Chat > Photography
Macro experiments
zpyder:
So, as is often the case, I got a little bored with my macro lens on its own, and wanted to get closer.
After weighing up the pros and cons, I opted for the Canon 250D filter. On a 100mm macro lens it lets you focus a bit closer to the subject, increasing the magnification a moderate amount, decreasing the DOF a bit too though. It also makes the image as it appears on the viewfinder or LCD screen in live view quite soft, though the actual still image seems ok.
I'm spending the next week "assisting" in fieldwork so I've got a lot of time to experiment :D
It was a bit tricky today as the sunlight was quite sporadic. Most of the time when I found something to shoot the sun was behind clouds = high iso
Spider by Chris_Moody, on Flickr
Mozzie by Chris_Moody, on Flickr
Moth by Chris_Moody, on Flickr
Tried to get a bit artsy.
IVY by Chris_Moody, on Flickr
The wood ants were out. Was tricky trying to find one that would stay still long enough, in a place where you weren't getting eaten by the nest. When they did stay still they were almost always looking at me with mandibles open ready to bite
Ant 1 by Chris_Moody, on Flickr
Ant 4 by Chris_Moody, on Flickr
I think I'll spend more time at the nest tomorrow to try and get a really good shot of them. Hopefully the sun will be out a bit more. The cold helped keep things stationary today, but the wind didn't help with things blowing about.
bytejunkie:
that close up of the ants head is pretty awesome mate.
Russell:
They're all really good, especially the spider and ants, dunno if the first 2 would look better flipped 180 around though. My parents regularly have ants in their front garden, and I'd often thought that they'd be cool to try and get some shots of but always thought they'd be a tad difficult. Might have to give it a go after seeing those, can't wait to have a go at some macro stuff this year, didn't seem to do much macro last year.
zpyder:
Thanks. I'm not too keen on the composition of any of the ants, but I've still got a few days down there to try a few things.
I tried flipping the Mozzie, though I didn't consider flipping the spider.
The mozzie didn't look quite right flipped, but maybe it was a case of the photo being fresh in my head. I'll give it a few days and then see how I feel about it at different angles.
Today I experimented with my ND Grad that I've never used, polarising filter, and I played with the ants again, this time trying to stage the shot a bit more with some jelly babies and a twig. I had hoped to try and get a shot of a jelly baby being dragged into a nest but the ants preferred to just surround them and munch away.
The photos from today and the next few days will be a bit delayed as I've had an email about finishing a report by the end of this week, it's going to be close!
zpyder:
Round 2:
Not really macro, but I like the flow of this one:
Ants 3 by Chris_Moody, on Flickr
I had this grand idea of trying to get a photo of a jelly baby getting dragged into a nest by a swarm of ants. Sadly the ants just wanted to eat the jelly baby where it was. Thought it was quite cool how they lined up side by side:
Ant queue by Chris_Moody, on Flickr
I also tried to stage the shots a bit by using twigs in the nests, figuring the ants would walk along, giving me time to set up. It kind of worked, but the ants tended to only explore a few inches up the twigs unless I tapped the end, which then meant it was out of focus etc. With a bit of experimenting though I found if I tapped the end till and ant was there, and then poked the ant, it would release pheromones which would get more ants up the twigs.
This ones interesting as I think I have a worker and soldier ant in the shot:
Ant big and small by Chris_Moody, on Flickr
But this is my favourite of the attempts yesterday:
Ants 2 by Chris_Moody, on Flickr
Still, there's something not quite right about the focus, or motion blur or something.
And these are where I'm at this week (first proper experiments with an ND grad):
Trigon by Chris_Moody, on Flickr
ND 2 by Chris_Moody, on Flickr
ND 1 by Chris_Moody, on Flickr
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
Go to full version