Well I was wondering if it was a mexican standoff between Geoff and myself as to who was going to post next so I gave in and decided I would put something up.
Here is a photo of another type of Ladybird that I found in my backyard. I like seeing the variations that they have. They are a pretty little insect.
Canon 40d with Canon EF100mm f/2.8 Macro USM.
Canon 580EX II Flash with a home made light diffuser
1/250 s, f/11, ISO 100.
25mm Extension tube.
I had another 2 images I really liked out of this sequence, but I thought I'd follow Steves advice and just post 1 this time.
Maybe I'll post the other ones later as I'm interested to hear what you both think about them also.
Regards
Craig.
Hi Craig,
ReplyDeleteAnother great lady beetle shot. I really like the colour combination between the orange green, and the black void and black dots. Very cool. I also like the way we can see under his body, back through the jumble of feet.
What I'd like to see here though would be a little bit more light on the side of the bug, instead of it coming from the front. If you can't get your flash off the camera, perhaps a side lamp, or torch would work on such a small subject?
Cheers,
Geoff.
Hi Geoff,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments.
I can see what you mean that it would be nicer with light coming from the side.
I think Steve has done the holding one flash off to the side while doing this. I'm interested to know how reproducible it is for good results.
Mainly because the bugs are always moving. Even ladybird are always running so fast that it is hard to focus on them. Having an assistant might be good :)
I suppose using a real macro flash with two flash heads would be the way to make it easier. I might be stuck until I talk with someone who has one of those special flash heads.
I will give yr torch idea a try in the mean time and see how well it works.
I will post the results of that experiment after I give it a try.
Cheers
Craig.
Hi Craig,
ReplyDeleteLike Geoff says, nice colours in this shot. Green and orange are classic colour complements and the black negative space provides a nice anchor that emphasises each colour more than if it wasn't there.
Your focus appears to be sharpest on the side of the body and gets a little softer towards the eyes. Since the eyes are the windows to the soul and therefore we are naturally drawn to them, I would have tried to angle the plane of sharpest focus so that it cut through the texture on the side of the ladybird and also through the eye closest to the camera. Focus stacking or a smaller aperture are about your only other options for better depth of field and since these little critters are fast movers, stacking is pretty much out of the question.
The lighting looks quite harsh here. The blown highlights on the body are large and quite distracting. There is also some strong light fall off towards the back of the insect too. I might have tried a much more even lighting approach here. You say you used a home-made diffuser for this shot. I would try to increase it's size, so that it can throw a more even light on your subject.
Another cheap option is to use a reflector to bounce some light back into the shadows. However it's not very practical for fast moving critters. That's where having one of those dedicated macro flash heads comes in handy. However using a couple of cheaper flash units with a DIY bracket, would be a good option and often allows more flexibility in placing the flash heads where you need them.
I wouldn't bother too much with a flashlight. A camera's flash is orders of magnitude brighter than a flashlight and you might also introduce colour balancing issues into your image with different coloured light sources.
Brutal Enough?
steve
Craig,
ReplyDeleteOne image per post is best, since it makes it easier to understand what comment relates to what image.
steve