excellent macros!

I have been trying to ID No1... no luck so far, I will try again later.

[Hatter]

A good set, Geoff.  What was the set-up?  Just a macro lens or a macro lens plus extension tube?

 

[Ryewolf]

6 hours ago, Hatter said:

A good set, Geoff.  What was the set-up?  Just a macro lens or a macro lens plus extension tube?

Thanks Gareth. Canon 100mm f2.8 macro + Canon EP25 Tube + Ringflash

[Hatter]

Thanks, Geoff.
I've got the 100mm Macro and some extension tubes that I've never used.  Perhaps I need to look at a ring flash....

 

[Ryewolf]

46 minutes ago, Hatter said:

some extension tubes that I've never used.  Perhaps I need to look at a ring flash....

The Canon tubes were a bit more expensive, I also have the EP12, but do mean that autofocus still works. The ringflash was a Mcoplus MCO-14EXT-C and cost £50ish but doesn't seem available any more. However the K&F Concept KF-150C E-TTL Macro Flash Ring seems to be very similar at £80

These are the setting I use for macro with the ring flash: Manual Mode, iso100, f11, 1/200th and I tend to turn the power down on the flash by - 2/3rds.

Couple of cons about using tubes and in particular the Canon EP25 Tube is that you need to get really close to your subject - I normally set the focus ring on the lens to 0.35 but the reality is with the tube the front of your lens is probably around 10-15cm away from your subject. Also the depth of field you get reduces.

I tend to use the moving back or forward to get in focus technique....

I took 15 shots on Saturday and these 7 were the ones that were in focus and sharp, it does however take a bit of practice.