Recommended MACRO Study...Especially for ANNIE

[FUJI]

I have just discovered this excellent Macro Tuition on the dedicated forum...I am studying it now:

 

http://beingmark.com/macro-illustrated/

 

FUJI

[annie]

i shall be having a look at this one....xxx

[annie]

stunning stuff...have saved that into my favs....thanks fuj 

[Guest DaveW]

Good article Fuji, one I had missed.

[bugmeister]

Stunning pictures indeed!

 

and I had the nerve to think I could take a decent macro shot.

[Kobione]

I have been following him for a while. It is stunning stuff, which I don't think I can ever equal because of time, equipment and skill.

 

 

and I had the nerve to think I could take a decent macro shot.

 

You're on the verge of making me bury my head in the sand, Bugmeister No offence, I don't claim to be anything other than a 'happy snapper'.

[bugmeister]

You're on the verge of making me bury my head in the sand, Bugmeister No offence, I don't claim to be anything other than a 'happy snapper'.

Phooie, that's a term that sounds a bit self-derogatory but I always interpret it literally just as someone who enjoys photography, which is why we do it

[Guest DaveW]

"and I had the nerve to think I could take a decent macro shot."

 

What about this then?:-

 

http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19124

 

Also see some of the other ones here then Bugmeister:-

 

http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=16&sid=8a69f91387db49e82be582a82c85dd3e

Edited May 14, 2013 by DaveW

[bugmeister]

They are spectacular and that is understating things somewhat.

 

They do show the great results you can get by stacking multiple shots but that is difficult outside a studio or static setup and the purist in me doesn't like the idea of putting a bug in crocodile clips to keep it stationary (unless it's already dead).

 

On the other hand some of the others in that forum are in the wild and they are still fantastic.

[annie]

i can't do that stacking for the life of me....and i like things to be alive not dead. and all pinned out.....yuk!

[Guest DaveW]

There are probably a lot of dead subjects on your inside windowsill after a hot day Annie.  Not sure I approve of killing them deliberately either.  I have seen live insects stacked in the wild by Charles Krebs, but they must have stayed very still.

 

Charles Krebs is to me the master of stacked insect photography. His control of lighting and the clarity of his images is something most of us would aspire to, but few ever reach. He does however illustrate the quality of lighting and perfect exposure we ought to be aiming for, even with our unstacked lower magnification macro shots:-

 

http://www.krebsmicro.com/obj_bellows/

 

Of course these are studio shots where lighting is controlled, but they do illustrate what diffused lighting and correct exposure can achieve in bringing out detail, rather than direct harsh contrasty on camera hotshoe, or pop-up flash many use for macro.

 

I presume you are using the rotating the lens focusing ring method of stacking Annie?  That is not as good as using a focusing slide and a tripod and just moving the camera forwards and backwards in set increments, plus the lens focusing ring method is seldom used in higher magnification stacking. Plenty of cheap slides usually on EBAY which give you more control of the focusing steps needed for lower magnification stacking. You may also not be taking enough small steps to stack effectively since this is often hard to gauge by just turning the lens focus ring?

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_odkw=camera+focusing+slides&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0&_nkw=camera+focusing+rails&_sacat=0

 

These are videos showing some in operation:-

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIYtKmLyZ7Q

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwyBzPdeq2s

Edited May 15, 2013 by DaveW